Clockworks Cashmear are doing something different. They’re offering quartz or automatic watches with interchangeable bezels, hands and sials, so that buyers can change the look of the watch according to their mood. Bit like owning a Fiat 500 but fitting new accessories and changing the paintwork yourself.

Cashmear is run by a Canadian engineer and he reckons that they’ve perfected the tricky business of letting owners swap parts like dial, hands and bezel, witha  few turns of the winding crown.

Now, having worked with watches for six years, I can tell you that it is incredibly difficult to remove hands and then re-fit them, unless you have the correct tools, a steady hand and a dial protector in place. So how this can be accomplished by clicking the crown is something I would love to see. Surely the dial must be dropped gently onto the movement, then the hands put in position, with hour and minute aligned correctly, before the new bezel and crystal is laid over the top?

The Clockworks Cashmear appears to have a sort of release clutch wheel on the cannon pinion, so we are guessing this is the clever – patent panding – tech that offers the customisable options. Early buyers of the ETA 2824 powered automatic at approx £540 get a silver hands/dial option. If you want say three different colour options, then the entire caboodle is around £830 on the early bird deal.

It is an interesting idea, but having seen some cack-handed `expert’ watch collectors in the shop pull crowns out completely, key wind fusee pocket watches the wrong way, or bring in vintage watches with a scratched back because they tried to open the case on an Omega Seamaster with a kitchen knife, I’d say owner malfunction is a serious possibility.