The iconic ‘Snoopy’ gets a spot on the irreverent Crazy Hours watch.

Bamford Watch Department (BWD), the erstwhile renegade custom watch makeover company that started with under-the-radar black DLC mods of Rolexes and Pateks in the mid-2000s, has come a long way indeed when it comes to horological legitimacy. No longer the cult bespoke marque, Bamford Watch Department has been asked by some of watchmaking's biggest names like TAG Heuer, Bvlgari and Zenith to collaborate on limited-edition rolls-outs. The latest brand seeking a little BWD mojo is Franck Muller, a marque that is known to be just as iconoclastic when it comes to its creations.

Indeed, given Franck Muller’s catalogue of left field timepieces spanning ultra-large and fast tourbillons to aesthetically flamboyant dress watches, the Crazy Hours seems the ideal candidate for the collaboration with BWD. One of the brand’s most outrageous complications, Crazy Hours eschews the classic dial layout, where the 12 hour markers are displayed in chronological order, for one that shows jumbled numerals. So, for instance, the number ‘12’ is at the eight o’clock position, ‘2’ is at the six o’clock position, ‘3’ is at 11 o’clock, and so on. As a result, the hour hand, too, would snap from hour to hour – in the correct order, of course – programmed by way of an ingenious retrograde-style mechanism on the automatic movement.

Limited to 25 pieces, the Franck Muller X Bamford Watch Department ‘Snoopy’ limited edition elevates the whimsicality further by featuring the famous cartoon beagle on the dial. Snoopy is no stranger to wristwatches, having been famously featured on several highly collectible models spanning brands from Omega to Swatch. On the Franck Muller X Bamford Watch Department ‘Snoopy’ limited edition, however, the iconic cartoon dog is especially lively and animated, thanks to the Crazy Hours mechanism with an arm that doubles up as the hour hand pointing one way and then another. Also making an appearance here is Snoopy’s sidekick, Woodstock, depicted at nine and 10 o’clock.

Of course, BWD’s contribution isn’t restricted to slapping a cartoon character on the watch. Housed in Franck Muller’s famous Cintree Curvex case, recognised by its tonneau-shaped profile and smooth, curvaceous silhouette, the Franck Muller X Bamford Watch Department ‘Snoopy’ limited edition is clad in a matte DLC-coated stainless steel case, with the cartoon characters in black and white, and the hour numerals in grey – a stylish aesthetic treatment that is very BWD.

But it is when the lights are low when things get really interesting. The depiction of Snoopy on the dial is complemented by repetitive outlines that echo the character’s shape, which are, in fact, filled with green Super-LumiNova. What is a moneyed and whimsical cartoon-themed watch by day now turns into something that’s rather cool and funky in the dark – a great reminder of the Crazy Hour’s enigmatic and sophisticated technical DNA.

“I cannot stop smiling when I look at this watch,” says BWD founder, George Bamford. We are pretty sure you'd smile too, if you were one of the 25 lucky owners of this quirky collectible.

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