Hands-on with the Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 Watch
Tuesday - 04 October 2022
All the while producing durable outdoor sports watches for the public, British watch manufacturer Elliot Brown has covertly, behind the scenes, created a range of bespoke watches for military personnel and individuals within security and intelligence communities. While many of these special projects are redacted, there is one that is spoken of proudly: the Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 watch. Developed for a specialist branch of the British armed forces, the series was created as a fit-for-purpose professional watch capable of a life in the field and as such became the first military issued watch from a British company in over 12 years.
A Brief History of Elliot Brown & the Holton Professional Collection
In such a short space of time, Elliot Brown have cemented a solid reputation for engineering wearable, tough and affordable watches. The brand was originally founded in 2013 by long-time friends Ian Elliot and Alex Brown in the seaside county of Dorset in southwest England. The founders’ own love of extreme sports and outdoor adventures, something they could enjoy on their doorstep in the sea air, sand, mud and water of Dorset, drove the brand to create fit-for-purpose everyday sports watches that could survive in any harsh environment.
Many of the Elliot Brown watch collections have their own unique Dorset reference story like the Kimmeridge series named after Kimmeridge Bay. The Elliot Brown Holton family similarly takes inspiration from an area in Dorset known as Holton Heath, the location of a wartime cordite factory. The Elliot Brown Holton watch came around as a natural consequence of a number of military personnel choosing to wear one of the Elliot Brown Canford watches. The design was born from one of the charitable military projects undertaken by the British watch manufacturer whose recipients requested an Elliot Brown watch of a professional calibre. And so, the Elliot Brown Holton Professional collection was born.
As mentioned in the introduction, the Elliot Brown Holton Professional series was developed in in collaboration with a specialist branch of the British armed forces – as of which one, we can’t say. It marks the design as the first new military issue watch to be created by a British watch company in more than twelve years. The watch has been subject to intense testing to ensure it can survive some of the most hostile conditions imaginable, boasting features like a ballistic webbing NATO strap, high-grip bezel, Superluminova coating and a 200m water resistant case. If this sounds like a watch that can keep up with your own lifestyle, then keep reading…
The Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 Watch
Today, we’re getting hands on with the Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 watch as it perfectly epitomises the design language and extreme functionality found within the collection. The case alone is a work of art, machined from 316L stainless steel and adorned with anti-reflective gun metal PVD for a utilitarian finish. In truly spy-like fashion, the case is also treated to an anti-fingerprint coating which as its name suggests stops your own marks getting left behind on the case while also naturally repelling mud and grime.
The case of the Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 watch measures to 43mm in diameter and 12mm tall, 2mm of that height accounted for by the tough anti-reflective sapphire crystal glass. Additional elements of the case include an unobtrusive triple sealed screw down crown at 4 o’clock, a 200 metre water resistant rating and a high-grip unidirectional divers bezel. The 120-click bezel is hardened to 1200HV on the Vickers hardness scale and coated with its own matte PVD coating for impressive toughness and style. The high grip texture of the bezel is designed to make it effortless for you to grip and manipulate the bezel while the fine hobnail pattern ensures it can’t be caught on anything, turning it accidentally. Luminous markings complete the bezel on the 60 minute scale.
For the dial, the Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 watch echoes that of vintage military watches. It’s incredibly easy to read, whether during the day or at night, with bold C-3 Superluminova coated hour markers and the trademark Elliot Brown 12, 3, 6 and 9 cardinal graphics. There’s also a white triangle at 12H to help orientate the watch when it’s dark and two large sword-shaped for the hours and minutes generously adorned in Superluminova. The seconds hand is kept sleek and simple with a subtle luminous and orange tip, adding the only bold touch of colour to the entire design.
Powering the hours, minutes, seconds and date functions of the Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 watch is the tried-and-tested Ronda 715 quartz movement. The Swiss movement is housed inside a proprietary shock protection system for advanced precision and durability. Completing the exterior of the Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 watch is a choice of two straps, both secured by solid screw in strap bars so that changing over the band can be done effortlessly. The first is an extra long black NATO strap woven from knitted polypropylene with laser-cut holes and gunmetal grey hardware. It is designed extra long so it can be worn over the cuff of your clothing or wet suit. The watch can also be ordered on a premium matte black EPDM rubber strap with the same gunmetal buckle.
If you’d like to learn more about the Elliot Brown Holton Professional 101-001 watch and shop the design for yourself, head over to the Jura Watches website here. Alternatively, get in touch with the team by calling 01335 453453 or send us a message at help@jurawatches.co.uk.
