Choice is a funny thing. It’s generally considered that it is better to have more of it, yet there is a point at which too much choice paralyses your decision-making process. (We are in the process of redecorating our house, and while these days it is technically possible to have more or less any shade of paint imaginable, we only made proper progress once we found a store offering just a few dozen colours. Make of that what you will.)

There are a great many watches out there, of course, and as regular readers will know, we’ve touched on the idea that if one trend has really dominated watchmaking in the last decade, it’s choice: more sizes, more straps and more materials. Still, when it comes to colours and finishes in particular, the watch world is still pretty restrained. We’ve come a long way, but most of the time you’re looking at three or four options for a specific reference, maximum.

That’s OK – it’s all about exercising some degree of control on the part of the brands – but it throws into sharp relief a permanent truth: no matter how much variety emerges, mainstream watchmakers are bound to be realistic and produce what will sell in reasonably large quantities. Hence a fairly conservative attitude – a blue dial here, a green one there and so it goes. If you have the funds, and more importantly, the ear of the brand, most higher-end companies will consider custom commissions, but that’s a matter for a very select few.

What the rest of us need is someone with the time, the creativity and crucially the permission, to take the solid, reliable watches made by the likes of TAG Heuer and ask “what if?”. That’s where Mr George Bamford comes in. Consider him your portal to a world of “what if”, creating kaleidoscopes of choice where the brand itself can’t afford to tread.

What if the Monaco had a black case? Or a steel case but with a black dial and blue chronograph subdials, with a white stencil sunray pattern behind them? Or break the chronograph subdial minute track into segments, and match that with contrast stitching on the leather strap and the tips and counterweights of the hands? Or, or, or… you get the idea.

I have had the good fortune to visit Mr Bamford’s Mayfair office a number of times, and I can tell you that the watches you see here, now available on MR PORTER for the first time, are just the tip of the iceberg. The place is a nest of creativity, crammed with collectable items, trinkets, books, models, clocks – and something new every time.

The emergence of this middle ground between run-of-the-mill watches and true one-offs speaks to the fact that aside from being a magpie for all things mechanical, Mr Bamford is a shrewd operator. These are the choices you need, made by someone whose obsession runs at least as deep as your own.