As we prepare to report directly from Geneva during our week at the SIHH 2014, we decided to spend a few days in London. As many of you know, London is considered a must when it comes to watch shopping. When it comes to Audemars Piguet and highly complicated watches, there is no better place to stop by other than MARCUS watches located on 170 New Bond Street. MARCUS is advertised as containing “The most important collection of watches in the World” and we can say that they deliver on that promises. The range of brands they carry is truly formidable, ranging from long-established, high end brands such as Audemars Piguet, Piaget, Girard-Perregaux and Zenith to more recent haute horlogerie brands like Richard Mille, Urwerk, MCT, Hautlence and Greubel Forsey amongst others.
The store was established in its current form by Marcus Margulies whose family company, Time Products, dates back to the early 1960’s when his Father Alexander moved to England from Poland and established a business distributing inexpensive watches imported from the Soviet Union. This company was named Sekonda and is now the UK’s best-selling watch brand. Time Products has worked closely with the Swiss Luxury Watch Industry and is currently the UK distributor for Hublot and Franck Muller. Other brands that have been distributed by Time Products in the UK include Blancpain, Breguet, Girard-Perregaux, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet which was distributed in the UK, Switzerland and the U.S. for over 15 years.
The store has one of the rarest collections of vintage and antique timepieces in the world. The collection was started in 1989. During the past twenty years it has bought some extremely rare, sometimes unique, pocket and wristwatches, the majority having been produced by the watch companies Time Products represents. The purpose of the collection has always been to support retail customers by promoting the brands when they hold exhibitions. Below you will see a picture of Marcus, the man behind this watch shopping paradise.
