Nestled
in the bustling and artistic market town of Ludlow, tucked away in one
of its narrow medieval lanes is the wonderful gem of a shop “ Black Bough “.
Setup by Adam Withington and Alex Barter in March 2011 and taking its
name and inspiration from a Ezra Pound poem, the philosophy behind the
shop is seeing beauty in everyday things.
Having had a chance to visit Ludlow and the shop I can say that it fulfills this philosophy immeasurably.As
to be expected I was drawn into this shop by the display of vintage
watches in the window, Omega, Tissot and Longines all caught my eye and
it would have been rude to not at least give them a glance.
But once inside you are greeted with a wonderfully curated collection
of art, design, handmade craft pieces, books, clothing, vintage watches
and watch accessories.
On the face of it you would not necessarily think this eclectic mix
would work, especially given the shop's diminutive size, but here the
real skill shines through in the presentation and selection of pieces.
Black Bough inside and out 
Be it the beautiful ceramics from Brickett Davda of Brighton to the
homemade mosaics of Catherine Parkinson, or maybe the vintage curio of
period coloured bottles, they all sit side by side tastefully displayed
and catch the eye.
This before you have even made your way to the main event of the store,
the vintage watches (clearly you could be in the store for a number of
reasons but I shall assume that if you are reading this blog your
interest is watches).
The main watch display inside the store 
Do not expect to be awash in vintage horology, but what you will find
has been hand picked and immaculately restored and tested, when I was
there approximately 20 watches were on display (and as of writing there
are 18 listed on their website). They were all reasonably priced as well with the most expensive being just £1,885 for a Steel Rolex Oyster Precision Ref. 6426 (c.1982).
The Rolex in question (and this is not dissimilar to all the other
watches) had been serviced (by a Rolex certified watchmaker) wonderfully
polished, restored and pressure tested to 100m. Excellent for a vintage watch from any source.
There are also a small but well chosen (a common theme of Black Bough)
selection of accessories to accompany your watch purchase, there are
high quality swiss watch tools by Bergeon (if you are using any other
tool to remove your spring bars stop now and buy a Bergeon one, you will
thank me later), winders by Rapport and Barrington, loupes, watch
wraps, straps and a small selection of books, to name just a few.
This attention to detail and hand picking of watches may come as little surprise to those who know of Alex Barter .
Alex has had a long and experienced career at Sotheby's auctioneers,
starting in the mid 1990's , culminating in becoming the Deputy
Worldwide Head of Sotheby's watch department. He is now retained as a consultant to both Sotheby's and various art companies.
It would be unfair to sing the praises of Alex without mentioning Adam,
there are two sides to this emporium of art and watches are just one
part. Adam Withington
makes and sells a range of products for Black Bough and has previously
run the Great Western Studios in London, an institution that provided
work-space for over 100 artists, designers and craftspeople.
If you are in Ludlow or even passing close by, I implore you to visit,
it will be worth a trip and I doubt you will leave empty handed.
As for me as much as I wished I had left with the Oyster I was able to
settle with a Design Museum book “The Fifty Watches That Changed The
World” wrapped in matching tissue paper and sealed with gold circles – a
further attention to detail that separates this store from the rest on
your high street. If you cannot visit then explore the website , it is as meticulously crafted as the physical store and equally as tempting.
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