The Britain

The Britain was born in 2012, when Burberry and Fossil Group expanded their licensing agreement with the declared goal of moving part of the catalogue upmarket, with watches made entirely in Switzerland. The result was officially presented at Baselworld in 2013, where Burberry set up a two-storey stand: a significant investment signaling the project's ambition compared to the more accessible The City line.

Unlike the rest of the catalogue, The Britain carries the direct signature of Christopher Bailey, then the brand's Chief Creative Officer (and later also CEO): the larger, more structured cases, between 42 and 47 mm, echo in their proportions the silhouette of the Burberry trench coat. The flagship model, the Britain Automatic Power Reserve, houses an automatic mechanical Soprod 9040 movement with a 40-hour power reserve and an open case back, in a 47 mm octagonal case; alongside it, simpler quartz versions at 42 mm remain in the range.

Within the line there is also room for the special "Britain Icon Check" series, the collection's expressive pinnacle: a men's version in DLC-treated titanium, 45 mm, produced in just 20 pieces, whose dial is made from the check motif itself, worked in a way that lets the côtes de Genève finish of the movement beneath show through (derived from the ETA 2824 calibre); and a women's version at 38 mm in rose gold, with a mother-of-pearl dial on which 245 diamonds form the check pattern, powered by the STP 3-13 calibre.