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In the early 80’s, Steve Sun, the chief designer and co-founder of the brand together with his wife, were working in the retail fashion industry in London. He was very interested in fashion and style and had a real passion for quality timepieces, but not always the funds to buy exactly what he liked.

Steve thought it was possible to make well-designed watches at affordable prices, and by the use of colour and styling, make them a must have fashion accessory. His idea was to encourage the ownership of several watches, so that you could accessorise your outfit.

So in 1989 he produced a few initial sketches and began to put his ideas into practice. These designs were so unusual, that his preferred factories looked at his sketches, and after examining them from every angle retorted ‘What are these? – we only make watches’. As the designs were so unusual and original, they were difficult for the factories to interpret. This led to Steve’s first steps into manufacturing techniques, working with these factories to invent new production methods in order to produce the unusual designs that were to become synonymous with STORM. This development is an ongoing process.

There was still one important issue to be resolved. What was going to be the brand name of this new range? The small team in the office had been asked to do some brainstorming and they produced a list of suggestions but none of them really appealed, so when he stepped on the plane to go to check the final samples, he took the list with him with the intention of picking one en route. Fate played its hand again.

As drinks were being served, the flight became very bumpy from turbulence and the seat belt signs were turned on. A few people panicked but when calm returned the pilot apologised and said that they had just flown through a bad storm. STORM – Steve thought that it would be a great name as it was a strong powerful word and a force of nature. So in 1989 this British brand started operating from London.

The first STORM store was opened in Gees Court, St Christopher’s Place in London, which was the very heart of the trendy fashion scene at that time. The first real flagship store was in Carnaby Street and is still trading successfully from the same site. The street as well as the brand and the store have undergone refurbishment and although small, it is very popular and visited by many London tourists. The Gees Court store was replaced by a store in Covent Garden on Neal Street. Currently in the UK there are a dozen stores in places such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Brighton and Manchester. There are others overseas in Europe, Russia, Australia, The Middle East and Asia.

The STORM watch range has today metamorphosed from its quirky beginnings into a more sophisticated fashion watch brand, retaining key elements of the STORM signature and Steve’s aims of making quality, well-designed stylish timepieces that are fun!