Walker
Inspired by the diver who saved Winchester Cathedral, William Walker, The Winton Watch Company’s latest watch is equally at home under the sea as in the boardroom.
Hand assembled in Switzerland and water resistant to 200m, with sapphire glass, it will take pretty much anything you care to throw at it.
With a black dial, the timeless design features applied markers and large ‘paddle’ pointers, making it easy to tell the time at a glance, and high luminescence means you can read it no matter what the conditions – whether diving wrecks or flagging a cab in the city.
The Walker includes a rotating bezel – a feature introduced in the early 1950s to track a diver’s bottom time, or time spent underwater. The bezel can also act as a reminder to prevent divers from exceeding their diving time limit – and features a 15 minute ‘red zone’.
It’s sister watch, the Rawlins, has a blue face and is inspired by Sir John Rawlins, a diving medicine pioneer.
Specification
316L stainless steel case and integrated bracelet
43mm diameter
Rotating bezel
Screw down crown
Anti-reflective sapphire glass
Applied hour markers with lume
‘Paddle’ pointers with lume infill strip
Sweep second hand with lume pointer
Date marker
Exhibition case back with sapphire glass
Up to 200m water resistance
Movement
Ronda R150
Swiss-made automatic mechanical movement
28,800 beats per hour
25 jewels
Nivaflex main spring
40-hour power reserve
Incabloc anti-shock system
Hours, minutes, central sweeping seconds, date
Who was William Walker
William Walker was a diver who is best known for saving Winchester Cathedral. Between 1906 and 1911, Walker shored up the walls of the cathedral with concrete in 6m of water, so that the groundwater could be lowered to underpin the walls with brick. In 1912, his work was recognised by His Majesty King George V, whom he’d previously met when the King was a naval cadet and walker was a diving instructor.
In addition to his work at Winchester, Walker as part of the rescue team at the flooded River Level Colliery in Aberdare, Wales, he worked on the construction of the Blackwall Tunnel in London and was foreman in charge of works for the construction of the new naval docks in Gibraltar. He also did recovery work on the wreck of SS Dordone and worked with Sir Leonard Hill to develop linear decompression tables.
