Diatom is a British watch brand founded by Dr Chris Rose and Dr Alex Baker, two materials scientists who moved into the space sector after their PhDs and built their own platform for reaching near space at a fraction of the cost of conventional rocketry. In 2015 a probe they flew into the stratosphere returned with diatoms, microscopic algae-like organisms found far higher than accepted theories allowed, and the discovery gave the brand its name. Drawing on more than a decade of launch operations and an aerospace network of research institutions, space agencies and astronauts, Diatom builds its watches with rare inclusions such as meteorite and material recovered from NASA's Apollo 11 Command Module, each verified for authenticity, and forges some of its own alloys in the UK.

Every Diatom watch is flown to more than 120,000 feet aboard the brand's own carbon-fibre craft before delivery, and comes with high-definition footage of its flight. The first model, the Blue Dot, was inspired by Carl Sagan's "pale blue dot" and combines Apollo 11-flown material with an inlaid triangle of Gibeon meteorite. The Terra Meteorite collection pairs meteorite dials in five Earth-inspired colours with the Swiss Sellita SW200 automatic, while the limited Inner Worlds collection of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon and Mars, 450 pieces each, combines hand-applied textured enamel dials with the Swiss ETA 2892. Prices run from £650 to £2,200.