A watch made for one man, born of Swiss friendship

Derek Rapport wears a watch that exists for him alone. The automatic chronograph emerged from a friendship his grandfather Maurice cultivated during decades of travelling to Switzerland to source components for the family business, a business that began in 1898. What started as an acquaintance with a gentleman who ran a watch factory in Switzerland became something rarer still: an understanding that resulted in a timepiece made to order, one that would carry the Rapport name on its dial.

The watch itself speaks to a particular kind of craftsmanship. An automatic chronograph, it houses a full calendar and moonphase positioned at six o’clock. Day and month sit in windows at twelve, while the date reads around the outer track, a configuration that transforms the dial into something legible and considered. The signature on the dial reads “Rapport, London to Basle, Since 1898”, a statement that anchors Derek’s watch to both the family’s London roots and the Swiss tradition that shaped it.

Such watches rarely emerge from commercial channels. They belong to families, to private collections, to moments when business relationships deepen into something more genuine. Derek’s chronograph represents exactly that: a convergence of trust, time and craft across borders, made possible because his grandfather understood that the finest things often come not from catalogues but from the quiet friendships formed across a watchmaker’s bench.

Imagery courtesy of Rapport London (@rapport_london).