he “Dirty Dozen” is a name affectionately coined by collectors for a group of twelve World War II field watches, commissioned by Britain’s Ministry of Defence. Considered some of the most sought-after vintage military watches of all time, they were produced in Switzerland by twelve separate manufacturers, including prominent names such as Omega, Longines, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and IWC.

Among those stellar brands was one British marque: Vertex. Far from some obscure operator standing up to the Swiss Goliaths, in those days Vertex was no small player. “Certainly, in the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, it was the biggest watchmaker in the UK,” says the brand’s current owner, Don Cochrane. If anyone should know the history of the brand, it’s Cochrane. He is the great-grandson of the original founder of Vertex and reincorporated the company in 2016.

The Dirty Dozen

Credit: A Collected Man

The exceptional history of Vertex stretches back to 1912 when Claude Octavius Lyons started his first watch company. Having worked in the industry since he was 17, Lyons gained immediate success. In order to scale up, he established Vertex Watches Limited in both London and the Swiss city of La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1916.

Don Cochrane

The current owner, Don Cochrane, is the great-grandson of the original founder of Vertex and reincorporated the company in 2016.

Business continued to flourish until the advent of World War II saw calamity strike. In 1940, Vertex’s Hatton Garden showrooms were obliterated during the Blitz. However, amid the doom and gloom, there was a silver lining. Thanks to its Swiss factories, the Ministry of Defence chose Vertex as one of its twelve suppliers of custom-built wristwatches for combat. By 1944, 15,000 units of the Vertex Calibre 59 Nav had been produced for the armed forces.

The Vertex showroom at Hatton Garden in London

Although the war took a serious toll on the business, the reputation of Vertex was sustained when peacetime returned. It continued making watches under the direction of the family’s second generation. Sadly, the quartz crisis posed an insurmountable challenge, and the company closed its doors in 1972 after 60 successful years.

A two-pronged approach

However, that was not the end of the story. One hundred years after his great-grandfather started the company, Vertex was resurrected by Cochrane in London with a tribute model to its famous field watch. Produced in Switzerland, the inaugural M100 series instantly feels like a piece of history. Following in its footsteps came the MP45 and M60, made in the same spirit with superb build quality, but with two distinct themes. While the former brings to life the design of an aborted 1945 monopusher chronograph model, the latter is an all-new dive watch derived from the same design code.

The M100 series are a set of finely honed 40mm tributes to the watches Vertex produced for the British military.

When Cochrane revived the brand, he could have taken it in any direction, but his pride in its wartime role made the military style the obvious choice. “Our market really buys into the history. The WWII narrative is what they love,” he explains, “We sell a lot of watches to veterans. Because we’re British, we can tell the story about the Second World War from our perspective whereas the Swiss were neutral. They would be quite careful when they talk about the war because they supplied both sides with watches.”

While the MP45 brings to life the design of an aborted 1945 monopusher chronograph model, the M60 is an all-new dive watch derived from the same design code.

Nevertheless, Cochrane is aware Vertex cannot trade solely on its legacy. “We don’t want to be completely historical because lots of watchmakers create homages to other people’s watches,” he says, referring to the stiff competition in the same space. To that end, he is taking a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, tapping into the best of the brand’s DNA to help it regain traction, and on the other, striving to build brand value for longevity.

The M60 AquaLion is based on the Vertex dive watches of the 1950s and 60s.

In fact, the original company produced all manner of watches, and was best-known for classy, dressier pieces, for both men and women. “We now have over 200 historical Vertex watches in our collection,” says Cochrane, “And we have all the brochures for them from the last hundred years. We were more famous for ladies’ watches than men’s watches until after the Second World War. We made lots of platinum diamond and cocktail watches, little gold watches, and half hunters.”

No shortage of great stories

Cochrane’s ambition is to bring that side of the company more to the forefront. “I feel like there’s a huge amount of energy going into our market and not that much to the female end,” he reasons, “Because we’re over 100 years old, we made a lot of watches and that gives us not just authenticity, but also authority to make a watch.” Cochrane also believes a women’s watch could well transform the perception of Vertex. Unwilling to discuss further, he drops a cryptic hint as to what might be in the pipeline: “It isn’t a historical watch. Hopefully it would be fairly unique in the marketplace.”

The Vertex MP45 is a contemporary take on a monopusher timing watch commissioned in 1945, and is available as both an automatic or a manual.

With its genuine and transparent heritage, Vertex stands every chance of success in the hyper-demanding luxury market, but it would be wrong to assume the legacy sells itself. “I wish that was true,” Cochrane says candidly, “Everyone else is telling stories all the time as well. When every watch brand is constantly going ‘look at me, look at me’, and if you don’t say anything, then although people know you’re there, they’re distracted. Hence, you need some sort of momentum for the brand always.”

With its rich archive to fall back on, Vertex has no shortage of great stories to tell. But, like other small independent brands that lack a hypnotic marketing machine or the scope for relentless product launches, getting continued exposure is a tall order. Thus, after years of contemplation, Cochrane has decided the time is ripe for a new bet. In the coming months, Vertex will open a new store in the heart of London’s upscale Mayfair district. This will be the company’s first physical location since the 1970s. The retail point will also serve as an exhibition space for the Vertex journey and products, from the past to the future. The great comeback story continues.

In the coming months, Vertex will open a new store in the heart of London’s upscale Mayfair district. This will be the company’s first physical location since the 1970s.