TIME² Interview - Q&A With Welder Designer Italo Fontana

T2. What’s the background to Welder?

I wanted to let myself go with Welder and open the doors to the aesthetic and high value craftsmanship we have which is virtually without limits. As the collection has evolved, my freedom and creativity to introduce more exciting production techniques and design features also has. On our newest range, which should be ready for Christmas, we should have red and blue PVD coating. We are also working on creating aluminium watches and using every fresh method we can imagine to defy traditional boundaries.

T2. What makes Welder different to other watch brands?

The vision is that we look forward rather than backwards. So many watch brands today root themselves solely in their history…[but] we’re forward looking.

T2. Where does your interest in watchmaking stem from?

My grandfather, Ilvo Fontana, was a renowned watchmaker in the early 1920’s. We found his designs in the family home and it instilled such a rush in me to want to continue his legacy.

T2. You also design U-Boat watches. Tell us the story of your iconic U-Boat watch?

You may well be familiar with the story of how Officine Panerai developed its first watches during the 1930’s, for the frogmen of the Italian Navy. But the story of my Grandfather, the watchmaker Ilvo Fontana, you may not be so well versed on…

ILVO FONTANA: THE STORY

He too was commissioned to design for the same pitch, the frogmen Italian Navy. Ilvo concentrated on a watch design that would be highly practical and functional for the navy divers – hence the oversized dial and clear, open face featuring wide hands. To ensure water resistance, he developed an outer-crown and to avoid this restricting the diver’s hand movements, Ilvo flipped the mechanism so that the crown lies on the left of every watch. Unsuccessful in his pitch he shelved the designs, noted as ‘U-BOAT’, within our small house in Lucca, Italy.

Five decades later I stumbled across the original sketches. Struck by the modernity and relevance of these designs, I began researching the contemporary watch market. The gap in the market for masculine, strong, design led pieces was immediately apparent.

It sounds almost crazy now, but I knew it could work and through myself into the world of watches. I can tell you it has not been an easy and I faced a lot of criticism. I worked night and day to produce the first functioning U-BOAT watch in 1999. Confidence spurred by the immediate success, I sought to grow the brand further.

A chance meeting with the well-known fashion and luxury entrepreneur Mounir Moufarrige secured U-BOAT’s future. Mr Moufarrige’s pedigree includes brands such as Emanuel Ungaro, Montblanc, Chloe, Stella McCarthy and Panerai. Clearly no stranger to the horological market he offered the support and guidance necessary for the brand, and my design, to evolve and develop.

T2. What or who inspires your designs?

The strength and power of nature influences all my designed. When you stop to look, the textures and colours around us are phenomenal. Being Italian it is hard to not bring elements of traditional Italian style into my designs and only use the best techniques to craft my creations. It’s what I love most.

See Welder watches for a range of styles.

See U-Boat watches for the full collection.