Reimagining Classics with Custom T. Watch Atelier

Born from a moment of shared frustration during a trip to Tokyo in 2019, Custom T. Watch Atelier was established by good friends Charles and Sakamoto as the pair’s answer to what they felt the watch industry was missing: custom quality watches for attainable prices.

Combining their experiences and expertise - Charles being a former watch specialist at Sotheby’s and Sakamoto being a specialist at customising camera rangefinders - the two brought their horology workshop into the world and have since been wholly dedicated to crafting one-of-a-kind, custom tool watches.

The creative duo’s vision for Custom T. Watch Atelier is greatly rooted in “Iki”, a Japanese aesthetic concept originating from the Edo period. With a core philosophy of refined spontaneity, “Iki” is many things: a visual standard, an appreciation of human nature and natural beauty, and a stylistic presentation of constrained creativity, calculated simplicity, and casual chicness. Key to Custom T. Watch Atelier’s vision, though, is the aesthetic ideal that “Iki” presents - where the mundane appearance of a creation belies its meticulous, intricate production process. Charles and Sakamoto follow this principle of “Iki” to a T, showcasing their own refined spontaneity through the creation of their modern, custom renditions of classic watches.

With accessibility as the founding pair’s main impetus and the spirit of “Iki” as their guide, Custom T. Watch Atelier is poised to revolutionise the watch industry and break through its antiquated status quo. We see glimpses of that formidable potential through PROJECT-S: Custom T. Watch Atelier’s first collection of reworked diving watches, which had humble beginnings as a purely experimental project but has now become a cornerstone to a more democratised watch industry. No longer will bespoke timepieces come attached with premium price tags or be exclusively obtainable by the wealthy and elite; with Charles and Sakamoto at the helm, exclusivity comes in the form of unique customisations.