Camden Watch Company revives pocket watches as a summer style statement

Camden Watch Company is betting that the pocket watch can work with a linen suit as easily as with a waistcoat. The brand’s first-ever pocket watch is now available for preorder, a 47 mm stainless-steel model that is meant to read as a summer accessory, not a museum piece.

That distinction matters. Husband-and-wife cofounders Anneke Short, the designer, and Jerome Robert, head of strategy, said customer requests had been building for years before the timing finally felt right. Camden is calling the piece a modern-vintage watch inspired by Victorian London, and the brand is marketing it as the finishing touch to a dapper look. In JCK’s coverage, the watch was priced at $235; Camden’s site lists it at £170, with the chain sold separately but included free with preorder, and delivery expected in July.

The design language stays close to the brand’s identity. Camden Watch Company has built its name on timepieces shaped by Camden’s industrial past and its vibrant present, with earlier references to Camden Lock, Bridge No. 10 over Regent’s Canal and other local landmarks. That gives this pocket watch a different register from costume nostalgia. It is not trying to imitate a period drama prop. It is trying to translate the old codes of dressing well into something that can hang from a belt loop or sit against a crisp summer trouser line and still feel current.

For styling, that makes the piece unusually practical for a category long associated with formality. The 47 mm case has enough presence to become part of the outfit, especially when paired with clean tailoring, a light shirt and polished shoes. The chain, which adds movement and a flash of metal, is what pushes the watch into jewelry-adjacent territory. It gives the look rhythm, much the way a bracelet or collar chain would, but with the added pleasure of a mechanical object anchored in horological history.

That history is part of the appeal. Pocket watches were the dominant form of personal timekeeping from the 16th century until wristwatches became more popular after World War I, and 2026 has already shown that the category is getting a fresh look from bigger names such as Parmigiani Fleurier and Audemars Piguet. Camden’s version sits at the approachable end of that revival, which may be exactly why it has a chance to travel beyond collectors. It offers a way to wear the idea of old-world elegance without dressing like you stepped out of a costume trunk.