Independent Watchmaking in America?!

[dbenton414]

How do all of you feel about the current rise in interest among American watchmaking? 
 

I for one, love seeing the industry in the U.S. grow. With the likes of Dan Spitz, RGM, and JN Shapiro working their horological magic, I feel that we will once again be on the map.

Question is, will American watchmaking have the same success as it did in the past, and will it last?

Thoughts and opinions?

[TimeTexas]

11 hours ago, dbenton414 said:

How do all of you feel about the current rise in interest among American watchmaking? 
 

I for one, love seeing the industry in the U.S. grow. With the likes of Dan Spitz, RGM, and JN Shapiro working their horological magic, I feel that we will once again be on the map.

Question is, will American watchmaking have the same success as it did in the past, and will it last?

Thoughts and opinions?

About to run out and do some pre-Christmas errands, but this is a great question. 

I think there will be a lot of success. Watchmaking will always find its roots in Switzerland. No doubt. And with the entire infrastructure that has been built to support the industry there it will always be first. But it seems that "Swiss Made" no longer holds the dominating aura of the past due to incredible watchmaking that is happening around the world. And with many of these independents, the entire process is very open and transparent. So you don't need the assurance that "Swiss made" means quality. 

I think in the US, brands like you list above are so highly regarded for their quality and craftsmanship that there will continue to be more watchmakers from the US and it will be incredibly successful. And it will drive innovation and improvement. So I think it will be even more successful than in the past and that independent brands in general will continue to be a growing segment of the watch community. 

One thing about the US is that capitalism and the freedom to pursue your stands creates a very competitive and entrepreneurial spirit. That will drive the success. 

[TimeTexas]

I haven't seen one of Dan's watches in the flesh. And I don't own an RGM or JNS. But I did get to see them in New York. The Shapiro is from @th4tk1d(Natecho) at the Global RedBar event.

It was extremely cool to see both and also to see the RGM guilloche machine in action. Truly amazing! 

 

[dbenton414]

4 hours ago, TimeTexas said:

About to run out and do some pre-Christmas errands, but this is a great question. 

I think there will be a lot of success. Watchmaking will always find its roots in Switzerland. No doubt. And with the entire infrastructure that has been built to support the industry there it will always be first. But it seems that "Swiss Made" no longer holds the dominating aura of the past due to incredible watchmaking that is happening around the world. And with many of these independents, the entire process is very open and transparent. So you don't need the assurance that "Swiss made" means quality. 

I think in the US, brands like you list above are so highly regarded for their quality and craftsmanship that there will continue to be more watchmakers from the US and it will be incredibly successful. And it will drive innovation and improvement. So I think it will be even more successful than in the past and that independent brands in general will continue to be a growing segment of the watch community. 

One thing about the US is that capitalism and the freedom to pursue your stands creates a very competitive and entrepreneurial spirit. That will drive the success. 

Very well said and excellent points. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for American watchmaking. 

[dbenton414]

4 hours ago, TimeTexas said:

I haven't seen one of Dan's watches in the flesh. And I don't own an RGM or JNS. But I did get to see them in New York. The Shapiro is from @th4tk1d(Natecho) at the Global RedBar event.

It was extremely cool to see both and also to see the RGM guilloche machine in action. Truly amazing! 

 

Stunning pieces. Both are exceptional. Would love to see the engine turning in person! 

[TimeTexas]

10 hours ago, dbenton414 said:

Stunning pieces. Both are exceptional. Would love to see the engine turning in person! 

Yeah, at WatchTime RGM brought one of their smaller (or maybe smallest) machines and you could actually watch them work it. Fascinating and takes amazing skill.

[dbenton414]

On 12/25/2022 at 2:15 AM, TimeTexas said:

Yeah, at WatchTime RGM brought one of their smaller (or maybe smallest) machines and you could actually watch them work it. Fascinating and takes amazing skill.

That would have awesome to see for sure. There is some classes I’ve been thing of taking on the practice of engine turning. 

[TimeTexas]

Now that would be cool! I don't have the manual skills to do that. And I'm definitely not steady enough. 

Is an incredible process and requires resetting the coordinates of the offset after each pass to create the patterns. I'm sure that isn't the proper terminology, but it is very exacting and detailed work. 

[TimeTexas]

On 12/26/2022 at 9:01 PM, dbenton414 said:

That would have awesome to see for sure. There is some classes I’ve been thing of taking on the practice of engine turning. 

Did you ever sign up for these classes?