The winners / 01
The very first winner.
Owen Simmonds. A university student in Plymouth. A Rolex Oyster Perpetual.
Read story : The very first winner.
A game of skill. A story of possibility.
Big dreams.Real winners.Our story.
As a teenager, Harrison dreamed of owning a luxury watch for a fraction of the price. That idea became Watchlotto.
Owen / Plymouth
01Where it all began
A dream watch.
A different way
to own one.
Watchlotto was founded by Harrison Gwinnett in 2016.
This archive preserves its original story, winners and milestones.
At 16, Harrison was fascinated by luxury watches. He wanted to own one himself, but for a fraction of the price. Working in London, that interest grew. He first considered opening a jeweller’s, then found a different idea: make the watch world more fun by giving people the chance to win one.
A spot-the-ball game of skill gave people the opportunity to make that same dream a reality. The watches brought people in. The winners, their reactions and the personal handovers became the heart of the story.
The first competition followed in 2018. Owen Simmonds, a university student in Plymouth, won a Rolex Oyster Perpetual through a 99p promotion. That first handover became a moment Harrison would keep coming back to.
Harrison’s story
Before launchHarrison Gwinnett & Jamie Robertson.
02The archive
Real people.
Unforgettable moments.
The winners, the journeys, the people behind it all. A look back at life at Watchlotto.
Behind the scenes / 02
Inside the judging room.
Sol Campbell, Andy Cole and the team at the Watchlotto office for official judging.
Read story : Inside the judging room.The partnerships / 03
On the shirt. In the game.
Southend United’s front-of-shirt sponsor, in real life and in FIFA.
Read story : On the shirt. In the game.The reactions / 04
Reactions we won’t forget.
Different people. Different places. Moments that made it all worthwhile.
Read story : Reactions we won’t forget.The journeys / 05
A world away.
Jamie Robertson delivering a prize beside Sydney Harbour, Australia.
Read story : A world away.The community / 06
Room for a good cause.
Making space on Southend’s junior shirts for the Teddy Hewitt Foundation.
Read story : Room for a good cause.The first winner was Owen Simmonds, a university student in Plymouth, UK. His prize was a Rolex Oyster Perpetual, and he was over the moon.
In the 2020 director’s interview, Harrison recalls the first competition in 2018: a 99p ticket promotion and an Oyster Perpetual 39. Owen won through that promotion.
Harrison remembers them being just as nervous as each other. It was the first winner handover, and the idea was suddenly very real.
Behind the scenes at the Watchlotto office, Sol Campbell and Andy Cole joined the team for official spot-the-ball judging. The group photograph captures everyone together on a judging day.
Before the platform launched, Harrison met presenter Jamie Robertson for the first time. Together they filmed the very first piece of Watchlotto content, also preserved in this gallery.
In his director’s interview, Harrison explains how showing the judging videos became a priority. Entrants wanted to see the people, the process and the decisions behind the competition.
Watchlotto became Southend United’s main shirt partner in 2020. The club’s original kit-launch artwork shows the logo taking its place on the front of the home shirt.
That real-world sponsorship appeared in FIFA through Southend’s in-game kit. It was part of the game’s normal club branding, bringing Watchlotto to a new audience.
The winners and their reactions became the heart of Watchlotto. Owen was over the moon at his first handover in Plymouth; Harrison remembers them both being just as nervous as each other.
The photographs bring together moments from Plymouth, Sydney and the Channel Islands. Jamie Robertson made the personal handover in Sydney. COVID meant the team could not travel to the Channel Islands to deliver that prize in person.
Sometimes the moment began with a phone call. The archive also captures Harrison with a Southend United player delivering the news to a winner.
Alongside those moments are more photographs from Harrison’s own archive: a personal prize handover and a video call from the Watchlotto sofa.
The journeys became part of the story. Presenter Jamie Robertson travelled to Sydney, Australia, for a personal prize handover beside the harbour.
The Southend partnership created an opportunity to give something back. Watchlotto donated its branding space on the junior retail shirts to the Teddy Hewitt Foundation.
The club announced the arrangement in July 2020, giving the foundation a place on the shirts worn by young supporters.
03The journey
The moments that
made Watchlotto.
From a teenage idea to a year
that changed everything.
The idea behind a dream watch It started with wanting one.
At 16, Harrison was drawn to luxury watches but wanted a way to own one for a fraction of the price. That thought became Watchlotto: a game of skill, a dream watch and a different way to own one.
An early Watchlotto website A little backing. A bigger ambition.
Early backing gave the idea room to grow. The focus was on building the experience, bringing people in and turning the first chapter into something bigger.
Before the platform launched The first meeting. The first video.
Harrison and Jamie Robertson met for the first time to film Watchlotto’s very first piece of content. The platform had not launched yet. Before the winners and the journeys, there was this moment on a sofa, making a start.
Owen Simmonds. Plymouth, UK. A 99p entry. A first unforgettable win.
In his director’s interview, Harrison places the first competition in 2018. Owen Simmonds, a university student in Plymouth, won a Rolex Oyster Perpetual 39 through the 99p promotion. Harrison remembers the nerves, the excitement at Owen’s door and his family coming out afterwards.
The original V2 campaign artwork Rebuilt. Relaunched. In your pocket.
A second version of the website and the arrival of mobile apps opened up a new chapter. Watchlotto was finding its rhythm, and the community was growing with it.
Southend United calling a winner The year everything accelerated.
The pace was changing. In his September interview, Harrison described the move from monthly to fortnightly competitions, with weekly competitions the next goal. More winners and more personal handovers were at the heart of that ambition.
An official spot-the-ball judging day On the shirt. On the screen.
The Southend United partnership put Watchlotto on the shirt and into FIFA. Back at the office, Andy Cole and Sol Campbell joined the judging. The story was reaching a much bigger audience.
Southend’s announcement · 24 July 2020
Jamie Robertson. Sydney Harbour, Australia. A dream worth going the distance for.
The handovers were personal. In 2020, over 10,000 miles were travelled delivering prizes, with journeys reaching as far as Australia. What began as one person’s idea was now making memories around the world.
One idea. A world of moments.
The director’s interview
In his
own words.
Watch on YouTube
04The handover
The next
chapter.
This archive preserves Watchlotto’s original story following its acquisition.
The business was acquired and Harrison Gwinnett stepped down as director.