When local watch collector Jared Steadman decided to designed a watch inspired by Winchester’s Diver Bill, little did he know it would change his life.
Jared, who was given his first watch – a Swatch – by his Mum at the age of seven, became a keen diver, and it was while living in Winchester that he discovered the story of William Walker.
“It was in Winchester Cathedral, that I first heard about Diver Bill – the nickname given to William Walker,” he says. “His copper and brass dive helmet is on show there as testimony to his courage. In 1906, he dived under the Southern wall of the Cathedral and for five years, re-laid the foundations with his bare hands as the Cathedral was sinking into the peat below.”
“While I admired the helmet, it struck me that the window of the copper and brass helmet looked like a watch’s bezel. I’d been collecting watches for some time and decided to design a watch that paid tribute to Diver Bill with a copper case and a brass bezel.”
