REC WATCHES
T
TIMEPIECES WITH A FORGOTTEN HISTORY
hree years ago, REC
was conceived following
a
drunken
discussion
about Kamstrup and Mygh’s
disappointment with the lack of
automobile-related
timepieces
in the industry. Kamstrup says:
“There’s nothing new in term
of watch brands being inspired
by or putting car logos on their
products. But we didn’t feel that
that was ample justification for
what it was supposed to be.”
In their view, the two products
were not sufficiently intertwined
for a true car enthusiast. Rather
than focusing heavily on REC
and promoting it as a trademark
in its own right, REC puts the
focus back on the cars from
which the watches are created,
centring firmly around passion
for the classics. From a marketing
standpoint, this is done through
video stories detailing the history
of the vehicle that each time piece
drew its materials from.
Unconventional
beginnings
only serve to mirror the
unconventional faces behind
the brand - neither Mygh or
Kamstrup are jewellers or indeed
have any experience in watch
making or designing.
“We had a shopping level of
passion for watches and of course
what we very quickly discovered is
that we knew absolutely nothing
at all.” Naturally, as part of their
market research, the duo travelled
to Baselworld to identify the
competition and see if there were
any brands looking seriously at the
same concept.
Whilst the founders came across
similar brands, they could not find
another company doing exactly
what they had in mind. From
there, they sought manufacturers
who would take on the task of
turning old cars into watches.
“Most of them will run away
screaming,” says Kamstrup, “so it
took quite a long time to get the
full production line sorted out and
not without a lot of errors along
the way but after a year we finally
sorted it out.”
Despite their limited experience,
putting themselves into the
customers’ shoes and creating
a brand of watches that they
themselves would wear, meant
the duo would ensure they are
involved in the design process
every step of the way.
Each REC watch begins life as
a salvaged car wreck, which is
‘‘
Whilst the
founders came
across similar
brands, they
could not
find another
company
doing exactly
what they had
in mind
‘‘
22 JEWELLERY FOCUS
preferably at least 50 or 60 years
old. While images of two men
rummaging through a car scrap
yard may be developing in your
mind, there is some method to
the search as not all wreckage
is good wreckage. “It’s really
us looking for - and this sounds
odd - the ‘perfect’ car wreck.
[That is] a car wreck which has
sufficient metal for us to start the
recycling process, that material
metal is in sufficient condition,
it’s not completely rotted away or
anything like that,” says Mygh.
The search does not stop
there. The REC brand ethos
emphasises the story behind
the timepieces: the narrative is
just as important as the watches
themselves. Next, Kamstrup and
Mygh go through the history
of the car with information
obtained from its VIN.
“In a perfect Sherlock Holmes
way,” Mygh says, “we start
tracking the history of the
previous owners: where did
they buy it, who did they buy it
from, where did they use it, any
particular anecdotes or stories
that connect to car?” Once the
pair has gathered everything of
interest from the car, they then
July 2017 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk