The Birth of Singer Reimagined with Marco Borraccino

My grandma, bless her, thought that if you ask the right questions to the correct people, doors will open that would have otherwise stayed closed.

She felt that people were, more often than not, willing to do what they can to help you, but only if you tell them you need it. When I was a kid, she used to say, “Mitch, if you don’t ask for what you want, people won’t know what to give you”. Enjoy this photo of the both of us below.

I was an incredibly shy four-year-old at the time, and the gravity of this concept was all but lost on me. But as I’ve grown older, had a family of my own and interacted with some incredibly successful people, I’ve realised that it’s the best piece of advice I’ve ever been given. The questions “will you marry me”, “should we have a baby”, or my personal favourite, “What do you think of this idea?”, have all changed the trajectory of my life for the better. All you have to do is ask.

To reiterate this idea, and before this once again becomes a self-help article, I want to tell you about someone I spoke to recently that asked the right question, at the right time, to the right person. He’s a creative, a CEO, and a gentleman. His name is Marco Borraccino, and he’s the co-founder of Singer Reimagined.

Singer Vehicle Design

Scrolling through YouTube a few years ago while I was in my “I must have a 911” phase (I’m still in it), I stumbled upon a video about a little known former musician named Rob Dickson. He was walking around an all but empty industrial park in California, talking to the host about how he was modifying vintage Porsche 911s. To be clear, when I say he was “modifying vintage 991s” what I actually mean is he was taking a vintage 911 to pieces and then putting it back together with enough obsession to make your brain melt.

The video, which I cannot for the life of me find, had my jaw hitting the floor on multiple occasions. The cars were mind-blowing, and over the years I have been watching videos of his projects, just hoping that one day I would be able to see one in person. Since its launch in 2009, Singer has defined the rest-o-mod space and consistently builds some of the most beautiful cars in the world.

But where does Marco, and watches, fit in to all of this? Well, on our call he told me all about his design philosophy, what he’s passionate about and how one question, asked to Rob, was the catalyst for creating an incredible new watch brand. This is a special one!

Marco: I’ve been involved in watch projects and design for over 20 years. At the same time, I’ve always been a big petrolhead—cars are my first love. Back in 2010 or 2011, I saw the very first execution of a Singer Vehicle Design project—the earliest creations Rob Dickinson and his original team brought to life—and I immediately fell in love. I couldn’t help myself. It was just… too beautiful. Around that time, I was fortunate enough to purchase my first Porsche 930. Watching what Rob was doing made me dream of one day owning a Singer.

A few years went by with me admiring those cars from afar, and then one day, out of the blue, I decided to reach out to Rob. To my surprise, he replied. We started a conversation and quickly discovered we had a lot in common. There was a shared philosophy behind our respective design work, a passion for the 1960s and ’70s, and a genuine respect for craftsmanship. That natural connection turned into a friendship—even though a Singer car was far out of my financial reach at the time.

We kept in touch, chatting occasionally without any pressure. Then one day, I asked him a question. At the time, I was working as a consultant for several watch brands, designing for different clients. I asked Rob if he’d ever thought about Singer creating a watch or expanding beyond cars.

His answer really stuck with me. He said he’d never consider doing a watch in collaboration with a watch brand—it just didn’t align with the Singer philosophy. If Singer ever did a watch, it would have to be exceptional, just like the cars. But he added, “I don’t even know where to start with designing a watch, and I don’t have the time to do it. So, it’s very unlikely Singer will ever make a watch.”

I took that as a challenge.
That same day, I started imagining what a Singer watch could look like. I came up with the idea of a chronograph reimagined—something with a central display. I sketched out the concept, played with it a bit, and then decided to share it with Rob.
He called me back instantly. “Marco, I love it. We have to do it. Let’s talk about how we can make this happen.”

From there, I put together a rough idea of the budget and pitched him on how I could help make it a reality, leveraging my industry connections. We spoke with his father-in-law, who had financed the original car project, and also with the CEO of Singer at the time. They were supportive, under one condition: if we did it, the watch project would be entirely mine to run.

It’s a big thing to be trusted and given complete responsibility over a project like this, and speaks to Marco’s character and creativity. What I find interesting, though, is how Rob wanted to keep the two projects seperate. Marco speaks to this later on in our conversation.

Marco: I said yes—without fully realising the scale of what I was committing to. I never intended to run a watch brand. I knew the challenges, the constraints, and the pain that comes with it. But it turned out to be an incredible opportunity and experience.

I wanted to talk to Marco about how he made this happen. To me, it felt like a familiar story, and a confirmation of my grandmothers' philosophy I had been thinking about for years.  Ask and you shall receive.

Marco: I think it’s a powerful story. Sometimes, all you have to do is ask. The worst someone can say is “no,” but if you never ask, it’s always a no. To me, Singer expanding into watches just made perfect sense. The same attention to detail, the same obsession with perfection—it’s all there. There’s no other brand in automotive or horology that represents that kind of craftsmanship like Singer does.

We then turned to the brand's first watch, The Track 1. I asked him how he came about the central chronograph as an idea, and how he decided on the AgenGraphe® to power it. Little did I know, Marco and Singer played a big part in the development of the now renowned movement by Agenhor.

Marco: Funny thing is, I actually designed the watch before the AgenGraphe® movement existed. At the time, there was no off-the-shelf central chronograph available. I knew technically it was possible, so I started knocking on doors, asking around, but no one wanted to take on the development. It was just too expensive and too complex. At the same time, I was running the watch design department at a design school in Geneva. I’d invited Jean-Marc Wiederrecht (founder of Agenhor) to join the scientific committee there. One day, during a break, we went out for lunch and started talking casually.

He asked what else I was working on, and I mentioned a couple of projects—including this central chronograph for an American client (Singer). The moment he heard “central chronograph,” he stopped me. “Wait—what are you talking about?” He looked a bit upset, like I had leaked some inside information. But once we cleared the air, he opened up. He told me he’d been developing a central chronograph movement for years, ever since his days in watchmaking school.

We decided to sit down and share our designs. And what we found was that our visions matched—almost perfectly. So I brought Rob to Geneva, and the three of us agreed to invest in developing the movement.

As the project got more serious, we realised we didn’t have the financial muscle to keep the movement exclusively. So we agreed with Agenhor that Singer Reimagined would retain a unique execution of the movement, but the base would be available to other brands—with different displays or complications. That’s when Fabergé came on board as a co-investor, and we were able to launch the watch the same year.

The AgenGraphe® Is an incredible movement that took over ten years to develop. In the Track 1, it powers peripheral hour and minute discs, central instantaneous chronograph jumping hours, central minute chronograph hands and a sweeping chronograph seconds hand. Although it doesn’t look like it, it’s also automatic, with the oscillating system mounted on the dial side of the movement, to not disrupt the view from the case back. And what a view it is! The AgenGraphe® deserves its own article, stay tuned.

We then spoke about the connection between Singer Vehicle design and Singer Reimagined, After all, there are clear design and philosophy parallels between the two.

Marco: Rob was never directly involved in the design or strategic direction of the watch brand. We’re part of the same group, and we collaborate where it makes sense, but the watches and cars are managed independently. I’m fully responsible for the watch side, and he continues to lead the car business.

We’re around 10 people. It’s very small. Last year, we produced about 200 watches. In today’s world, you either mass-produce to chase short-term profit—which I think is environmentally and ethically problematic—or you create meaningful products in small numbers for people who truly understand them. Our environmental impact is relatively low because these are objects meant to last forever.

It was such a pleasure talking to Marco, and I wanted to finish up by asking the obvious question, do owners of Singer cars buy Singer Reimagined watches? His answer was surprising and reaffirmed to me the care and passion he has for this brand. Marco has a long-term view that I think more brands would benefit from.

Marco: Yes, some of them are already collectors of our watches. But we don’t push our car clients to buy the watches. That would feel forced. It has to happen organically. A lot of Singer car owners are already serious watch collectors, and a few have bought our watches because they understand the philosophy and appreciate the technical innovation. Car clients are among the wealthiest people in the world, so they can afford anything. That also means they’re highly selective. We want them to be excited—truly excited—to own one of our watches

That last sentence encapsulates Marco as a designer, CEO and as a person. “We want them to be excited—truly excited—to own one of our watches.”
Everything he said in our call was laced with excitement and passion for what he is doing. It’s infectious.

In 2015, Marco decided to reach out to someone he admired. He didn’t have any expectations or motive, he was just truly excited to talk to someone that shared his passion for beautiful cars. The decision to then ask Rob if he had ever considered making watches has now turned into one of the most creative and exciting brands in the industry.

This is the perfect example of what can happen if you just have the courage to ask for it. My grandma was right!

Cya in the next one x

P.S. this article wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t asked Charles Tremblay, the founder of Charles Simon, if he had any contacts he could introduce me to. See, it works!