AN ENGINE from a Spitfire flown in the Battle of Britain has been melted down and turned into watches.

Zero West is a classic, luxury, watch brand based in Emsworth, that was lucky enough to get its hands on a Merlin engine from a downed Spitfire.

The plane was rediscovered by a fishing boat in the 1990s and founders of the company, two friends, Andrew Barbyn and Graham Collins, have been working to create a set of watches out of the melted down engine material.

On top of creating their watches, which they have called, Spitfire S4 P9427, the pair also wanted to learn the backstory of the plane the material came from.

After extensive research, going through several RAF records and experts, they deduced that the plane, a Mark 1 Spitfire, was manufactured in Eastleigh and flown by a Polish exile during World War 2.

The plane was involved in a dog fight over the Needles on the Isle of Wight where it was downed, but only after it was used by the Pole, Sergeant Pilot Zygmunt Klein, to shoot down a German flying ace that, just weeks earlier, had been decorated by Adolf Hitler.

Having now turned the engine into 80 watches to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle of Britain, the two friends are just happy that the backstory of the plane and pilot that is finally being told.

Andrew Brabyn, one of the founders, said: “It was a fantastic story to uncover and it has really engaged with a lot of people and been very rewarding.

“Once we got a little bit of information, we just wanted to find out as much as we could and the story overtook the watch in the end.”

Each watch has been laser engraved with a drawing of the spitfire and a silhouette of the needles.

Interest has been high for the watches, with over half having sold already.

Andrew added: “The response has been really good and the interest along the South Coast is especially high.

“They are proving to be popular and it’s just about getting that backstory out there.

“The story was lost and now we’ve reconnected everything.

“It was a lot of work and we came to a lot of dead-ends, but it has been really worthwhile.”

The watches are being sold at £2,500 each and some have already been purchased by people as far away as Australia and the USA.