Q&A: Space watches like no other from Diatom

Founded in 2023 by aerospace and materials science specialists, Dr. Alex Baker and Dr. Chris Rose, UK brand Diatom has carved out a niche for itself by taking a scientific approach to watches. Unlike other ‘space watches’ that have been released in the industry over the years, the brand established its identity through a rigorous process involving high-altitude stratospheric flights and authenticated extraterrestrial materials. Baker and Rose spoke to Watch Insider about how the business came about and its plans to conquer the universe.

Watch Insider: What made you launch a watch brand in the first place?

Dr. Alex & Dr. Chris: We’re aerospace engineers first and foremost, but we’ve always had a deep interest in watches; there’s something uniquely compelling about how they marry aesthetic design with mechanical complexity so seamlessly. It dawned on us that watches would be the perfect vessels for us to share the extraordinary materials we’ve acquired over our time working in the space sector, connecting owners with historic artifacts that they can carry with them wherever they go.

WI: To what extent is it a gimmick versus providing genuinely higher standards for your customers because of the nature of your stress testing of the product?

A&C: Believe it or not, the space flight is probably the USP that our customers shout about the most, but it’s not just there to provide an exciting talking point. It actually doubles up as a gruelling testing regime for our watches — most notably their movements. Our rationale being: if a watch can travel into one of the most extreme environments known to man and live to tell the tale, we know for sure they’ll maintain peak performance during their future owners’ adventures.

WI: What are the insurance/cost implications of operating in the way that you do?

A&C: The costs associated with offering space-flown watches would be astronomical for any other brand, but our proprietary launch platform provides us with an economically feasible method of sending our watches into space. It’s still not a low-cost activity by any means, but we’ve undertaken vast amounts of development work to ensure that the numbers work. We collaborate closely with our partners at Sent Into Space LTD, allowing us to conduct launches in a scalable fashion with all insurance considerations and legalities taken care of. 

WI: How long will you continue to operate in the way that you are? There’s ideology but there’s also pragmatism. Presumably you’d want to scale up the operation at some point, which may involve compromising a little?

A&C: Storytelling will always remain a priority for us; we’d never want to compromise on the space launch side of things and withhold such a uniquely compelling talking point from our customers. Ultimately, we want to make space as accessible as possible for ordinary people rather than creating ultra-expensive watches for the wealthy. 

In terms of scaling up the operation, access to space isn’t something that will become a bottleneck for us — thanks to our proprietary launch platform. It’s actually more likely that material rarity will end up being a pinch point if we reach large production numbers. This is one of the reasons we create our watches in limited edition batches — not to artificially create the perception of scarcity, but to make the most out of something that’s genuinely limited. Once our reserves of a particular material have been exhausted, we retire that particular watch and concentrate on bringing our next concept to life. 

Watch Insider: I was reading about the NFC-enabled card linking the owner directly to the HD video footage of their specific serial-numbered watch looking down at the Earth. How much heavy lifting was involved with getting this set up?

Owners’ warranty cards do indeed link to flight footage from the very craft that took their watch into space, offering awe-inspiring views of the craft-mounted timepiece floating high above the Earth. 

Following on from an earlier point around the scalability of space flights, one of the ways we safeguard against unfeasibly high operational costs is by launching watches in small micro-batches rather than individually. This allows us to provide customers with intimate content of their watch alongside the rest of the batch, while reducing turnaround times and minimising our environmental footprint (something we take extremely seriously in all of our day-to-day operations).

WI: When all is said and done, do you find it difficult to be unique with the actual watches, as opposed to the storytelling? Even with such a grand backdrop like yours, a watch is a tiny piece of real estate.

A&C: We’re fortunate that our extensive space-sector network gives us access to a plethora of extraordinary materials with remarkable stories behind them. Having worked in the space-engineering industry for well over a decade, we’re acutely aware that the failure of even the smallest component can jeopardise the success of an entire mission, and we carry that awareness of the minutiae through to all we do at Diatom. Sure, a watch makes for a relatively compact canvas, but it just makes attention to detail that much more important.

WI: Do you have a philosophy towards your entrepreneurialism? There are easier ways to make money, so presumably a big part of why you launched the business is because of the passion that you have for doing something you love?

A&C: Of course there’re easier ways to make money, but where’s the fun in that?!

Passion is absolutely a massive driver in this, and Diatom is genuinely a labour of love. We’ve cut our teeth in an industry where shortcuts can have disastrous consequences, and for us watches are no different; compromises in quality will never be on our radar. When all is said and done we’re always looking to end up with a product that we’re proud of; if it’s not something we’d wear on our own wrists then it doesn’t go out the door, it’s as simple as that.

WI: How would you define ‘success’ if we had this conversation in five years’ time?

A&C: Success, to us, is organically building the Diatom community until we’re a recognised brand among watch enthusiasts. We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built so far, but this is just the beginning. We’ve got a lot of exciting things lined up for the coming year, and much more planned after that. Watch this space!

WI: What’s your sales strategy, both now and in the future? Do you plan on partnering with retailers at any point?

A&C: We’re still early in our journey, but we’ve got bold ambitions for growth. We’ve had some interest from retailers wanting to represent us, however we are currently weighing up our options and assessing what’s best for our timepieces and the wider Diatom community. We’re definitely excited by the prospect of being available in retailers, but we just need to be mindful that whoever sells our watches does the storytelling justice.