William Wood is raffling a motorbike, we also raffled a motorbike. Which one is better?
Time+TideSTART YOUR ENGINES: In 2018, we had a little dalliance with the brand that used to inhabit our HQ space, and now lives next door: Royal Enfield. Basically, we had a few beers one afternoon and found some matte-black, lightly modded common ground between watches and vintage-inspired bikes.
The result: a Time+Tide motorcycle, later raffled off to one lucky winner after the bike had graced our office for six months. We wanted it in the Bobber style, first made popular in the golden age of the wristwatch, the 1950s. We worked with Australian Royal Enfield Dealer Mid Life Cycles to mod it just how we liked, with a leather solo saddle, a mean matte-black Moto Wings Performance exhaust and custom bar-end mirrors to complement the low, retro style of the timeless, ever-badass Royal Enfield Classic 500. And, of course, any watch enthusiast will immediately smile each time they see the “ride carefully me” on the dashboard, a tribute to Joanne Woodward’s “drive carefully, me” inscription on Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona watch.
With more charitable motives, William Wood has taken a page out of our playbook. They have teamed up with Saltire Motorcycles to create the “Always Ready Motorbike”. All proceeds of the raffle beyond the cost of the building the motorbike will be donated to The Fire Fighters Charity in the UK supporting firefighters and their families. To keep things fair and interesting, 300 tickets will be sold for £100 each – meaning entrants will have a one in 300 chance of taking home this unique motorbike.
“This incredible motorcycle is built using a brand-new Indian Motorcycle Scout model, customised by the imagination and creative collective at Saltire Motorcycles. The bike is finished in a deep gloss metallic fire red colour with mind blowing 24 carat gold foil detailing inspired by vintage fire engines of days gone by. The handlebars crossbar is encased in repurposed wood from an original Leyland Fire Engine, and the seat and grips incorporate genuine upcycled Red British fire hose.
“At the end of the handlebars are our iconic William Wood Watches brass coins from the back of our Chivalrous Collection range, made from an original 1920’s British brass firefighters helmet, set into bespoke repurposed wooden bar ends. Centre stage of the V-Twin motor is the inner workings of our Limited-Edition Triumph Collection, with the glass case back displaying ‘IN CASE OF FIRE BREAK GLASS’
“And to top this experience off, centralised above the speedometer is a location with a purpose. Right here, the new owner of this amazing machine will be able to remove their William Wood Bronze Ruby Watch from their wrist and clip it onto their very own unique 1 of 1 motorcycle. It doesn’t get any cooler than that…!” – William Wood Watches
On May 4, International Firefighter’s Day 2022, the winner will be announced over William Wood Watches’ and Saltire Motorcycles’ Instagram by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer of Scotland, live at Saltire’s facility in Edinburgh.
While we love to support a charitable cause, we can be quite competitive as well. So, let us know on instagram who realized the better bike. But, more importantly, to learn more about the “Always Ready Motorbike”, and how to enter the raffle, you can head to the William Wood watches website here.