Akhras’s unique Crash now takes pride of place in a collection in which the notion of bespoke, personalised creations is a running thread. “Bespoke watches allow me to exercise my design ideas for particular models and to participate in the creative process,” he says. “What’s really important is that I feel there is a part of me in the final product. That’s very powerful.”

Bespoke watches are not new, but it’s something that for a long time was practised in relative secrecy. Auctions occasionally revealed to the wider view some of the wonders made to order behind closed doors. The visibility of bespoke and custom-made watches has grown significantly in recent times, not least thanks to the promulgating powers of social media. A number of brands have taken an increasingly nimble-footed, obliging approach in an age when the possibility of one-off, made-to-order products, from bags and luggage to designer sneakers and T-shirts, has become central to the idea of luxury and its promise of exclusivity.

“In today’s world, luxury is about uniqueness and collectors often want a timepiece that no one else has,” says Mr Pascal Raffy, CEO of Bovet, the independent haute horlogerie marque. “Many times, the conversation begins with a collector who approaches us through a boutique or retailer with a request for something special. Then we do renderings and there is a great deal of back and forth as we share inspiration and ideas from the collectors themselves and from our 200 years of history.”

As Raffy points out, at Bovet there are no assembly lines. Every watch is made individually, which means adaptations – a new colour, engraved initials, a miniature enamel painting – can be factored in or a complex, completely bespoke timepiece can be made from scratch. “Our artisans love to stretch their creative muscles,” says Raffy, citing the creation of highly decorative watches mounted into the dashboard of one of three Rolls-Royce Boat Tails (at £20m, the world’s most expensive road-worthy car) as among Bovet’s most extravagant bespoke projects.

Vacheron Constantin has created a whole department for such endeavours, which operates independently from its production watchmaking. Named Les Cabinotiers after the Geneva artisans who perfected watchmaking’s decorative crafts in the 18th and 19th centuries, it specialises in ground-up projects, which often take years to complete, in which the limits of possibility are set only by the tastes and resources of the client.

“The department includes designers, engineers, watchmakers, decoration specialists and, of course, takes care of all administrative aspects of projects,” says Vacheron Constantin’s style and heritage director, Mr Christian Selmoni. Every Les Cabinotiers commission needs to be unique in every aspect of its design. Projects range from relatively straightforward, but completely bespoke, watches to some of the most complicated, elaborate timepieces ever made. “It’s a laboratory for constant innovation, as well as technical research and development,” says Selmoni.

Such projects have huge premiums attached (running easily into seven figures for the development of a new multi-complication movement), yet it appears demand for such services is only increasing. Jaquet Droz, a brand famous for watches that contain highly complex automata (micromechanical animations of animals, flowers and the like) has recently recalibrated itself around the idea of a completely made-to-order offering, with a starting price of £89,000 for customised versions of existing wonders such as its recent Dragon Automaton. It will design and construct bespoke automata on request, too.

Carl F Bucherer is another watch company that has recently announced an entire new division conceived solely for working on bespoke versions of its watches. The CFB Mastery Lab has its own workshops, designers and watchmakers, and brings out into the open something the company’s CMO, Mr Uwe Liebminger.

“Having been quietly accommodating more and more special requests, we realised that a one-of-a-kind individualisation experience would give customers what they expect from a contemporary watch manufacturer and cement our reputation for inventiveness and ingenuity.”

For collectors who are not planning to fly quite so high, or anywhere near, there are plenty of options. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso is a popular choice for personalising its flippable rear side, either with engraved patterns and messages or, for considerably more outlay, with grande feu enamel paintings.

A bespoke Crash is off the cards for most people, but Cartier is happy to take special orders for adaptations of its mainstream watches under its Special Orders programme. This may range from special dial colours, case treatments or engravings to artistic decorations and dial patterns. Images of beloved pets tend to be popular, as are watches that mark particular events or relationships.

According to Cartier’s style and heritage director, Mr Pierre Raniero, requests tend to fall into two categories: people such as Akhras, who have a specific idea based around their knowledge of Cartier, its history and its codes, and those who want something “linked to feelings or personality, whether it be celebrating a special someone, a favourite colour or something important in their life such as a country or football team,” he says. “We receive many different types of special orders, which require us to be visible yet discreet.”

The only criteria, he says, are that it hasn’t been done before and that it falls in line with Cartier’s design philosophy. “Each watch will one day be on the art market for future generations, so we have to be proud of it,” he says.

The little independent brand Andersen Geneve is one maker for whom bespoke is the primary activity. It makes fewer than 50 watches a year, drawing on a network of superbly skilled artisans who individually handmake watches the old-fashioned way, to stunning levels of refinement. The watches it has newly created for MR PORTER – versions in yellow gold of its magnificent Jumping Hours and Tempus Terrae world timer watches, plus a white-gold Tempus Terrae – are designed for a high level of customisation and exemplify its assiduous, delicate approach.

“The best thing is to come to the atelier in Geneva and see where the watch is made,” says the brand’s CEO, Mr Pierre-Alexandre Aeschlimann. “We can show some unique pieces that we never publicly disclose, talk about what kind of complication you’d like, what type of watch. I’m pleased to challenge collectors, because we want them to do their homework so that they can really challenge us.”

Such an offering has become something of a speciality within the independent watchmaking sector, in which small production volumes, close customer relationships and a natural bent towards creative ingenuity provides fertile ground for special orders. For those keen to dive into this, but unsure which way to turn,

London-based business Convopiece provides a unique service, acting as both middle man and designer for unique watches made with luminaries such as Kari Voutilainen, Ludovic Ballouard, De Bethune and indeed Andersen Geneve. Convopiece founder Mr Adrian Aldred, whose background is as a product designer and creative director, works with clients to develop a concept, draw up blueprint, liaise with Swiss makers, and steward the entire production process, while also creating a beautiful book to be delivered with the watch itself.

“It’s like having your in-house designer at your side,” Aldred says. “Customisation as a trend is in so many facets of our daily lives now, and faceless brands that don’t bring that human connection don’t resonate in the same way. This is a about real connection, real craft and a real expression of who you are as an individual. It’s not just the design that’s unique: it’s the story that it tells.”