Hand sourced. Hand crafted. Hand engraved. Hand shaped. Hand finished. Hand painted.
You are looking at a piece of history repurposed for your wrist. This manually wound timepiece is made from 135 year old train track pried from the hillside of our hometown, Lethbridge, Alberta. This durable steel, manufactured by Barrow Hematite Steel Company in 1885, became the backbone of the coal mining industry and was an integral piece of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was sourced from the Galt No. 8 Mine site, which closed in 1957, and was a catalyst of economic development in aptly named Coalbanks (since changed to Lethbridge), as well as neighbouring towns Coalhurst and Coaldale. Larry Christmas, a previous chairman of the History and Heritage Committee of the Coal Association of Canada said: “The Galt No. 8 Mine site represents one of the most important abandoned coal mines in Canada...”
The Barrow Hematite Steel Company was a major iron and steel producer in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire (now Cumbria), England, between 1859 and 1963. At the turn of the 20th-century and the technological revolution it operated the largest steel mill in the world.
Their quality steel rail now functions as the dial, case and caseback of our hand built and individually numbered timepiece. The strap is made from none other than Hermann Oak leather from one of the finest tanneries in the USA. This edition is packaged in a Canadian-made wood box. And of course the craftsmen who make your watch are human, not machines, ensuring your timepiece is completely unique in finish. Because our watches are made by hand, please allow for minor differences in colour and texture. We hope you love it as much as we loved making it.
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