BRAND IDENTITY: No splitting hairs — Ed Margulies

Being the son of one of, if not, the most famous watch retailers in the UK, is a unique way to learn the ropes of the industry. This is exactly how Ed Margulies began his journey, which has culminated in him launching his own watch brand, based around mental health and inspired by his own personal struggles over the years. Ed spoke bravely and candidly with Watch Insider’s Daniel Malins about the roads that led here.

Watch Insider: Most people are aware that Marcus Margulies is your father. When you look back at the time you spent working for his business — Time Products — what did you learn, both good and bad, about that operation and, more widely, the industry?

Ed Margulies: Two things come to my mind straight away. One, I learnt about the power of people behind a brand, which I wasn’t so much aware of as a youngster just coming out of studying. When you’re growing up, you just see the product, and you don’t think about what goes on behind that product. And I met some characters who very much defined every little detail about the actual product that the consumer sees in the shop window, and their emotion comes through in the product. And I realised that I loved the story behind the product more than the actual product itself. By focusing and absorbing those people that made the watch, I also absorbed the watch itself, if that makes sense. So I loved the actual watch, but I understood how the watch came about and why it came about. 

I joined the family business with a bit of impostor syndrome because it was nepotism at its finest. My father was a very successful watchmaker. He’d been in the industry, and at one point he actually distributed Audemars Piguet in Switzerland. For an Englishman to distribute Audemars in Switzerland — it will never be done again. He was bigger than life and I’d walk around the watch fairs with him, and people would stop him to take his photo and shake his hand. I mean, it was quite insane. He was like a bit of a rock star in the Baselworld days. 

I’ve met some very big and interesting characters, and my next point is about status and ego. It’s something I didn’t appreciate, and I really struggled with. I saw in my time in the industry the power a watch has to start a conversation. And I think it’s like nothing else for a man. Back then, someone would look at your shoes and your watch, and they’d make a judgement on you, unfortunately. So it said a lot about who you were, a watch. I saw a certain side of it in some of the people I met, that it was just purely a show of strength and a show of your financial status.

It’s funny, because when I first started in the industry, we didn’t have mobile phones, we didn’t have all the tech we have today. You bought a watch to tell the time, and then it was a question of how you told that story and how you expressed yourself with your watch. But it had a function, which a watch doesn’t have anymore today. So the reality is a watch pretty much only tells a story now. It defines you and tells your story. 

WI: When you encounter these egos, does that not come with an ethical dilemma? Because they are the ticket to profit and revenue and they could be your best customer. But inside, you might be rejecting what that person stands for.

EM: It was a means to an end, that’s for sure.

WI: But you’ve ended up coming up with a watch brand of your own. You’d love for your sales to double next year, but you’re also mindful of the egos that you’ve pushed away from previously. How do you square those two things?

EM: A watch doesn’t even have to have baguette diamonds everywhere and a pavé dial. What does a gold Rolex Datejust with a pavé diamond bezel or dial tell us about the person who’s wearing it? And it’s a question of “What is wealth?” For most people, wealth means having money. Maybe I’m a bit ignorant and naïve, but I think there’s a lot more to be said for what wealth is than just a question of money. It’s good friends, health, and a relationship with your children. For me, in my naive world, that’s my definition of wealth. I speak to my son and I explain to him, by all means be successful, but success doesn’t only equate to how much you earn.

So, going back, I think ego can be quite harmful. Unfortunately, the people who pretty much dictate and decide on how the rest of us minions live our lives have huge egos and it can be quite challenging.

WI: Let’s move the story forward a little bit. From the good and the bad that you experienced during your time at Time Products, there are two stages to discuss, really. There’s the stage which has culminated in Split Watches coming to life. But there’s also a period of your life where, on a personal level, you were struggling. How did you go from mental health problems to launching your own watch brand?

EM: I’ll go on a little rewind. So I had a bit of trauma from when I was a kid. I’ve come to realise that we’re all carrying these invisible bags of potatoes on our shoulders. And when you’re younger, and you’ve got this big sack of invisible potatoes, it can be a very lonely journey because you don’t tend to talk about it as much and understand that other people are going through what you’re going through. So it lives inside you quietly. I was always someone that hid behind a smile.

I’ll just explain one story. When I had children myself, it triggered a little bit of my experiences as a child. It got to the point where I’d go and meet all the parents when you wait for your kids in kindergarten. Everyone’s perfectly dressed, white shiny teeth, big smiles on their faces, bringing their A-game. And that’s what I was doing as well. I’d smile and make small talk, and over time, those talks got a little bit more interesting. They became acquaintances, and you shared a little bit more, but never your true self. Then I’d drive away from the school gates when I was out of sight, and it got to a point where I would literally cry for hours on end every day. My mental issues manifested physically as well because I kept them inside. So they were all eating me up internally. And I had to leave the watch industry. Whatever energy I had, my focus was on my wife and my kids. 

WI: Roughly what year was that?

EM: It was about 15 years ago. One day I was talking to this person that I knew quite well, and they asked me: “How are you doing?” And instead of saying, “I’m okay,” I said: “I’m really struggling. I’m doing really badly. I’m an absolute wreck.” We ended up going for a coffee and she said to me: “Thank you for sharing. My little brother’s a heroin addict, and I’ve been trying to find him for the last two days. I’ve had a couple of miscarriages recently.” And it was that moment where you create vulnerability, and you open your arms up a bit, and it allows other people to come in and to feel comfortable telling their stories as well. 

I’m a 53 year-old man. I grew up thinking I had to beat my chest and be the alpha, and you were never supposed to show vulnerability. It was a weakness. A man’s job was to bring a pay cheque, take his family on holiday, create financial security, and that was it.

I’ve come to realise a couple of things. One, that vulnerability isn’t a weakness. Vulnerability is actually a strength in my opinion, and it took a long time for me to come to that. I also came to realise that when you strive for perfection, you obviously are never going to achieve what you strive for because perfection doesn’t exist. And I think when we have a really high bar for our expectations, you will never reach that happiness point that you’re going for. I realised being vulnerable wasn’t such a big deal, and that allowed me to create that space and understand why other people were going through things as well. It all made sense. It’s not about what you see in someone that defines their life. It’s probably those things you don’t see.

I’m very lucky that I’ve got a very supportive wife. And she kept on nudging me when I was sitting on the sofa or when I wasn’t making the most of my days, and she was like, “Come on, do something.” 

WI: What did that look like originally? Just sketches?

EM: It was sketches, concepts, creating a business plan, speaking to someone and creating a design — all aspects of a brand and a watch. And, next thing I know, I’ve got this beautiful watch visualised in my head. I woke up excited about watches and an industry that I’d suffered with a lot during my time. And I’m suddenly doing something totally different, and I felt so empowered and every day was an exciting day.

Three years later, I’ve launched a watch in the worst possible time. I can’t remember in my lifetime a worse time for the watch industry than today. You’ve got Apple Watch, you’ve got the cost of living, you’ve got people who are not in the mood, financially and emotionally, to start buying loads of watches. You’ve also got, which you didn’t have before, people scared to buy watches now because of the danger of getting them ripped off their wrists.

WI: You think you’re swimming against the tide?

EM: I’m swimming against the tide, but I’ve got my armbands on! I’ll just go to one other story. One of my very first customers is a guy who had a huge business, which he sold, and he was given a gold Vacheron Constantin as a ‘thank you very much.’ So he was sitting down, and he was questioning his life. “Do I want a gold watch on my wrist? What does it say about me? Is there more to my story than having a gold watch?” He did about 30 minutes of research and he found a GQ article about us, and he bought the watch straight away. 

It turned out, when I got to know him a bit better, that he’d been through personal grief quite recently. He always thought he had to be a strong husband and father and therefore not show any emotion. And there was something about my brand that resonated with him, and I think it was that whole thing he read about my vulnerability.

WI: I was going to ask about the design process. It’s one thing having the idea, but you didn’t know exactly how every last detail would end up looking when you had your initial thoughts. And it’s difficult to find the balance between the ideology of a business concept and the day-to-day pragmatism of running it profitably. 

EM: I think that’s my version of self-harm today. There is no balance. If I’m talking about the design, I loved the old two-reg Heuers, and I took a little bit of influence from the two-reg Carrera dial, which I absolutely love. I think a lot of chronos can be very busy. I much prefer a two-reg chrono to a three-reg.

If I did a trade-off it would’ve made my job a whole lot easier. As I mentioned, if I had a Swiss movement and a steel shiny bracelet, the sell would be a lot easier. And it’s a strength and very much a weakness of mine that I don’t trade off. I try to stay really true now to what I believe in and what I want. I often think about whether I’m making my life hard or trying to self-harm in a weird way. I don’t believe I am, but I’m very passionate about what I’m trying to do and therefore sales may be more challenging to start with. I’m not totally naive and it’s very difficult to have a five-year plan today. When dear Donald [Trump] wakes up and decides to slap a 15% tariff, there are ramifications and you have to rethink your budgets and your potential in the American market. Actually, the American market’s been incredibly kind, and I didn’t expect it because we’ve not advertised yet. When I look at my cash flow and my conversations with my bank manager, I do question what I’m doing. But I believe in what I’m doing and I’m going to have to try and get through the initial process. 

People really love sincerity and credibility, and there’s maybe not enough of that amongst luxury brands. Plus, I didn’t really want to take investors on board, but the reality is we’re trying to look at ways to expand in the US and it’s quite hard on a very limited budget. I’ve got a very pragmatic business partner. He’s been a lifelong friend and he’s that balance. I’m a bit emotional, and I’m a bit of a loose cannon in certain ways, and he’s a good counterbalance for me.

WI: Can you elaborate on the design specifics a bit?

EM: I wanted a clean look. When you see more information, it can equate to being more complicated. I wanted to keep it clean. When we were looking at the logo we deliberately didn’t use capital letters in it. And when you look historically at watch brands, a lot of the male-led watch brands use capital letters in theirs. We’ve gone specifically lowercase. We have an asterisk as our logo, which is about highlighting a specific part of the story.

It’s a hundred metres water-resistant, so we use an FKM rubber, which is actually more expensive to make than a stainless steel bracelet. I think Richard Mille uses it, Hublot uses it, Apple uses it. It hugs the wrist somewhat. I questioned stainless steel. 70% of luxury watches use stainless steel, but is steel a luxury material? Personally, I don’t think it is, yet everyone is comfortable wearing steel in their luxury watches, and it’s all defined as luxury. For me, it’s not luxury. So I wanted to make something a little bit different.

I love tradition, but I also want to make a watch that isn’t born out of preconceived ideas from other people. I looked up how luxury is defined on Google AI the other day. “It’s a shape-shifter of a concept that has evolved from meaning sinful excess in ancient times, to a modern pursuit of comfort and self-expression. While traditionally defined by high prices and rare materials, it’s increasingly about the experience and the value of time.”

And then ChatGPT: “Luxury isn’t price, it’s meaning, restraint, and intention, freedom from compromise. Emotional resonance, a luxury object carries a story, a philosophy, or a quiet confidence. It makes the owner feel something private, not loud. And in modern terms, especially now, luxury is the ability to opt out of noise, of mass culture, of urgency, of imitation.”

We donate an hour’s therapy for every watch we sell. We have a charity partner called Anna Freud, which creates safe spaces for people to talk. Because a lot of people can’t go to their friends or family if they’re in a hostile environment, and they’ve got no one to talk to. What’s nice about being a dad and seeing youngsters grow up now is that they’re a lot more encouraged to talk about their problems, which I wasn’t. I definitely wasn’t ever encouraged to talk about my problems.

So we donate an hour’s therapy for every watch we sell. Our watches are all set at 7.23, and I think we’re the first brand literally in the history of the watch industry to promote all their watches frowning rather than smiling! If you’re having a bad day, there’s nothing wrong with frowning. You don’t always have to smile and always say you’re great, because it can be quite damaging. So we’re trying to just create a watch that can spark a different conversation. It’s not all about wearing a Split and talking about your mental health. It’s just about connecting. 

I think music has been quite an interesting tool for me, especially for my business partner. There’s something quite beautiful about when people come together and the energy that comes with sharing something with a lot of people.

The human race makes me laugh and cry a bit, but we’re writing films about doomsday and machines taking over our lives and killing us all, but yet at the same time we’re creating AI and creating that doomsday scenario. 

I called it Split because a split chronograph is my favourite movement.There’s something I absolutely adore about a split, and I think we’re all a little bit split from each other. Back in the day, when you crossed a road and a car stopped for you, you would say thank you. You wouldn’t just walk across the road and ignore the fact someone’s done something nice for you. I would always say thank you, and to this day I will always say thank you.

WI: Do you not see as much of that now?

EM: Not only do I not see as much as that, but people are in their mobile phone world. I see so many people crossing a road and I actually have to stop my car, and they’re not even aware that, had I decided not to stop, my car would’ve hit them. I just don’t see young people turning around and saying thank you. And that interaction and that connection that I had growing up was something quite magical. I mean, we were really lucky not to have all these devices because I would be totally hooked if I was a kid on these devices today. We were climbing trees, falling over, having fun, and there was more emotion. And now I see kids just communicating via their phones.

There’s a huge group of people in boardrooms who are working around algorithms they know will hook you. These people have a wealth of information statistics and the need to appease their board members. They will do whatever they can do to get as many people as possible on their devices. There’s a sinister underbelly to it all.

WI: Given the strength of feeling you have towards trauma and mental health and society more generally, can you see yourself branching into other projects as time goes on?

EM: Growing up, you wouldn’t have found out the backstory behind a branded T-shirt that you were spending £40 on. But now that T-shirt’s £200 and you’re finding out the truth that these are actually made in the Far East in bulk, they’re sticking a logo on, and they’re charging you £200. So now you’re seeing that, and you can make a more balanced opinion of the situation. I think people don’t want to have the piss taken out of them, basically. “Why am I spending £200 on a T-shirt that costs 50p to make?” And so they’re questioning a bit more and they’re not as gullible as they used to be. 

The end goal for me is, if I can manage to keep the bank manager happy for the short term, I want to create a sub-brand within the umbrella of Split. It will be like a wristband. I don’t like the fact that the watches that I really felt the need to create with this Split two-register chrono are not available to 99% of the world, who can’t afford to spend £1,800 on a watch. I’d like the brand and the message to reach a wider audience. So I’d like eventually, once and if we become established, to create a sub-brand with a watch that’s going to be under £100. It won’t have an automatic two-register chronograph inside. It will have an inexpensive quartz movement.

It’s a means to an end to create a product at a certain price point. And it will almost be like the wristbands we used to wear when we were growing up. So, for example, you’d have a yellow wristband for cancer. It was standing up for something, using your wrist to make a statement. So I’d like to create something that’s available to a wider audience, all profits going to mental health charities. I support honesty, I support togetherness. So maybe just a way to give people a different connection.

WI: To what extent, either with Split as it currently is or with the future sub-brand that you’ve just explained, are you trying to leverage the retail relationships that you established back in the day? Or have you just separated yourself from all of that?

EM: There’s only one person I reached out to. You see, I don’t want to be in a traditional watch space, like Watches of Switzerland. I don’t want these watches being sold by someone in a suit and tie. I think the narrative around the watch is quite important. If it’s sold without emotion and without understanding, I think it will get missed quite easily. 

So, for me, it’s quite important that, however we get to the end consumer, it’s done in the right way, with emotion and with meaning and with passion. And I think creating that environment is really important. We’ve thought about having pop-ups initially, and there are a few retailers, who aren’t watch retailers, but they have watch brands within the umbrella of the store. Whether it’s a place like, for example, Selfridges — I wouldn’t want to go in the Wonder Room but I’m not averse to opening up in the lifestyle section.

But I haven’t been very aggressive at all about trying to find retail partners, but I know I do need to find them. It’s important because it will bring people to the brand.

WI: Could you seek a partnership with somewhere like a record store, or is that a bit too ‘out there?’

EM: It could 100% be a record store because the person that goes to buy a rare vinyl is exactly our kind of customer.

WI: And the type of person who would sell it is not going to be in a polished suit.

EM: Exactly. We’re trying to create a story behind our watches and those moments that inspired me and other people. As recently as Oasis’ tour last year, how many people went to the concerts? And however much you like listening to Oasis in your room, to have that experience where the song’s being sung by 60,000 people around you can elevate that moment. I think that togetherness and connection is quite special.

This article first appeared in the March 2026 edition of Watch Insider magazine.