The Eurovision Watch Contest
The Eurovision is here once again! For another night we will get to watch ridiculous performances and wave goodbye to any hope of the UK winning anything, but hey it’s all good fun. The 2022 Eurovision was actually pretty good for the UK, with Sam Ryder getting us as close as we’ll probably ever get to winning with his great song “Space man”. But let’s not give up just yet, you never know what could happen especially with the 2023 contest being held in Liverpool! This year’s Grand final will be held on May 13th, so clear your schedules and make sure you’ve got some snacks ready. So you’re probably wondering what the Eurovision has got to do with watches and to answer your question, well, nothing really. But we thought it would be a good idea to go through some of the countries who will be performing and look at some of the best watch brands to come out of that country.
United Kingdom
Performance: Mae Muller – I Wrote A Song
Of course we have to kick this off with the UK. For our performance Mae Muller will be performing her catchy upbeat pop song, which I think is actually quite a good little tune. Of course there’s a lot of pressure on Mae, with the competition being held here on home turf, but maybe the comfort of being on home ground will boost her performance and bag us a victory.
Watch brand: Garrick
Garrick is a very interesting brand which was established fairly recently in 2014, by David Brailsford & Simon Mychlmayr. Garrick actually completely scrapped the idea of mass production, and instead make extremely detailed and high-quality watches by hand. Because of the amount of detail and work that goes into making these watches, only around 50 watches are produced each year. The watches are produced in their workshop located in Norfolk & take 3 weeks to be made, give or take.
Garrick really encompasses that classic British aesthetic, but looks isn’t their only specialty. They have also released a range of highly precise calibre’s, most recently the UT-G04. Oh, and if they didn’t put enough hard work in already, they also offer a bespoke service where customers can customise their watch to their hearts desire with meaningful details.
Australia
Performance: Voyager – Promise
Voyager are a progressive rock band (I've never heard of that either but its apparently a new rock genre). This song, "Promise", is quite unique in that the verse has a synth-pop sound but quickly turns into a rock song by the chorus. Maybe this new style could get Australia some good results.
Watch brand: Nicholas Hacko
Nicholas Hacko is a very well respected watch maker in Australia. Founded in 2011 by Nicholas Hacko & his son Josh, the now very successful brand was born out of rebellion. Nicholas reached out to Swiss watch brands for spare watch parts but was repeatedly denied, this spurred him on to create his own watch brand which was completely designed & manufactured in Australia, & are still the only brand to do this.
After being viciously turned down by Swiss watchmakers, Nicholas has since created a highly sought after brand, which was also the first watch brand to use Timascus. Pretty inspirational.
Italy
Performance: Marco Mengoni – Due Vite
This performer, Marco Mengoni, is actually quite a big star in Italy. He won the 2009 Italian X-factor and has since topped the Italian charts a number of times. "Due Vite" translates into "two lives" and is an emotional ballad song. Im not a huge fan of this style of music personally, but it was still a very nice song to listen to.
Watch brand: Bulgari
Italy is known for producing luxurious products and whilst Bulgari is best known for producing gorgeous jewellery they also make some stunning watches. Founded all they back in 1884 by Sotirio Bulgari, the brand grew very quickly due to its bold yet incredibly detailed designs using fine gems & metals. The brand was particularly popular with English tourists.
Bulgari watches are definitely bold and flashy, although they do have some simpler designs too. I suppose you expect their watches to be more extravagant since they treat them more like jewellery than timepieces. They combine intricate Italian design with Swiss watchmaking.
Austria
Performance: Teya & Salena – Who The Hell Is Edgar?
You can always rely on at least one country to bring the fun to the Eurovision, and Austria will probably be that country. Teya & Salena met when competing in an Austrian talent competition and apparently bonded over their love for the Eurovision. This must be so exciting for them. The song is actually about the American author Edgar Allan Poe. Its very upbeat and fun along with the music video. Sometimes a bit of fun and not taking things too seriously is exactly what you want to see!
Watch brand: Habring2
Habring2 is a small independent watch brand which was founded in 2004 by Maria Kristina and Richard Habring, who are a husband & wife duo. Awwh. This humble brand handmakes their watches to an incredibly high quality and have won many awards from the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie to show this.
The pair didn’t want the art of watchmaking to be overtook by industrial mass production, which is why they only produce a small number of 200 watches per year. I suggest heading over to their website and checking out the lovely little comic themed storyboard they have about their rise to success.
Iceland
Performance: Diljá – Power
This song definitely lives up to its name. A powerful dance ballad which has a nice message. This performance is a nice easy watch so maybe Iceland could do well this year after coming 23rd last year.
Watch brand: JS Watch Company Reykjavik
If you’ve ever taken a trip to the chilly country of Iceland, you’ll know quite well that things can be pretty pricey over there. Well, this is no exception when it comes to watches either.
JS Watch Co was the first and only watch company to design and assemble their watches in Iceland. After being founded in 2005 by Sigurdur Gilbertsson, Julius Heidarsson, Grimkell Sigurthorsson and Gilbert O. Gudjonsson JS Watch Co has stormed to success by using traditional watch making techniques with designs inspired by Reykjavik.
A lot of time and inspection goes into their watches so they have limited production volume, however this intimacy with their watches allows a very personal connection to be formed between them and their customers. They have really put Icelandic watches on the map by winner various awards and building an A-list celebrity clientele including Ed Sheeran, Tom Cruise and Quentin Tarantino to name just a few!
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Now maybe you have knowledge about some smaller international watch brands which you hadn't heard of before. I know I've learnt a few things when researching these companies. I must say I love how a lot of these brands produce handcrafted watches of extremely high-quality, it adds a really nice personal touch knowing lots of time and effort has gone into making your watch. If you're a Eurovision fan you also know some of the performances to look forward to as well! Hope you've enjoyed reading, have a lovely day :)
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