By Harlan Chapman-Green
Yeah, well that was unexpected wasn’t it? In a show of his plucky Britishness, Peter Speake-Marin has decided the best thing to do for himself is leave his own company after founding it 15 years previously and continue going on his own way. I certainly hope this is not some way of making it seem like he left his legend to the world, Speake-Marin is certainly flourishing, as shown by its use of Pierce Brosnan as a brand representative, but it does still have a long way to go yet.
Peter Speake-Marin started out in the horology world restoring antique clocks and watches at Somlo Antiques in the Burlington Arcade in London, finishing up by leading the antique watch restoration department itself. He then returned to Switzerland (where before he trained at the WOSTEP school in Neuchâtel) where he built complications for Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi, the one most other watchmakers seemingly worked at the same time.
We aren’t exactly sure of the full details of the departure at this time, but what we do know is that for now, Peter Speake-Marin will remain around until all the red tape is parcelled up so to speak(e). The Rosnoblet family has been an investor in the company for one time and they will take over most of the running of the company until everything is sorted.
It seems that perhaps Peter himself has gotten bored with his little project. I can almost understand, given that recently there have been more and more watches using quartz movements or even ETA. Now, not to say that they aren’t perfectly viable in their own right, but given Peter’s history in watchmaking he probably didn’t have much say in the decisions, or he might not have done it. Looking at some interviews though it seems he is confident that the company will do well and it’s in safe hands.
On another note, there have been some rumours that there could be some sort of educational programme that is ran by Peter Speake-Marin. It would appear that anyone in the watch world will be able to join up and learn a bit or two about watches, irregardless of whether they are a top level know-it-all or just starting out in the game. It sounds like an excellent plan and I intend to sign up as long as it’s free, I know I’m cheap.
While we all have our own thoughts and opinions on the topic, we nonetheless wish Peter Speake-Marin all the best in his future endeavours.
