How does a person end up spending their life innovating the very manner in which time is measured? Portraits of Watchmakers, part of Platonic Press’s new collection, explores the answer to this question by pairing original black and white portraits with long-form conversations featuring some of the world's most remarkable practitioners. 

Minco van der Weide, founder and photographer for the London-based independent publisher, travels to meet a group of extraordinary architects who have changed the landscape of their field. In new interviews, they cover topics from village-bound childhoods to adolescent uncertainty, to the decisions that led them to the careers and lifestyles they love. Each conversation has been developed into a biographical essay and paired with black and white portraits taken on location in Paris, the Isle of Man, and Yokohama, among others. 

“I wanted to make books that show the lives of extraordinary professions which might not seem like obvious trajectories,” says Minco, who began this series as an extracurricular project at the University of Cambridge. The new collection follows Platonic Press’s well-received debut project, Portraits of Philosophers (2025), which emerged from Minco’s philosophy studies and reached its Kickstarter goal within one month of opening. It has since shipped to readers worldwide and can be ordered on Platonic Press’s website. 

Among those photographed and interviewed are Roger Smith, the sole apprentice of watchmaking legend George Daniels; Rebecca Struthers, a master watchmaker with a PhD in the history of horology; Andrea Furlan, one half of the genius team behind the award-winning independent maison, Furlan Marri; and Kari Voutilainen, ten-time recipient of the Grand Prix d’Horologie de Genève. 

Each volume is a linen-bound square hardcover (24.5 × 24.5 cm), printed on matte paper with a foil-stamped cover, ribbon bookmark, headband, and tailband. Pre-orders open July 1st on our Kickstarter page [link TBA], where backers can secure all four volumes at an early-supporter price ahead of the general release. The campaign runs until 1 August 2026. RRP £45 per volume. General release September 2026.