The tradition of gift giving has a history in both celebration and building bonds between communities. We know that as far back as the Neolithic period, during the time of the winter solstice on the 21st or 22nd of December, Stonehenge was a site for feasting and gift exchanging to mark the end of the year and the start of the next. The Romans too were prolific well wishers during the period of the New Year, handing out sprigs of their sacred plant mistletoe to bless people with good fortune and later gifts referred to ‘strenae’ to honour the goddess...
It’s no secret that the British watch making trade has a rich history of innovation, insight and intellect in developing movements that have been the bedrock of the trade for centuries. Since Neolithic times, structures like the iconic Stonehenge have mapped the heavens to help structure the days and nights into building a circadian rhythm for us all. From the ingenuity of our ancestors to now, British inventors and experimenters are estimated to have developed over 75% of the concepts and machinery prototypes in mechanical timekeeping during the golden age of British horology in the 18th- 19th centuries. It was...
What was it that made Britain ‘great’? Well, there might be a plethora of answers to that question but to us at Hawchester London, it is the same spirit of self belief and innovation which led England down the path of greatness that encouraged us to open our doors. In fact, while the first time-piece was not constructed in England, the 1500’s saw our great nation enter the watch trade and by the 1800s not only did we excel in the industry but become responsible for the manufacture of more than half the world’s watches at the time. British innovators...
As the United Kingdom prepares to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of our cherished sovereign, we took a moment to appreciate the team behind the palace doors that kept the most prized product of the monarchy in the limelight for over seventy years. When Queen Elizabeth II vowed to dedicate her life in service of the British people in her early 20s, she couldn’t have had the slightest inclination of how long that role would last or what it would demand of her. Yet, her clarity of the legacy she wanted to leave behind and the job she must do to...
In England, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday during Lent and began with the intention to honour the Virgin Mary or as she is affectionately called, ‘Mother Mary’. While she remains a symbol of sacrifice and goodness, the reality of an ever-evolving lifestyle has altered our understanding and acceptance of motherhood. Time has shown us that nothing ever stays the same. We grow and our needs grow and change with us even though we are rooted in the basic human needs for love, acceptance, and respect. The understanding and concept of motherhood has grown too. Or out-grown really,...
There are some love stories that are still as special today as they were generations ago, making them timeless moments of inspiration, comfort and joy. But what makes a story timeless? What makes it relevant when our expectations and ideas of love, life and liberty are eternally evolving? If we consider some of the tales that still move us, we can’t deny that it is the human element that makes it unforgettable. Whether it was the defiance of Romeo and Juliet or Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, the compatibility of Rama and Sita, the seductivity of Marilyn Monroe and Mata Hari,...