Made in America Watches
When you think of a fine timepiece, “American Made” is not likely to be a topic of association. Majority would be reluctant to coin “Swiss Made” as the epitome of a fine timepiece, while others may claim German or Japanese made watches to be the upper echelon. However, you will rarely hear “American Made” fall into that category, even though watch making was a staple in America dating back to the 1850’s. Such a staple in fact, you would be surprised to learn that Swiss watch counterparts took inspiration from American watch companies, adopting their technology and use of automated manufacturing allowing them to catapult to where they are today.
While American watch production has made a somewhat steady decline in the last century giving way to foreign counterparts to reigned superior, American watch making is making somewhat of a comeback. Various niche and even larger scale brands are making appearances in the US market, re-igniting the flame that once was American watch making. Many of these brands are relatively young in comparison to the well known Swiss and Japanese brands we have all come to love. However, disregarding brand maturity as a factor of reputation, these American brands are making a statement that is sure to catch a few eyes.
Weiss Watch Co.
History/Overview:
Owner Cameron Weiss always had a deep rooted passion for watches starting his watch journey at a very young age, somewhat self learning by utilizing watch making tools and books provided by his family throughout his life. The official watch journey though started in 2010 when Cameron attended an apprentice program at the Nicholas G. Hayek Watchmaking school in Miami. This WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) program allowed Cameron to further cultivate his skills in watch repair and hand craftsmanship of watch components on lathes.
After schooling Cameron went onto years of training in conjunction with reputable watch houses such as Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin in the US and in Switzerland. Here he was able to learn from some of the best in the business, building the essential foundation to create his soon to be brand. Fast-forward to 2013 and Cameron would have officially launched the Weiss Watch Company, releasing just 10 field watches in black for the San Francisco, CA market.
In 2016, just a few years after the initial design and development, the CAL 1003 would launch. From here brand significantly ramped up after this thanks to credible reviews by both the LA Times and GQ for its made in America essence. Shortly after Weiss would introduced their 38mm automatic issue field watch, another staple in the brands lineup targeted for smaller wrist individuals. Throughout the years after the initial launch, the offerings from Weiss would undergo slight iterations such as the removal of “Los Angeles, CA” on the dial and a handful of special release limited run dial colors and unique dial insignia; however the brand would stay the course with its original field watch template.
Current Offerings:
Weiss watch’s offerings are fairly limited in comparison to most brands, sticking solely to the field watch style. While this is their staple, they have offered various special editions/limited runs through the years which stand out from their standard watch offerings. That being said these limited runs tend to sell fast thanks to the brands reputation. Currently Weiss offers a 42mm field watch with their caliber 1001 mechanical movement (based on caliber 6497), a 38mm field watch with their caliber 1005 mechanical movement (based on caliber 7001), and a limited run ultra light 42mm titanium field watch with their caliber 1003 mechanical movement. All pieces have a display back case, allowing the owner to peer into the inner workings of the watch and gaze at the finishing handiwork of Weiss. All pieces are fairly customizable with the ability to select from various types of canvas or leather straps, various dial colors, and also the ability to add an engraving on the case back if you choose. Some of the standard offerings from Weiss are shown in the below:
Price Range: $1450-$2800
Find them here: https://weisswatchcompany.com/
RGM Watches
History/Overview:
RGM watches was founded in 1992 by Ronald G. Murphy, however Ronald’s passion started much earlier than this. Starting in the early 1980’s Ronald enrolled in the Bowman Technical School in Lancaster, PA where his passion really took off. In 1986, he was officially accepted into the WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) in Switzerland. Here he would learn the art that is watchmaking and fine tune his passion. After cultivating the necessary skills and certifications, Ronald was hired by SMH to work in product development for Hamilton Watch Co. in Lancaster, PA eventually working through the ranks to the position of technical manager.
Fast forward to 1992, Ronald would open RGM watch in Lancaster County, PA in an attempt to cultivate his passion for timepieces, utilizing modern equipment with traditional hand finishing techniques. Today RGM makes some of the most beautiful timepieces that have a refreshing abundance of originality with 4 in house movements made right in Lancaster, PA.
Current Offerings:
RGM watches is a embodies the classical watch design for modern era. Blending traditional design cues and machining techniques with modern technology to make unique timepieces is what RGM does best.
RGM has a plethora of watches that cover a vast amount of traditional and relatively unique design aesthetics. Out of the American brands in this article, RGM is by far one of the most diversified when it comes to the variety of their offerings. RGM has classic chronographs, time/date only watches, pilots watches, diver watches, GMT’s, railroad inspired watches, a tourbillion, and many other unique pieces. The details and finishing on these pieces is top quality, a sight to see, however there is a top quality price tag to go along with it as well. Due to the vast amount of options, not every time piece from RGM is shown below, rather a highlight reel to get a feel for what RGM is about.
Price Range: $2750-$95000+
Find them here: https://www.rgmwatches.com/
Autodromo
History/Overview:
A brand whos image is as deeply engrained in watch making as it is stemming inspiration from the world of motorsports. Bradley Price founded Autodromo in 2011 as an automotive focused lifestyle brand in NYC, making various accessories such as hats, sunglasses, gloves, and the most well known, watches. Today the company is mainly known for it’s watches as the pieces are “off the beaten path” from typical watch offerings, offering pieces that will surely stick out. The watches made by Autodromo bring together the aesthetics of car designs from various eras from the 1950’s to 1980’s.
Current Offerings:
Following the motorsports world closely, Autodromo’s current offerings cover racing styles seen in that of group B rally, Coppa Intereuropa race of the 1950’s and 60’s, the Le-Mans 24 hour race (Ford GT), and the early Grand Prix races. The pieces match the aesthetics unique to each era of cars they are mean to represent, showing resemblance to vehicle exterior, interior designs, and cluster gages. An array of different movements are offered from Autodromo from quartz, to automatic Miyota and Seiko movements, and manual wind swiss made movements. These pieces are sure to catch the eye of any car enthusiasts alike and are singularly unique in comparison to the majority of the watch landscape. Below are a few of the offerings from Autodromo:
Prices: $695-$1800
Find them here: https://autodromo.com/watches/
Oak and Oscar
History/Overview:
Oak and Oscar was conceptualized by Chase Fancher after becoming tired of his corporate gig. Thinking of starting a watch brand, Chase would begin selling pieces with hopes of transitioning his passion for watches into a reality, with the ultimate goal of allowing it to take over his corporate job. That would happen sooner than he ever imagined, just weeks after his first sales he was able to transition full time toward the business. Starting off in 2015 out of Chicago, Illinois the brand would begin offering limited run watches, eventually selling out and transitioning into open sale (non-limited run) watches.
While Oak and Oscar is an “American” brand their watches are actually manufactured in Switzerland. That being said, the leather and canvas packaging is made by a local company in Chicago and the leather straps are made Indiana. While the product is not a true in house American made movement they are in fact an American brand stemming much of their design inspiration and naming nomenclature in relation to American culture and architecture.
Current Offerings:
When looking at the current lineup from Oak and Oscar, there is a relatively minimalistic design with their watches. All pieces have very legible dials, using contrasting colors and two layered dial construction, making the numeral offset from the face of the piece. The movements used in these pieces are all reliable well known movements such as the Swiss made ETA 2892A2 and the Eterna Caliber 3916M. Each of Oak and Oscars timepieces are named after persons of historical significance, adding an essence to the pieces that goes beyond the aesthetics, in turn giving the pieces a deeper meaning. Just to name a few as an example, The Humboldt is named after one of the worlds most famous explorers Alexander Humboldt, The Olmstead is named after one of the most famous landscape architects Fredrick Law Olmstead, The Sanford (a GMT piece) is named after Sir Sandford Fleming for his promotion of the 24 hour clock, and the Burnham after the famous Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. Shown below are some of the offerings from Oak and Oscar:
Price: $1375 to $3150
Find them here: https://oakandoscar.com/#
Detroit Watch Company:
Overview/History:
The Detroit Watch Company is a relatively new company as with most of these US based watch companies. Conceptualized in 2013 by Patrick and Amy Ayoub, the Michigan based company came into fruition from a deep rooted passion the couple had for creating their own timepieces.
Detroit Watch Company’s pieces are designed in house and sent to the companies “components specialists” to be manufactured. In conjunction with the designed components, the company uses reliable Swiss based movements which are hand encased and assembled with the companies manufactured components all in Michigan. Additionally the watches are tested in Michigan in by Detroit Watch Co. to ensure the product is up to the standards prior to leaving the facility. While the brand does not offer an “In-house” US movement like RGM they do use reputable movements inside of an aesthetically designed casing/dials.
Current Offerings:
Detroit Watch Company has a plethora of different watches, covering the basis of many different watch styles and many different types of complications. All watches use well know Swiss based watch movements such as the Valjoux ETA 7750, Swiss ETA 2892A2, and the Swiss ETA 2893-2 GMT. Detroit watch company has a relatively wide array of designs. Some pieces have classic styling paired with a minimalistic design, while others have rather “busy” dials, overcommunicating various complications on a single dial. Having various offerings allow them to appeal to a larger audience, especially in comparison to some of the other companies that specialize in one particular style of watch. Display back cases are standard on most of the watches allowing a look into the finishing details on the Swiss movements (with the exception of the dive oriented pieces and a couple of the lower priced models).
Many of the pieces from Detroit Watch are limited run and are numbered on the back of the piece; the typical run is around 100-150pcs. See below for a few of the offerings from Detroit Watch Company:
Price: $998 to $2750
Find them here: https://detroitwatchco.com/