Graham Swordfish

Changing History. George Graham is known as the Father of English Watchmaking. He lived from 1674 to 1751. Graham is credited with the invention of several design improvements to the pendulum clock, inventing the mercury pendulum and also the orrery. The greatest invention Graham is credited with is the dead beat escapement.

Fast forward three centuries. It is 1995, a company called British Masters SA creates a series of watches under the "Graham" brand, and credits George Graham as being the "Father of the Chronograph". Frenchman, Nicolas Rieussec might object.

Nicolas Rieussec invented the chronograph almost two hundred years ago. The patent awarded to Nicolas Rieussec in 1822 describes a timepiece with two rotating discs, on which elapsed times were marked using ink-filled, nib-like pointers.

At the outset, a we look at a fine example of a Graham watch, we are both bothered and biased by two things. First, linking a watch to a name of an old watchmaker, as if the watch were produced by a company which has been around for three hundred years. Second, since the British Masters SA was making chronograph watches under the Graham label, anointing George Graham as the "Father of the Chronograph".

For someone interested in a watch because of its sense of history, this is not a watch for you. But setting aside the unfortunate liberality with history, we wanted to look at the Swordfish line of Graham watches for what they are worth.


Graham Swordfish. The Graham Swordfish is a conventional chronograph watch with a 30 -minute and 12-hour counters displayed in separate sub-dials. A second hand in the 12-hour counter displays continuous seconds. The watch has the usual start/stop and reset buttons and lets you pick from models which have the pushers on the left or right side of the watch.

What makes the watch distinctive, is that it has three sapphire crystals covering the dial. Two steel lined "portholes" adorn the watches sapphire crystal case front. The 30-minute and 12-hour sub-dials are set behind these portholes. This eye-like look is where the watch gets its name "Swordfish".


Now, beauty is in the eye the beholder. But in this day when we have to many offerings from newer manufactures looking all too much like designs from established manufacturers like Rolex, IWC and even newer companies like Bell & Ross and Panerai, an innovative design rather than a "me too", is very refreshing.

Whatever misgvings we have about the Graham lienage of this watch, the Graham Swordfish is not a Rolex Daytona or Bell & Ross look alike. It stands on its own legs.


Physically, the Graham Swordfish is an imposing watch with a case diameter of 46 mm. The case is water resistant to 100 meters. Inside is a self winding Graham calibre G 1710 movement, which is based on the ETA Valjouz 7750 movement. The movement has a 42 hour power reserve.
The British Masters SA. The British Masters SA is based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and is the proprietor of six historical watchmaking brands.The company continues is co-directed by its founders, Eric Loth and Pierre-André Finazzi.