Mr Jones Watches recently opened the doors on its new retail location, situated on Neal Street, the busy main thoroughfare running from Shaftsbury Avenue to Long Acre in London. Just a stone’s throw away from Tottenham Court Road tube station, it will give brand fans and tourists alike the chance to immerse themselves in the fascinating world of MJW.
Mr Jones Watches launched in 2007 and in the 15 years since has built a sizeable following. With the launch of The Accurate, otherwise known as the “Remember You Will Die Watch,” the business catapulted itself in front of watch lovers from London and beyond as a brand doing things differently.
This alternative approach to watchmaking is influenced and inspired by the brand’s founder, Crispin Jones’, background in Fine Art. After completing his undergraduate degree and then a masters, Mr Jones tells WATCHPRO just how his fascination in technology prompted his venture into the watch world.
“I don’t think there is a single technology that is 100 years old that we still use in the same way today. With watches, this goes beyond even just a century and the reason is the persistence of it. It is a portable piece of technology that is also a statement symbol, it can reflect that persons personality.”
He elaborates: “It carries a lot of weight beyond purely functional aspects and I actually think it is a male piece of jewellery and there are not many examples of that so that did play into those early watches and it still does today.”
A real design-led brand, Mr Jones himself has seen the opportunity in the fact that these days, everyone checks their mobile phone for the time.
With this being the case, it has given Mr Jones and the designers he works with a sense of liberation to be even more playful with design.
On his website, Mr Jones reiterates this with a poignant remark about just what Mr Jones Watches exists to achieve.
He explains: “We work really hard to produce original and interesting designs — our interest is not, nor will it ever be in producing something that looks like a Rolex — Rolex already do that job rather well in our opinion!
“Rather our interest is in producing something distinctive that is unique to Mr Jones Watches.”
And if being distinctive is a brand goal, those involved can certainly say it has been an objective they have achieved, and continue to do so.
With most of the brand’s sales made online, a retail space for Mr Jones Watches has not been the number one priority as it is with some brands. That said, it had a space on the first floor of the Oxo Tower on the south bank in London for a number of years.
With not a huge amount of footfall and sales still rolling in online, it actually turned out to be a perfect mix of a space which could bring Mr Jones Watches lovers in to meet those working for the business, including Crispin himself, it also allowed the staff to have a location outside of the workshop to collaborate and work on ideas.
Now though, things have stepped up a notch for the Mr Jones team with the opening of a new store on Neal Street.
With the aim of creating an immersive experience for its customers in the capital, the new store is located within the creative neighbourhood of Seven Dials and will replace the retail offering in the Oxo Tower on London’s South Bank.
The move creates five new jobs for the 15-year-old brand, and offers a secure, prime location as part of a bid to appeal to a new customer base of fashion and design lovers who live, work or visit Seven Dials.
Creative design agency, Seen Studios has collaborated on the design of a flamboyant and bold interior, which will house Mr Jones Watches’ permanent collection of 30 watch models, exclusive new watch releases, a personalisation station and the brand’s own range of T-shirts.
Stanley is described as the cutest and laziest team member. He’s usually sleeping in the workshop, but you’ll occasionally spot him in our Neal Street shop too.
The new store will also give a platform to celebrate and promote the wide range of established and up-and-coming artists Mr Jones Watches works with.
On the move, Mr Jones reflects: “As a London-based independent, it means a lot to us that we’ll soon be holding our own amongst some of the world’s most established and popular brands on Neal Street.
“We’re passionate about our local heritage. While we sell our watches all over the world online, each one is handcrafted right here in London. Moving to Seven Dials marks a new chapter for us and is the perfect way to build on our 15th anniversary celebrations.”
In visiting the new store, customers are immediately met with what is an immersive experience. You feel like you’re in the Mr Jones Watches world as soon as you step through the door.
There are a number of collections surrounding the floor space, featured interestingly behind magnifying glasses which offer an even deeper insight to the interesting designs.
Speaking of product, the Mr Jones Watches business model usually limits new collections to just 100 pieces, giving the team the chance to see the initial appetite and popularity of a certain design before making a future decision to potentially reissue the collection.
In conversation with Crispin, with his dog Stanley sat on his lap, described on the Mr Jones Watches website as the brand’s laziest and cutest team member, Mr Jones delved deeper into where they see that popularity come from.
He explained: “A real unexpected thing we have seen since launch is the popularity the brand receives from across the globe, obviously here in London and the UK but what has been a real nice surprise is the love MJW gets from the US market.”
On why that may be, he continues: “I think the London-based part of our business as a brand really resonates with some of our customers in the US. I hope this store can help with that in giving them a place to come and visit and see the brand in the flesh if they are here on a tourist trip.”
