From Everest to the Wrist: The Story Behind the Elliot Brown Canford Limited Edition Dials
An exploration of altitude, geology and graphite, created in collaboration with Elliot Brown Watches.
Some landscapes stay with you long after you have left them. Others are so extraordinary that they are difficult to put into words. For me, the challenge is often finding a way to translate those experiences, places and textures into something tangible through my art.
The limited edition Canford dials, created in collaboration with Elliot Brown Watches, began with a conversation about one of the most extraordinary environments on Earth: Mount Everest.
A conversation at the summit of inspiration
The starting point for this project was a meeting with Kenton Cool, the world record-breaking mountaineer, whose many expeditions to Everest have given him an extraordinary perspective on the mountain and its landscape.
We spoke about his experiences at altitude, the terrain encountered on the way to the summit and the unique geology of this remarkable place. What interested me was the opportunity to look beyond the familiar imagery of snow and ice and explore the textures and mineral qualities of the mountain itself.
The limestone found at Everest’s summit became a particular point of inspiration. Its pale, fractured surfaces, dark markings and geological complexity offered a visual language that felt perfectly suited to the dial of a watch designed for adventure.
I wanted to capture something of that landscape without simply reproducing it. The aim was to create a miniature, abstract interpretation of the mountain: something that would reveal new details the closer you looked.
Painting with graphite
Graphite has always been central to my practice. It is a medium I return to for its versatility, its tonal depth and its ability to move between the delicate and the dramatic. It can be soft and subtle, or dark, raw and almost metallic, depending on how it is worked.
For the Canford dials, I combined hand-painted detail with shimmering graphite finishes to evoke the limestone formations and mineral surfaces of Everest. The pale, irregular patterns sit against deep blue, black and green tones, creating contrast and a sense of movement across each dial.
The graphite brings a subtle luminosity to the surface. As the light changes, different elements emerge, giving the dials a shifting quality that echoes the way rock faces and mineral deposits can catch the light in the natural world.
There is also something particularly satisfying about using my chosen artistic medium in this context. Graphite is usually associated with drawing, mark-making and the intimate scale of paper. Here, it becomes part of an object intended to be worn, used and taken out into the world.
Each dial translates the same underlying inspiration through its own combination of colour, texture and pattern. The result is a collection that feels connected, while retaining the character and individuality of the hand-finished artwork.
Art meets adventure
Working with Elliot Brown offered an opportunity to bring this visual language into a very different setting. A watch dial is a small, carefully considered space, where every detail has to work alongside the practical requirements of the watch itself.
The Canford's functional design provides a compelling contrast to the organic, almost geological marks of the artwork. Bold indices, dark surrounds and the watch's robust construction frame the dial, allowing the painted surface to become the focal point without losing its legibility or purpose.
I was particularly interested in this relationship between precision and unpredictability. The watch is engineered for reliability, while the artwork draws its character from irregularity, texture and the natural world. Together, they create an object that sits somewhere between functional design and wearable art.
The connection to Kenton's expeditions also gives the project a meaning beyond its appearance. Everest represents endurance, preparation and a willingness to venture into environments that demand extraordinary commitment. Translating a small part of that landscape into the Canford dials felt like a way of carrying something of that spirit into an everyday object.
A launch at Wind Up NYC
The limited edition Canford dials made their debut at this year's Wind Up NYC, where the response was immediate. The collection sold out within just a few hours of launching.
It was wonderful to see the work resonate so strongly with watch enthusiasts, particularly because these dials began with a conversation and an idea rather than a conventional colour or design brief. Their appeal lies in the meeting of several different worlds: mountaineering, geology, watchmaking and my own practice as an artist.
For me, the most rewarding collaborations are those that allow an idea to develop naturally, shaped by the people, places and materials behind it. This project brought together Kenton's firsthand experiences of Everest, Elliot Brown's approach to watch design and my longstanding fascination with graphite and surface.
The finished dials are small objects, but the landscape behind them is immense.
And perhaps that is what makes this collaboration so special: a fragment of one of the world's most extraordinary environments, reimagined through graphite, paint and the precision of a watch dial, ready to accompany its wearer on adventures of their own.