The Coalbanks Dowlais 1884 Edition
Of all the personal heirlooms and tokens we collect, no item captures a moment in time more acutely than a watch—literally and figuratively.
Take the Coalbanks Dowlais 1884 Edition. Handcrafted by Novo in Alberta, the manual timepiece is an on-the-nose testament to Canada’s industrial epoch. Each of the 15 limited edition watches are forged from four-pound pieces of Canadian Pacific Railway tracks that once lead to the Galt No. 8 mine, a site responsible for the town of Coalbanks, Alberta, known today as Lethbridge.
But there’s more to this Canadian watch than clever sourcing. The watch’s dial mimics the metronome-like rhythm of the steam engines that once ran over the steel used to craft it. Its 18,000 beats per hour and sweeping second hand are proudly faced on both front and back by sapphire crystal, accompanied by 20mm stitched Hermann Oak leather straps. The Coalbanks Dowlais 1884 Edition itself is even packaged in reclaimed barn wood boxes, for a rustic and decidedly Albertan final touch.
Understandably the Coalbanks is a particular point of pride for the Lethbridge-based team of horological artisans behind Novo, who call it their most exciting and artistically evolved piece to date; four to six weeks of horological, blacksmith, leathersmith, watchmaking, and woodworking mastery are poured into each timepiece. Consider this a mining town work ethic imbued in a remarkable watch.
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