Meet the Sheffield engineers turning pieces of space into luxury watches

What do Sheffield, the Apollo 11 mission, moon rock and luxury watches have in common? Quite a lot, it turns out.

Sheffield-based Diatom is an independent watch brand founded by aerospace engineers and materials scientists Dr. Alex Baker and Dr. Chris Rose, creating limited-edition timepieces using some genuinely extraordinary materials. Think meteorites, genuine lunar material and elements connected to historic spacecraft.

And then there's the final touch: every Diatom watch is actually flown into space before reaching its owner. It's certainly not the most conventional business to come out of Yorkshire, but its roots in the region make perfect sense.

Alex and Chris met at the University of Sheffield, where both studied Mechanical Engineering before completing PhDs spanning materials engineering, component design and nanoscale particle manipulation.

In 2011, they founded Sent Into Space, initially developing technology to make access to the upper atmosphere faster and more affordable for researchers. The business has since evolved into a leading space marketing agency, producing campaigns for brands including Samsung, Disney, Coca-Cola and Google, alongside achieving Guinness World Records and even securing an offer from Deborah Meaden on Dragons' Den.

One of the most defining moments in their careers came when a scientific mission unexpectedly discovered diatoms, microscopic organisms similar to algae, in the stratosphere. The discovery generated international attention and, years later, provided the name for their next venture.

From aerospace engineering to watchmaking

Founded in 2023, Diatom combines the pair's space industry experience with a long-standing love of watches.

Their connections have given them access to materials ranging from meteorites and lunar regolith to elements associated with historic spacecraft, which they independently analyse and authenticate using their scientific expertise.

It's an unusual meeting of luxury, science and storytelling, but there's something distinctly Sheffield about it too. In a city built on steel, manufacturing and materials innovation, Alex and Chris are taking that engineering heritage somewhere altogether less expected.

We caught up with the founders to talk moon rock, sending watches into space, building a business in Sheffield and what's next for Diatom...

The Northern Edit meets Diatom

You’ve both spent much of your careers working in aerospace and space research - what was it about watches that made you want to take everything you’d learnt and turn it into a completely new business?

"Though we’re aerospace engineers first and foremost, we’ve always had a deep passion for watches; there’s something uniquely compelling about how timepieces manage to marry aesthetic design with mechanical complexity so effortlessly. A few years ago, it dawned on us that watches would be the perfect vessel for us to share some of the extraordinary materials we’d acquired over our time working in the space sector, allowing us to connect owners with historic artifacts that they can carry with them wherever they go."

Diatom is built around some pretty extraordinary materials - from meteorites to genuine lunar material and elements from Apollo 11. What is the most incredible piece of material you’ve ever worked with, and what’s the story behind it?

"Probably the most incredible material we’ve ever worked with is our very own piece of moon rock. It was ejected from the lunar surface during a violent meteorite collision and likely wandered the solar system for millions of years before landing here on planet Earth. To be honest, it’s hard to put into words what it feels like holding something that was once part of a completely different world – especially one that looms so large in our night sky!"

You’re both engineers, so there’s clearly a huge amount of science and precision behind Diatom. But there’s also a very emotional side to owning something that has literally been to space. What do you want someone to feel when they put a Diatom watch on their wrist?

"Ultimately, we want people to feel the very same sense of awe that we do when holding our piece of moon rock. That’s exactly why we put so much time and effort into telling the story behind our watches, the materials within them and the extraterrestrial voyage they embark on. Speaking of the launches, we actually film the watches’ journey into space and include the footage with every piece we sell. When it comes to creating feelings of awe and a connection to space, watching your own timepiece floating high above the Earth is pretty hard to beat."

You’ve been determined to make Diatom feel authentic rather than gimmicky. How do you strike that balance between cutting-edge science and creating something that people simply want to own and wear?

"There’s certainly a fine line between creating something compelling and something that feels like a gimmick. The difference, we believe, lies in authenticity. My co-founder and I are materials scientists and space engineers by trade, so when we say that something has been into space or that a material has a specific origin, we have the experience and scientific data to back up those claims. The other factor is that we pay just as much attention to the design of the watches as we do to the story of the materials inside. At the end of the day, we’re watch enthusiasts as well as engineers, so if the design doesn’t do the material inclusions justice then it’s back to the drawing board to make something that we’d be proud to wear on our own wrists."

The watches themselves actually travel into space before reaching their owners. What does it feel like watching something you’ve designed and built leave Earth - and is there ever a moment where you think, ‘What are we actually doing?!’

"Trust me, that feeling never goes away. We’ve been sending things into space for the best part of two decades, and we still get a buzz of excitement with every flight! There’s also a massive sense of pride that comes with launching our watches; each flight feels almost ceremonial, like a passing-out parade for every timepiece we create."

Your journey has included everything from discovering diatoms in the stratosphere to working with brands like Samsung, Disney and Google, appearing on Dragons’ Den and now creating a luxury watch brand. Looking back, is there a particular moment that changed the direction of your careers?

"The discovery of diatoms in the upper stratosphere certainly felt like a turning point. After we published the results, we received an absolute whirlwind of press attention, which gave us the exposure (and initial momentum) needed to kickstart the business and introduce the world to the concept of space marketing. Ultimately, that’s why we chose ‘Diatom’ for the name of the watch brand; it felt like coming full circle to another watershed moment in our careers."

You’re both Sheffield graduates and have built your businesses there. What is it about Sheffield that has kept you rooted in the city, and do you think being from the North has influenced the way you approach business?

"There’re very few places in the UK – or the world, for that matter – that can boast the materials-science heritage of Sheffield. I mean, what better place to launch a watch brand than in the city that invented stainless steel, the very material that makes up the vast majority of watch cases! With myself and my cofounder being born-and-bred northerners, we’ve both grown up surrounded by heavy engineering and manufacturing, and I think that’s had a big influence on our approach to watchmaking – with many of our components being precision machined from unique alloys that we’ve designed and forged ourselves."

Diatom takes something incredibly vast and mysterious - space - and turns it into something you can hold in your hand. If you could give one watch to anyone in the world, past or present, who would it be and why?

"Great question! It would without doubt have to be the late Joe Kittinger, a US Air Force captain who skydived from a stratospheric balloon floating almost 20 miles above the Earth. Most people will remember Felix Baumgartner doing a similar thing with Red Bull some 15 years ago, but Kittinger managed to perform his jump all the way back in 1960! It was actually watching the footage of this historic feat that first inspired us to start sending things into space, and we still use stratospheric balloons to this day in many of our launches."

When you’re not working on space launches, engineering or watches, what does a perfect day in Sheffield look like for you both? Any favourite Northern spots you’d recommend to a reader?

"We’re incredibly lucky to be living right on the doorstep of the Peak District, which makes for an incredible day out, whatever the weather. However, on less adventurous days, you’ll most likely find us chilling out in one of Sheffield’s many independent cafes. If any of your readers find themselves in the Steel City any time soon, they should definitely visit Marmadukes for an iced latte and a pastry or two!"

And finally, after spending so much of your lives looking upwards, what’s next for Diatom - and how far do you think you can take it?

"We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built so far, but this is just the beginning. We’ve got bold ambitions for growth and are aiming to build the Diatom community organically until we’re a recognised brand among watch enthusiasts. We’ve got a lot of exciting things lined up for the coming year and much more planned after that – so watch this space!"