Bolton watchmaker revives his grandfathers brand, Prestex

Neil Duckworth is bringing back his grandfather’s Duckworth Prestex range of watches with a new Bolton brand.

Neil, the owner of Duckworth Prestex, new set of watches, created in honour of his grandfather will go on sale in the coming weeks.

Prestex pocket watches were first designed in the 1920’s by Frank Duckworth and now Neil has brought back the brand to shine a light on Bolton, his family's hometown and the birthplace of the brand.

Neil said he has aways wanted to follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps.

He said: “I have been in the watch business all my life– 20 years of which I was in charge of TAG Heuer for the UK, but I have always wanted my own brand to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather and my father Gordon.

Frank Duckworth

“My entire career in watches has been leading up to this point.”

The Bolton watches are a series of watches ranging in price from £395 upwards, incorporating the same design as the original pocket watches.

Speaking of his new series of watches, Neil said: “It’s difficult to state how excited I am. Suffice to say that this is the realisation of a life long dream.

Vintage and modern watches

“I’m happy to be reviving my grandfather’s brand and I am so pleased that my mother Beryl who is 93 and alive and well, living in Bolton, is here to see the revival of the family name on a high quality watch.

“She remembers the brand Prestex very well.

“When you see the watches you will want one, they look absolutely fantastic.”

The design is taken directly from an original Prestex watch, incorporating Arabic numerical fonts, hands made of polished blue steel and the small hands have a counterweight so they are identical to the original.

There are three models in the Bolton collection; a Quartz with small second sub dial priced at £395, a Quartz chronograph with 24 hour clock priced at £495 and a Verimatic self winding priced at £625.

The watches will be on sale at Beaverbrooks in Bolton, Market Place.