Watch customisation is about more than changing how a timepiece looks, it’s about creating a deeper connection to what’s on your wrist. From subtle tweaks to full bespoke creations, it allows collectors to make a watch truly their own.
Introduction
The world of watchmaking is so vast that there’s essentially a watch for everyone who falls into this niche hobby. Between the endless dial colours, case designs, bracelet options, and even different watch types such as chronographs, divers, GMTs, and more, the choice on offer today is enormous. It’s genuinely hard to imagine not finding something you’d want to own.
But what happens when you already have a favourite watch and feel like it’s just missing something? Perhaps you love a particular GMT that’s already in your collection, but you’ve seen a dial colour on another timepiece that you wish came with it. The problem is, unless it’s a traditional colour, your preferred brand that offers that GMT will most likely not have the perfect colour choice for you. Sure, you can shop around and see what other brands have to offer, but sometimes nothing else quite scratches that itch. When all other options are exhausted, there aren’t many paths left, and that’s exactly where watch customisation comes in.
The way I see watch customisation is the same way we customise our cars. While it may be worlds apart, the core theme of mechanical operation remains the same. If you want something truly unique to your personal tastes, you can do so for your car with new wheels, paint/wrap, window tint, and aftermarket bodykits. There are endless options to personalise it just the way you like. So why should watches be any different?
This is not to say that watch customisation is a must to get more personality, but rather an avenue for those who want their timepiece to stand out without worrying about resale value. This is exactly what watch customisation offers: a pathway for you to personalise the details of the timepiece to just your liking. At its very core, watch customisation is about turning a great watch into your watch.
What Is Watch Customisation?
Watch customisation is the process of modifying or personalising a timepiece to suit the wearer’s taste and style better. This can be from subtle changes like engravings on the case back and sides of the watch case, to more noticeable changes like different dial colours, customised straps, and even unique finishing details. Watch customisation is moving beyond what the brand offers to create something more personal on the wrist.
This is not to say that watch customisation can’t come directly from the brand either. There are plenty of watchmakers today that offer bespoke creations. Brands such as Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe offer bespoke one-of-a-kind creations that are tailored to individual clients, which include personalised dials, cases, and even complications. This, as you would expect, does come at a price. Other brands also offer bespoke creations, but without the hefty price tag, such as Christopher Ward, Chrono AG, and DWISS, to name a few.
Outside of watchmakers offering bespoke creations, there are also watches you can buy and customise yourself. The brand that stands out the most for this service is Seiko and its SKX range. The collection became one of the most heavily customised watches of all time, thanks to the SKX’s robust design, the modular construction, and, of course, the affordable price point.
Watch enthusiasts and modders bought watches from Seiko’s SKX range and began swapping components such as the dials, hands, bezels, bezel inserts, and the crystals, allowing the SKX range to take on entirely new, unique looks, while still being a dependable timepiece at its core. The rise of SKX modding created a global ecosystem of aftermarket parts suppliers, independent modders, and custom builders, many of whom now produce near-bespoke builds for individual clients.
Bracelet & Strap Customisation
The most basic type of watch customisation would be bracelet & strap changes. Whether this is considered a true form of customisation is up for debate, but I have included it as it is still a form of personalisation. Normally, watchmakers themselves will offer a variety of straps and bracelet options of the watch itself, but if you are after something a bit more unique, then there are brands like Delugs, The Sydney Strap Co., and Horus, to name a few that offer unique choices to not only make the watch stand out a little bit more, but also offer personalisation to suit ones style.
I’ve gone down this route myself with a couple of watches already. The first was through Delugs for my Millésime Tri-Compax Rose Gold, which originally came on a standard black leather strap. I initially picked up two rubber strap options purely for comfort, but they ended up looking so good on the watch that I honestly haven’t gone back to the black leather strap since.
The second customisation was done on the Seiko 5 Sports SRPL87K, which initially comes fitted with a standard three-link bracelet. I opted to swap this out for the brand’s own five-link bracelet after seeing it on one of the GMT models, and honestly, I haven’t looked back since making the change. It completely transformed the way the watch wears on the wrist, adding both comfort and visual interest.
Chamath’s Richard Mille RM 010 on a pink rubber strap.
Another strap change that was recently done by the Watchadvice team was Chamath himself, who has been fond of pink straps lately. He changed the strap on his Richard Mille to a stunning pink rubber strap, and it’s safe to say I don’t think he’ll be changing it back anytime soon! It just goes to show how even a simple, brand-correct modification can breathe new life into a watch you already enjoy wearing.
Engravings & Personal Touches
The most common form of watch customisation is engraving. This can be done on the sides of the case, but it is more common practice to do so if the watch features a closed caseback. In fact, there is a timepiece that has a dedicated case back purely for engravings: the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso. This timepiece can flip the “case” to offer two dials, with the first being the normal time dial, the second being a flat empty surface, which you can customise to your liking.
Haoming’s Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso with beautiful case engraving!
Others have used this space to create drawings that have personal meaning, as is the case with Haoming’s Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, which he had the caseback engraved with his favourite musician. Others have used it to write words with sentimental meaning, important dates (could be a wedding watch, an anniversary present, or even hitting a personal milestone). Regardless of the application, the engraving of a watch makes it unique and offers a subtle personal touch, making the timepiece’s value worth much more to the owner than its resale value.
Personalised Dials
The most visible form of personalisation is custom dials. Depending on the type of watch, this is also where the most of amount of ‘free space’ exists on the watch, giving more room for personal customisation. Dial customisation also offers the most personalisation in the whole timepiece, as it can range from having custom colours, different textures, patterns, logos, symbols & signatures, initials, paintings, to even having precious gemstones. It’s a level of personalisation that few other pieces of fashion or jewellery can truly match.
The beauty of dial customisation is that you can dictate how much of it needs to be personalised. If you want to keep the core of the dial intact, a simple logo or initial will be the perfect touch. However, if you want it to be a storytelling canvas, then companies offer customization to the point that artistic work can be carried out on the dial to portray the personal meaning of the watch.
Whether it’s marking a personal milestone, incorporating a meaningful symbol, or simply creating something that reflects an individual’s personality, the dial becomes a storytelling canvas. This is why dial customisation is most often the most emotionally driven form of personalisation, turning a watch that is an object into something far more personal and sentimental.
Customisation vs Collectability
As we have already covered, watch customisation offers the best way to personalise a valued possession into something far more meaningful. However, this does come at a cost. The customisation of a timepiece can have a direct impact on a watch’s collectability, especially when the changes to the timepiece are permanent or move too far away from the watchmaker’s specification.
If it’s a bespoke creation straight from the watch brand, and it has been done tastefully, then it can certainly hold its value or even be offered at a premium price due to its exclusivity. Brand-supported customisation will hold its value better than aftermarket modifications, as it retains the watch’s authenticity. If you want to customise your watch, then low-risk options like strap or bracelet changes are the best way to go, as they have little to no impact on the long-term collectability of the timepiece.
However, more permanent changes like case engraving & customisation, dial changes, movement changes (winding rotor customisation), will certainly affect the resale value of the watch, even if the work is executed to a high level of standard. Personally, I think the only real scenario where a fully customised watch can command a higher price is when it has a high-profile owner, as provenance can naturally elevate the value of the timepiece beyond the modification itself.
Another point to consider is the watch’s warranty. Depending on the level of customization (if it’s a simple strap change or case engraving, it may not affect the warranty), however, any modification that is made to the watch that requires the timepiece to be disassembled will void the warranty. Manufacturers are against customisation of their timepieces (unless it’s bespoke creations from the brands themselves).
Companies That Offer Customisation
Bamford Watch Department
If there is one watch customisation company that comes up whenever we talk about the topic, it’s Bamford Watch Department. The company was founded by George Bamford in the early 2000s as a way for him to make his own watch feel truly personal and unique. This was a reaction to seeing his Daytona look like everyone else’s while he was at an event. What started as a passion project quickly turned into a full-blown business as others were inspired by his own unique watches to do the same.
Bamford Watch Department doesn’t just simply do strap variations or minor tweaks in colours. They take high-profile timepieces and personalise them head to toe as per the request of the customer. The company’s philosophy has always been “If you can imagine it, we can create it”, and this certainly rings true as their work ranges from custom dial colours, special coatings on the cases, to fully bespoke creations.
What sets Bamford Watch Department apart from the rest is that they have actually partnered with several watchmakers to create unique custom designs of their existing models, being offered as a limited edition series to customers. In 2017, Bamford Watch Department set up a partnership in place with LVMH to be the official customizer for brands like TAG Heuer, Zenith, and Bvlgari. This meant that watches could be sent directly from the watchmakers to Bamford for customisation without voiding the warranty, a detail that a lot of other watch customizers don’t have.
For more information, please visit Bamfordwatchdepartment.com
Artisans De Genève
One of my favourite watch customisation companies is Artisans De Genève. Founded in 2005, they are an independent, bespoke watch customisation workshop based in Geneva, the very heart of Swiss watchmaking. They purely work on the art of customisation, meaning they don’t offer watches themselves. Transforming clients’ timepieces into unique creations is what they have mastered, and I can safely say that the creations coming out of this lab are truly awesome.
The projects undertaken at Artisans De Genève range from aesthetic overhaul to even structural transformation, whereby the skeletonised structure of the dial is modified as per the customer’s request. The company is known for high-profile bespoke watches created for celebrities and collectors, creating one-of-a-kind timepieces.
One of my favourite creations from the brand is a project called “Ventura”. Artisans De Genève has already created numerous custom Rolex Daytona masterpieces, with the latest one being “Infinity”, but to me personally, Ventura stands out for the stunning skeletonization of the sub-dials of the Daytona, while integrating an Aventurine dial and bezel insert. This is one watch I wish even Rolex had in its catalogue!
For more information, please visit Artisansdegeneve.com
Designa Individual Watches
The next high-profile company that offers full customisation of timepieces is Designa Individual Watches (DiW). As with Artisans De Genève, Designa Individual Watches does not produce timepieces, nor are they affiliated with watchmaking brands. They offer customisation as per the client’s request, creating artistic creations that certainly offer a unique take. As these watches are created solely for private use, Designa Individual Watches states, “resale and transfer to other third parties are prohibited.”
Designa Individual Watches are known for their heavy-visual reinterpretations of the timepieces, from carbon fibre cases to bold colours and visual aesthetics. Like Artisans De Genève, the company specialises in doing custom designs for high-profile watch brands, which include Audemars Piguet, Rolex, and Patek Philippe. If you are after a bold and colourful creation to spice up your watch collection, Designa Individual Watches may just have what you are looking for!
For more information, please visit Desgina-individual.com
IFL Watches
Vanilla? Not here! A slogan that perfectly describes IFLWatches’ bespoke watch customization program. Unlike the previous two companies, IFLWatches focuses on creating custom designs for the more affordable and entry-level luxury timepieces. Another point that sets them apart is that they offer timepieces for sale that already have custom designs alongside a bespoke customisation program tailored for the customer.
What they offer is the original timepiece with customised dials and sometimes different coloured bezels. The dials they offer, however, are incredible artistic works that turn any normal timepiece into one that belongs in a modern-day art gallery. They have a range of brands with pre-customised watches to choose from, ranging from Seiko, Tissot, Casio, Bulova, to Venezianico. Once again, they have no affiliation and are not endorsed by the watchmakers themselves. This is, however, one of the better options to dip your feet into the world of watch customisation without needing to break the bank!
For more information, please visit IFLWatches.com
Final Thoughts
The world of watch customisation opens up a new avenue for creating something fun and personal from what we already love. Watch customisation exists at every level, whether it’s simply changing a strap to one that isn’t OEM, to fully bespoke one-of-a-kind creations. It offers the customer the ability to create something that is personal to them, providing not only a unique visual identity but also sentimental value. Depending on the level of customisation, the original manufacturer’s warranty can still be kept intact, an added bonus if you plan on wearing the watch regularly and want long-term peace of mind.
This being said, however, watch customisation works best if it’s approached with intention. Understanding the perfect balance of customisation to wearability is key, so that you can still use the watch as intended. The brands I’ve listed above execute these customisations to great detail, and some of them also offer timepieces for sale that have already been thoughtfully customised, making it easier for collectors to enjoy something unique without having to start the process from scratch. At the end of the day, watches are meant to be worn and enjoyed, and if customisation helps deepen that connection, then it has every right to be part of modern watch collecting!