Accurist

Asher and Rebecca Loftus founded Accurist on St John Street in Clerkenwell in 1946, in the district that had been the centre of British watch and clockmaking for two centuries. The name was the proposition: accurate watches, affordably priced.

The family kept the company for sixty-eight years, and built its identity less through movements than through association with timekeeping as a national institution. In 1986 Accurist became the first company to sponsor the UK's Speaking Clock, a position it held until 2008 — for a generation of callers, the time was quite literally brought to you by Accurist.

The brand also sponsored the Millennium Countdown clock at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, ticking down the last thousand days to the year 2000 at the home of Greenwich Mean Time itself. Accurist watches went to Concorde pilots, and the brand appeared in advertising alongside the England football team.

Time Products acquired Accurist from the Loftus family in 2014, bringing it under the same ownership as Sekonda and Limit, and moved the business to Leicestershire.

The collection today is largely quartz — classic British dress styling, London-themed lines, and a price point that has always been the point.

Accurist holds 21 models, from £60 to £199. Half cost less than £129, and a quarter less than £70. 1 of 21 is automatic. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1946

Founded in Clerkenwell by Asher and Rebecca Loftus.

1986

Becomes the first sponsor of the UK Speaking Clock.

1997

Sponsors the Millennium Countdown clock at Greenwich.

2008

The Speaking Clock sponsorship ends after twenty-two years.

2014

Acquired by Time Products after 68 years in family hands.