102 Years of Expertise: Our Founder Albert

Albert Wagstaff was an impressive fellow - he was a big influence on everyone he met, I can say with ease. Albert was a polymath, interested in everything and clever enough to employ his knowledge and skills in many spheres of the world.

He had a long and varied career in many different industries and professions and retained a humble attitude to the world and his achievements. He was at various times a farmer (sheep and crops), a watchmaker, and an entrepreneur with cars, manufacturing and engineering, and estate management. But he described himself as a countryman - and that held a lot of purpose and meaning for him in both his approach to the natural world and the way he conducted himself.

He taught many to shoot, fish, stalk and farm with varying degrees of success. His fascination with watches came from a combination of engineering interests and fascination with timepieces. In 1923, he established Wagstaff Watches after noticing his farming and country friends struggling with unreliable timepieces that couldn't match the demands of rural life. He taught himself about watches and built partnerships with Swiss manufacturers to help bring quality timepieces to market through what was often referred to as the English Watch system.

Albert's vision was simple but powerful: equip countryside folk with watches as dependable as they were. What began as supplying his farming circle with proper timepieces grew into something far greater - a watchmaking legacy that would be passed down through the generations.

The company faced interruptions over the decades - world wars, financial crashes in the 1950s and 1970s, and various economic challenges that occasionally forced operations to be mothballed. But Albert's principles and passion for serving the countryside community remained at the heart of everything.

Albert kept meticulous records throughout his life - technical drawings, sketches of watches, certificates, and documents that would later guide the family business. His approach was methodical and thorough, never throwing anything away that might prove useful for future generations of watchmakers in the family.

When Albert passed away, he left behind not just a business, but a philosophy and set of values that would continue to guide Wagstaff Watches. His grandson and great-grandsons inherited both his passion for watchmaking and his deep connection to countryside life, ensuring the company would stay true to its rural roots.

Today, the family continues to run the company around principles Albert lived by, using his aphorisms and bon mots almost daily to keep on track with his original thinking and motivation for what Wagstaff Watches should be.

The modern Wagstaff Watches works with partners in Switzerland to bring watches to customers at very high quality and robustness at sensible prices - just as Albert envisioned. We maintain his commitment to giving back, donating 15% of our profits to support charities in the countryside and farming, and to support rural skills and sports along the way. We also support conservation and land management goals with collaborations and partners - as Albert used to say - "always look to give something back".

This is Albert's continuing legacy: a family business that has weathered world wars, financial storms, and the changing face of British agriculture, yet never lost sight of its rural roots or the countryman's values he instilled over a century ago.