Pinion launched in 2013 with its debut Axis collection of automatic watches which included the Axis Bronze.

The Axis II Steel and Axis Black watch formed the basis of the collection, and these were initially the only timepieces planned for launch. However, Pinion founder, Piers Berry was keen to present a novelty piece – Something that would catch the attention of press and public.

Back in 2013, bronze watches were quite scarce.

They were only seen as a costly limited edition for luxury brand Panerai or lower-end specialist diver watches. The majority of these bronze watches had one thing in common – they were all sized large, ranging from 44 to 47mm plus.

Piers felt, there was an opportunity to present a wearable 42mm sized bronze watch that could be part of the launch collection.

Piers was able to source a watch case maker for the bronze watches, but because this was planned too near to launch, there was no time to make an actual bronze case for the November event date.

Instead, Piers took one of the steel Axis prototype cases that had been produced and instructed the help of a specialists metal plater in London, a company that had previously worked on the Olympic cauldron from the 2012 games.

The result was a steel watch plated to match the tone of raw bronze that Piers was looking for and this was the watch presented at SalonQP in 2013.

The striking green dial was not the first choice of colour for the Axis Bronze. Instead, Piers was intending to use brown or black and had made some green dials to test colour samples only.

Because the prototype dials were hand painted in England, Piers was limited to a number that was usable, and the brown dial was not suitable.

So, Piers opted for the green dial, which was the right decision because it went on to become the best selling watch within the first year of launch.

Axis Bronze watch

Axis Bronze Dusk watch

Pinion followed up the Axis Bronze with the addition of a brown coloured dial later in 2014, called the Axis Bronze Dusk.

Related articles