Worn & Wound
Interview: the Convictions of James Lamb
It’s a fair assumption that if you’re the kind of enthusiast that’s interested in independent watchmaking, the allure of something a little different isn’t lost on you. The independent watch space is a wildly diverse one that’s full of outsider artisans, but even in a field of outsiders, English watchmaker James Lamb is something of an anomaly. Lamb’s watches genuinely don’t look like anything else on the market. While they’re all time-only affairs, they feature an offset sub-dial layout that frees up the outer portion of the dial to be used as a decorative space. With his Origin Series, Lamb applies strikingly colorful enamel work to the outer dial section. With his latest release, the Linea Edition, Lamb has collaborated with one of the UK’s most respected ornamental engravers, Joanne Ryall, to create a line of watches with beautifully hand-engraved titanium and gold outer dials. While the dials are showstopping displays of handcraft, Lamb’s watches also feature completely handmade cases (read: no CNC machines used), which he crafts out of Argentium silver. Lamb’s case designs are robust and understated; they do a fabulous job of grounding the watch’s bold dial designs, but the craftsmanship that goes into them is something serious horology enthusiasts fawn over. For Lamb, a self-proclaimed watch industry isolationist, doing things like crafting his cases entirely by hand is kind of the whole point of making watches. Lamb deliberately avoids...
