Time behaves differently once the lights go down. Conversations soften, distractions recede, and what remains tends to feel more honest. It is precisely within that quiet space that In the Skies, the final and most ambitious chronograph from Split Watches, finds its natural habitat.
Split is not a brand driven by nostalgia, despite the impeccable credentials of its founder. Ed Margulies, a third-generation watchmaker, spent decades at the sharp end of the Swiss watch industry, working across manufacturing, distribution and retail, and helping to build the UK presence of some of the world’s most powerful maisons. So the most natural thing would have been for Split to be a celebration of heritage but instead, Margulies set out to create a watch that could live in the present tense, one that carried emotional weight as comfortably as technical competence.
The Split watches debut collection, MC-5 (wink to the eponymous proto-punk band) featuring Ceramod + fused ceramic, FKM rubber strap, and a Seiko-family bi-compax automatic chronograph.
That philosophy has quietly underpinned Split’s chronograph collection from the outset. Inspired by Margulies’ own archive of split-second chronographs, the series translates classic bi-compax architecture into a modern, stripped-back language. In the Skies represents the culmination of that journey. Eighteen months in development, it is Split’s first full-glow watch and a world-first to reach production, achieved by infusing Japanese luminous powder directly into the Ceramod+ case material itself.
In low light, the glow effect is quite striking. By day, the design remains purposeful and sober, with an uncompromising absence of unnecessary polish. At 42mm in diameter and 15mm thick, the case has real presence. The watch ergonomically adapts to the wrist thanks to its advanced thermal properties and supple FKM rubber strap.
Keeping with the musical counter-culture homage of the MC-5 collection, Split in the Skies is named after Peter Green’s 1979 album.
Powering the watch is a bi-compax automatic chronograph movement from the Seiko family, visible through an exhibition caseback. Practical credentials are firmly in place too: 100 metres of water resistance, sapphire crystal with anti-glare coating, and high-grade luminescence that extends well beyond aesthetic intent.
Limited to 250 pieces and priced at £1,800, In the Skies is also inseparable from Split’s wider mission. You my have noticed that in the pictures, the hands of the watches are not set at the usual smiley 2:10 but at a more frowny 7:20. With this little gesture, Margulies, a big supporter of mental health initiatives, wants to say that “It is ok not to be ok.” That commitment takes tangible form in the donation of one hour of therapy for each watch sold, in collaboration with the Anna Freud Centre, the UK charity dedicated to children and young people’s mental health.
Author: Julia Pasarón
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