Hand of history brings Belfast into the world of horology

Mention the phrase “Made in Belfast” and some might think of the city’s engineering failures, notably the doomed ocean liner RMS Titanic and the ill-fated DMC DeLorean sports car.

But the Northern Ireland capital has a far richer history of manufacturing success. The early 19th century heralded a boom in industry sectors ranging from linen, to rope, tobacco and shipbuilding — for which Titanic’s maker, Harland & Wolff, created one of the largest yards in the world.

The following years were not so kind, however, and those sectors rapidly dwindled. The city suffered heavy bombing during the second world war, followed by an economic downturn and three decades of the Troubles.

More recently, though, Belfast has become home to aerospace manufacturers such as Bombardier and Spirit AeroSystems, as well as gym equipment maker BLK BOX and processing equipment specialist Terex. And, now, it could be on the way to making a significant mark in micro-mechanics — as a growing centre of horology.

At last year’s Dubai Watch Week, Belfast-born watchmaker Stephen McDonnell delivered a lecture outlining the trials and tribulations of conceiving often revolutionary movements from scratch.

McDonnell, a former senior instructor at Wostep, the Watchmakers of Switzerland training and educational programme, became an independent movement designer in 2007. He has since worked with Peter Speake Marin, Christophe Claret, and MB&F, which won awards at the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Genève in 2016 and 2022 with watches powered by movements of McDonnell’s design.

But, while McDonnell’s creations end up in expensive timepieces bought by wealthy horophiles, Nomadic Watches — which founder Peter McAuley promotes as being “hand-built in Belfast” — aims to attract entry-level buyers through details inspired by the city’s industrial heritage.

McAuley, a mechanical engineer who previously worked in Belfast’s aerospace and gym equipment industries, says he started Nomadic in 2021 as a “passion project”. “I used to have a job in the area of the Harland & Wolff shipyard,” he says.

“The building that was once the drawing office has now become the Titanic Hotel, and that’s where I sketched out the first watches in the room that was originally the workplace of Thomas Andrews, the naval architect in charge of designing Titanic.”

McAuley named the brand after the SS Nomadic, the luxury liner’s tender that is now on display at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on the site of the old Harland & Wolff yard. He began by putting together “one or two watches every few weeks” at home.

Today, McAuley employs a small team that builds up to 200 watches a month in a workshop and showroom at the historic Scottish Provident building beside Belfast city hall. He estimates that Nomadic has sold around 3,000 pieces worldwide to date.

Described as “adventure proof”, all models use Swiss-made Sellita movements paired with Chinese-made dials, cases and ancillaries, and adopt the generic “tool watch” format of benchmark models from Rolex and Tudor. “We use classic designs because they work, but we try to put our own spin on them,” explains McAuley.

That means incorporating custom-made, maritime-themed winding rotors in the forms of propellers or compass roses. Or, in the case of the Fíor 555 GMT model, yellow detailing based on the colour of Harland & Wolff’s Samson and Goliath gantry cranes that dominate the Belfast skyline.

While Nomadic can only be called a watch assembler rather than a maker, McAuley has a vision to increase the number of locally produced components, starting with Belfast-made cases. “I have a background in engineering that type of part,” he says. “It’s what I’m good at and, because of the culture of manufacturing around here, we have access to the necessary skills and levels of accuracy.”

He says in-house cases will inevitably push up prices — currently between £995 and £1,595 — but he aims to keep everything “as affordable and accessible as possible”. “Nomadic makes me proud to be part of the new Belfast, the one that’s moving forward from the past and being put on the map for all the right reasons,” he says.

But perhaps the man most responsible for moving the horological spotlight over the city is retailer Nico Leonard. The Dutch-born entrepreneur moved to Northern Ireland in 2013 and launched his pre-owned watch business Pride & Pinion in 2019, with a retail space at the Merchant Hotel.

“I think we have definitely made an impact in Belfast,” he says. “A few years ago, not that many people here were even thinking about luxury watches, let alone buying them.”

Leonard also cites the watch collectors’ group RedBar Belfast as having had a considerable influence locally. “The organisers have really created something good and, every time RedBar has an event, it creates a great buzz and gets more and more people talking about watches,” he says.

“Watches are about stories,,” he adds, “and the ability for people to share those stories should be a real trigger for the watch scene growing and encouraging more communities to pop up around here.”