Now, London-based Bamford Watch Department debuts their very first “official” watches produced in cooperation with TAG Heuer. This includes some pre-made designs along with a customizer app which enables people to design their own. Last month, aBlogtoWatch announced that Bamford wouldn’t more be working with Rolex watches, to rather concentrate on LVMH watch brands such as Zenith, Bulgari, and TAG Heuer. Now, the very first official timepieces made by Bamford as both an authorized dealer and modifier of TAG Heuer watches are being launched — and already there is considerable variety (along with anticipated pricing).Bamford’s main forte (in addition to bothersome a few conservative watch purists) is at taking classic designs and making them a little more stylish and trendy. Bamford also has a lot of experience in the event coatings and dial modifications, which makes the company unique — along with the reality that they support a lot of their watches in house. Bamford Watch Department also spends substantial time producing bespoke or customized watches for clients. This can be done either in person at the BWD “The Hive” headquarters in London, or through their site.

Now managed by Portuguese great Jose Mourinho, Manchester United appointed TAG Heuer official timekeeper last year, rekindling the relationship between the chief executive Jean-Claude Biver and the club. In his other job as chairman of Hublot, Biver dropped the brand’s sponsorship of the Old Trafford club in 2013 after the retirement of legendary coach Alex Ferguson.

The result of the partnership is a pair of chronographs in black and red – each priced affordably for what they are – bearing the Premier League club’s logo on their dials and backs – predictably the first of many such watches.

The flagship model is the Carrera Heuer-01 Calibre Manufacture Chronograph Manchester United Special Edition, a limited edition based on TAG Heuer’s bestselling mechanical chronograph. It has a 45mm steel case with a matte black coating, as well as a black ceramic bezel. Inside is the self-winding Calibre Heuer 01.

Significantly more affordable is the Formula 1 Chronograph Manchester United Special Edition, a variant of the brand’s entry-level sports watch. It’s steel, 43mm and powered by a basic Ronda quartz movement.

Notably the Formula 1 model is not a limited edition, a prudent move since Manchester United is one of the world’s most popular football clubs, which means it has legions of members who have a sensible budget when it comes to watches. Notably, the earlier Hublot Manchester United limited edition watches (like this 2011 version) cost more than 10 times the Formula 1.

Price and availability 

The Carrera Heuer-01 Manchester United Special Edition (ref. CAR2A1J.FC6416 or CAR2A1J.FC6400) is limited to 1000 pieces, priced at SFr5900.

And the Formula 1 Chronograph Manchester United Special Edition (ref. CAZ101J.FT8027) costs SFr1550.

Both are available from TAG Heuer stores and boutiques starting March 2017.