William Wood Watches: A Firefighter’s Legacy, Recast in Brass and Hose
To start with, this is a brand we absolutely love here at TWU, and we hope you do too.
Some watch brands start with a product idea. Others look at what’s already out there and try to do it better. William Wood Watches starts with a name, and a life in service, then builds everything around that legacy. It is not marketing fluff or a conveniently invented backstory. It is a real tribute, turned into great design, with watches that feel purposeful from the first glance to the smallest detail.
We love them!
The William Wood History
William Wood was the late grandfather of founder Jonny Garrett, a British firefighter who served for more than 25 years and earned commendations for bravery while stationed at Pilgrim Street with the Newcastle & Gateshead Fire Brigade Blue Watch. Those aren’t throwaway details. They are the spine of the brand, and they explain why William Wood watches feel less like themed accessories and more like wearable tributes.
Garrett founded William Wood Watches in 2017 with a simple idea: build properly-made watches that honour his grandfather’s legacy and celebrate firefighters and first responders around the world. The hook is how literally the brand carries that story into the product.
Upcycling with meaning
William Wood isn’t shy about materials. Their watches incorporate elements tied directly to firefighting history, most famously brass sourced from vintage British firefighter helmets, melted down and integrated into components. These are often called out in the crown and/or caseback details, depending on the collection and serve as a constant tribute to the cause.
Then there are the straps: upcycled fire hose and even firefighting gear, giving the watches a tactile connection to the world they’re designed to honour.
The brand story got bigger over time
What’s interesting about William Wood’s trajectory is how naturally it’s expanded from personal tribute to broader, history-led storytelling.
A recent example is the Dunkirk project, built around the Massey Shaw, a London Fire Brigade fireboat launched in 1935 that played a heroic role during the Dunkirk evacuation. The Financial Times covered William Wood’s partnership with the Massey Shaw Education Trust, including a limited edition release tied to fundraising and restoration efforts. It’s a smart evolution: still firefighting heritage, but now connected to national history, preservation, and commemoration.
That commitment has also extended beyond the product. On the brand’s own “History” page, Garrett says they’ve donated over £250,000 to firefighting charities and have partnered with major retailers, including Watches of Switzerland.
Our three most popular William Wood watches
Here are our top picks, if you’re interested.
Dunkirk Watch
The most overtly historical piece in the catalogue, and the one that embodies everything about the brand.
William Wood frames the Dunkirk Watch as a Swiss-made bronze nautical watch created in collaboration with the London Fire Brigade fireboat, the Massey Shaw, which the brand says saved over 600 lives off the beaches of Dunkirk during World War II.
The hook is on the caseback: the brand says the watch contains a genuine piece of the Massey Shaw’s engine used during Operation Dynamo, melted down and formed into a silhouette within an engraved Dunkirk scene.
On the spec side, it’s powered by a Swiss-made Sellita SW220 upgraded to “Premium Top Grade”, quoted by the brand with accuracy ranges and a 38-hour power reserve, in a 42mm bronze case designed to patina over time.
Interested? These are currently priced at £3,995.
There’s also a participatory element: William Wood says each Dunkirk buyer has their name engraved on a plaque placed on the Massey Shaw for a Channel crossing commemorating Operation Dynamo.
Triumph Vintage Edition
If you want the brand’s firefighting design language in a more classic, celebratory format, this is the one.
The Triumph Vintage Edition is a gold vintage-inspired limited-edition chronograph, with an aged champagne diamond-cut dial, polished gold numerals, and subdials explicitly styled after fire engine pump gauges.
Under the hood, the brand specifies a Swiss-made Sellita SW510 chronograph movement with a 48-hour power reserve. Case sizing is listed at 41mm, with substantial thickness to accommodate the chronograph architecture.
And because it’s William Wood, the on-theme details keep coming with a crown made from a melted-down British brass firefighter’s helmet, which is stated on their website as 100 years old. You also get black fire hose straps and a fire-alarm-inspired caseback/presentation concept.
These retail at £2,995.
Fire Exit Watch
The Fire Exit Watch is the brand at its most instantly recognisable and playful, without turning into a gimmick.
William Wood describes it as a stainless-steel gunmetal day-date watch inspired by the fire exit sign, with a Swiss Sellita SW220 movement that animates the “running man” across seven different day-of-week actions.
The execution is unusually thorough: the brand calls out the exact fire-exit-sign green for the dial and bezel, a green glass dial that lets you see down to the day wheel, and a caseback with a viewing “door” aperture that reveals a rotating disc animation of the fire-exit man. Very clever!
Even the strap story is on-message, with options including British Racing Green fire hose, plus a custom buckle shaped like a fire-exit arrow.
Price is listed at £1,495.
Let’s wind it up
William Wood is a great reminder that some of the best brands start with a great story.
When the narrative is real, and the materials physically carry that history, the result lands differently. These watches don’t just reference firefighting. They memorialise it, fund it, and keep finding new corners of it to celebrate.
All image credits - William Wood Watches