Comitti
Comitti of London is a British company that has been developing and manufacturing real English watches for over 150 years. The craftsmen assemble and paint each model only manually, so each model is unique.
Comitti was founded in 1845 by Onorato Comitti, an Italian precision instrument manufacturer who moved to Clerkenwell, England, at the height of the industrial revolution, where he opened a workshop in which he designed and manufactured barometers, including mercury and aneroid.
He even tried to get the copyright for one of his barometers, but was refused (now this court case is used as an example in books about copyright).
Comitti still remains a family business, currently run by the grandchildren of George Barker, who married Louise Comitti and joined the family business in the 1890s. They continue to produce traditional classic and modern luxury watches, and many of the older pieces have long been collectibles. The current director of the company, Simon Barker, is confident that the secret of a successful business lies in a competent combination of ancient craft skills with modern technologies and the family nature of the company.
Comitti makes unusual watches – copies of antique models, stylizations, watches released in limited editions for memorable dates. Many design solutions of distant years continue their life in today's Comitti watches. The company's model range consists of magnificent replicas of antique watches that have become classics of English watchmaking, as well as unique watches of their own design. And all this is only made of solid wood, including valuable species.
Of course, Comitti watches are not cheap, but they are worth the money, because everything in them is selected and done conscientiously. All products are subjected to careful individual control and inspection before shipment from the factory, which confirms the high class of Comitti products. This watch will surely become a real family heirloom, bring into the house the living warmth of wood, the fascinating sounds of battle, the measured ticking of a verified mechanism, a piece of the English spirit. You might even want to have a five o'clock party with friends? And you will definitely not escape the admiring questions "What is it?". Then you will tell us that, for example, this watch is an exact copy of a French watch from 1890, about the 150-year history of the English company Comitti, that the details of the mechanism are not just shiny, but covered with rhodium, about the valuable African black ebony with which the stand is decorated, and much, much more…
Perhaps this is the reason that many owners have an attachment to watches not as an instrument, but as a work of art. Such watches acquire additional value, become a family heirloom, and are passed down from generation to generation. Keeping in mind this role of its products, Comitti has always considered it very important to create not only functional and accurate, but also beautiful objects designed to decorate any home.
