Two Broke Watch Snobs
The 5 Best American Watch Brands We’ve Ever Reviewed
After years of hands-on reviews with American watch brands, these ones stood out for their build quality, fair pricing, and everyday appeal.
Results for Vacheron Constantin American 1921
1,231 articles · 204 videos found · page 34 of 48
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Monochrome
Introducing – The RGM Model 222-RR Ferguson Railroad Dial is a Genuine Slice of American Railroad History
As the only vertically integrated manufacture in the United States producing components, movements and guilloché dials, RGM is already an anomaly on the American watch scene. Founded by master watchmaker Roland G. Murphy in 1992 in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, Murphy’s interest in early 20th-century American watchmaking history is reflected in the brand’s railroad watches. The […]
Worn & Wound
Craft, Precision, and the Future of American Watchmaking: an Interview with Josh Shapiro
To pursue the level of watchmaking American independent brand J.N. Shapiro has, you need more than a bit of talent and a dash of ambition. Even if you manage to master the skills required to craft the impressively detailed neo-vintage watches J.N. Shapiro makes, having a unique enough take on a traditional aesthetic and the business savvy to compete on the world’s stage of independent watchmaking is another story altogether. It demands a near-monastic lifestyle to pull off. J.N. Shapiro’s founder and visionary, Josh Shapiro, hasn’t just answered the call – he’s actually making it work. More remarkable still, Shapiro produces his premier line of watches, the Resurgence, entirely in the United States and almost entirely in-house. Notably, “in-house” is used in the literal sense here, meaning under one roof – a very different thing from what that term has come to mean as a shadowy marketing tool that tends to gloss over some subcontracting and outside manufacturing. Every component in the Resurgence, save for jewels and springs, is entirely produced and finished by Shapiro and his team in California. While a watch of the Resurgence’s caliber being produced both in-house and domestically is as impressive as it is unexpected, there’s more at play here than just an inflated sense of national pride. Bootstrapping high-level American watchmaking and parts manufacturing certainly benefits Shapiro’s operation first and foremost, but it’s also part of a la...
Worn & Wound
Editorial: Why American Watchmaking is More Exciting Now than it Has Been in Years
American watchmaking is having a moment. And if there’s any day that’s worth celebrating, it’s the Fourth of July. Happy birthday, America, hope you like Damaskeening! Just in the last month or so, we’ve seen a new release from J.N. Shapiro that could point to an entirely new and more accessible concept for the brand. Cornell Watch Co. revealed their new Lozier, with a case, dial, crown, and handset machined in the United States. Colorado Watch Company, the Fort Collins, CO based brand making cases and dials in-house with movements assembled in the United States, just shipped their first batches of new watches to customers after extensive prototyping. And Keaton Myrick, who makes watches completely by hand in vanishingly small runs in Oregon and somehow has flown under the worldwide watch community’s radar for years, just saw a fantastic result in a public sale via Phillips that went for just over the high estimate. And it’s not just that there’s a lot of activity. The watches mentioned above are all, actually, very very good, and show that American watchmakers and brands can succeed in multiple ways, using different models. Myrick and Shapiro operate at the very highest end of the spectrum, while Colorado Watch Company has the ethos of a microbrand (the project was funded via Kickstarter, just like their sister brand, Vortic). The Cornell model, though, is probably the most interesting to me. The majority of the watch is manufactured in the United States, bu...
Hodinkee
Introducing: Cornell Watch Co. Adds More American Manufacturing With The 'Lozier'
Not fully made in America, but Cornell has decided to up the ante with more American construction and vintage proportions.
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Watches In The Wild | The Road Through America, Ep. 1: A Model Of Mass Production
Monochrome
Introducing – The Compact 40mm Edition of The American-Made RGM 801 Classic Enamel
RGM is an independent high-end American watch brand founded in 1992 by Roland G. Murphy in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. Trained in Switzerland (Wostep), Roland worked in product development at Hamilton before going solo. RGM is something of an anomaly on the American panorama with its in-house movements and dials decorated with traditional métiers d’art like […]
Teddy Baldassarre
The Quintessential American-Made Watch Movement in a Smaller Case: Int
RGM Watch Company, named for the initials of its founder, independent watchmaker Roland G. Murphy, is the first American watch company to serially produce a mechanical watch movement since 1969 — the year that Lancaster, PA-based Hamilton pulled up stakes for its current HQ in Switzerland. Murphy, formerly Hamilton’s Technical Manager, founded his own eponymous company in Lancaster County, a historical hotbed of watchmaking, in 1992. His fledgling firm made the watch industry, and the worldwide watch-enthusiast community, take notice when it created, essentially from scratch, the groundbreaking Caliber 801 in 2007 — a horological milestone that no other watchmaker in the United States had achieved in nearly 40 years. Since then, Caliber 801 has come to define RGM’s distinctive and still very exclusive product family — the brand still makes only around 300 pieces annually — along with its dedication to classically vintage aesthetics, which evoke the bygone days when America reigned supreme as a watchmaking nation. Up until now, however, the smallest RGM watch you could get that housed the Caliber 801 movement, 90 percent of which is made in the U.S.A. and finished and assembled in Lancaster County, was 42mm — not huge, but still a bit intimidating for some would-be owners as case sizes continue to trend smaller. This week, RGM answers that constituency's prayers with the release of the Caliber 801/40 model, whose 40mm stainless steel case represents, accor...
Hodinkee
Happenings: Early American Pocket Watches Exhibit Opens At The Horological Society Of New York
Showcasing the beginnings of American horological history.
Time+Tide
Vulcain’s Table Clock is a miniature piece of American architectural history | Now with video!
Vulcain brings back a piece of jet-setting history to a table clock format.The post Vulcain’s Table Clock is a miniature piece of American architectural history | Now with video! appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Hodinkee
Happenings: The American Museum Of Natural History Opens Ice Cold: An Exhibition Of Hip-Hop Jewelry And Watches
Author Vikki Tobak and the American Natural History Museum chronicle the evolution of jewelry and timepieces in hip-hop over the past five decades.
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I'm Coming To America! Join Me Live In Person! 🇺🇸
Hodinkee
One To Watch: Cornell Watch Co. Aims To Put A Spotlight On American Watchmaking
The 1870 CE is a fitting introduction for a new company that aims to shine a light on the past and present of American watchmaking.
Worn & Wound
The Revived Cornell Watch Co. Puts a Spotlight on American Watchmaking, with an Assist from RGM
To many people, Roland Murphy is American watchmaking. His company, RGM Watch Co., is revered among watch enthusiasts for producing pieces that rival anything put out by the best Swiss watchmakers, all done in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Murphy was, then, a natural partner for the Cornell Watch Company, a newly revived heritage brand out of Chicago that founder–or re-founder, I suppose–John Warren hopes can help bring attention to the American watch industry and its rich heritage. “I think people don’t know that American companies made more watches between the late 1850s and early 1900s than anywhere in the world,” said Warren in an interview with Worn & Wound. “I don’t think people know that we pioneered the American system of watchmaking that was adopted by the Swiss and the Japanese. I think it’s a story people want to know and it’s worth telling.” Cornell’s story began in 1870, when Paul Cornell and John C. Adams founded the Cornell Watch Company to create railroad pocket watches. Cornell was prolific in timepiece production for a few years, but two tragedies, the Great Chicago Fire and the financial crisis of the Panic of 1873, hit the company hard, and brought it to an end. While an attempt to move Cornell to California to save it was made–along with an attempt at rebranding as the California Watch Company–Cornell shut down not long after. But several Cornell’s pocket watches led to the company having a second life when they were discovered b...
Monochrome
First Look – New American Indie Watchmaker Fleming Presents its First Watch, the Series 1 Launch Edition
The pandemic has opened the door to countless opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs. Thomas Fleming, an avid American watch collector, saw his dream of starting his own independent watch brand take shape during this time. To make this project a reality, Fleming brought together an impressive cast of Swiss partners, including renowned independent watchmaker Jean-François Mojon […]
Quill & Pad
1907 Heidsieck Monopole Gout American: After Perfect ‘Cellaring’ in a Shipwreck, It’s the World’s Most Expensive Champagne
Heidsieck Monopole Gout American 1907 is the world’s most expensive champagne. This is the famous “shipwreck champagne” and it has a truly extraordinary story to tell, much more interesting than simply the prices it has achieved.
Worn & Wound
Seiko Launches Three US Exclusive Dive Watches Inspired by Cold Water American Diving Locales
The SPB line in Seiko’s Prospex collection needs no introduction, and to many it represents old-school Seiko excellence: historic design with modern specs at reasonable prices. In particular, the SPB143, 145, and 147 are especially beloved thanks to their wearability and 62MAS lineage. Seiko is now introducing three new U.S. Special Edition models based on that reference, each corresponding to a cold-water American diving locale. The SPB419 makes the biggest statement of the three, and its striking gradient dial is intended to invoke the northern Great Lakes’ blue ice, notably in Michigan. A rare natural phenomenon, this blue ice is achieved when sustained temperatures allow water to freeze and thicken over long periods of time. When light then hits the ice, the red part of the light (i.e. longer wavelengths) are absorbed while shorter blue wavelengths are transmitted. This seldom seen sight is truly something to behold, and Seiko captures its essence here. The SPB421 and SPB423 take us from the Lakes to Alaska where we meet a different type of icy structure: glacial moulins. Also known as mills, moulins are well-like structures that form from weaknesses in the ice and can sometimes reach hundreds of meters to the bottom of the glacier. The SPB421’s dark blue dial with a subtle gradation captures the ice’s color at depth – you know, in case you haven’t seen it yourself, while the 423’s dial is meant to evoke the light gray tones of glacial ice as a whole. Al...
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Watches In The Wild | The Road Through America, Ep. 2: The Legacy of Lancaster
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Worn & Wound
Worn & Wound
[VIDEO] Watch Shinola’s Latest Video on Timeless American Design
Join us in celebrating a major milestone in design and American manufacturing-10 years of Shinola Detroit. To commemorate this landmark year, Shinola has created a new video that presents the company and its employees as a team that can carve a distinct pathway forward with their own sense of, as they say, “timeless American design.” This anthemic video gives an insider glimpse of their watchmakers assembling timepieces, soaring views of the Detroit headquarters, and shares perspective on the past decade as well as Shinola’s aims for the future. Click here to experience Timeless American Design by Shinola. Don’t forget to check out a specially curated selection of Shinola’s watches and fine goods at Windup Watch Fair NYC on October 20-22 at The Altman Building, located at 135 W 18th St, New York, NY. The post [VIDEO] Watch Shinola’s Latest Video on Timeless American Design appeared first on Worn & Wound.
Hodinkee
Introducing: Is The New J.N. Shapiro ‘Resurgence’ The First Truly American-Made Watch In Decades?
It's a bold watch and a bold claim not made lightly, but it’s an important step in bringing back American watchmaking.
Time+Tide
The J.N. Shapiro Resurgence brings American craftsmanship roaring back
J.N. Shapiro introduces the first handmade mechanical watch “Made in America” since 1969 The Resurgence is a love letter to handmade watchmaking, offering a layered guilloché dial, engine-turned mid-case, and damaskeening on the bridges Options are plentiful, making each Resurgence unique to its owner Whenever we talk about the ultra-high end of horology, the discussion … ContinuedThe post The J.N. Shapiro Resurgence brings American craftsmanship roaring back appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
The Ralph Lauren American Western is fit for the Wild West
Escapism is the source for a lot of humanity’s great works, whether it’s the novels of Jules Verne or the post-impressionist paintings of Van Gogh. For the legendary fashion designer Ralph Lauren, it was the John Wayne and Gary Cooper led Hollywood Westerns of the 1940s and ‘50s. When his company reached its 50th anniversary … ContinuedThe post The Ralph Lauren American Western is fit for the Wild West appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Worn & Wound
Worn & Wound
The Breadth of Bulova: A Guide to American Icons
When iconic American watchmaking brands are brought up, it’s impossible not to mention Bulova. Born out of the mind of Joseph Bulova in 1875, the brand has been making quality timepieces for nearly one and a half centuries, with the brand’s 150th anniversary coming up soon. When a brand gets their start so early in the grand scheme of American history, you can trace the watches back to specific periods of innovation and design language. Today, we’re exploring the breadth of Bulova by highlighting some of their most iconic models that are still made today. Whether you want to learn about WWII watches from the 1940s, space-worn watches of the 1960s, brightly-colored dive watches of the 1970s, or technology from the dawn of quartz watches, Bulova has something to pique your interest. Let’s take a closer look at some modern interpretations of some of Bulova’s most recognizable timepieces. The post The Breadth of Bulova: A Guide to American Icons appeared first on Worn & Wound.
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Unboxing an early Christmas present from my wife - Zippo 1941 Replica!!
Hodinkee
Introducing: A New Overseas (Which Finally Includes Vacheron's Signature Complication)
The retrograde date has been a core part of the Vacheron lineup, but rarely has the brand done a version as sporty as this (and it's not the only new retrograde).
Deployant
New: Breitling Top Time B01 Chronograph inspired by American muscle cars – live pics
Breitling introduces 4 new watches in their Top Time B01 Chronographs which are inspired by four great American muscle cars.
Time+Tide
Omega dominate 2023 Golden Globes’ red carpet. Rolex, Cartier, TAG, Vacheron, Bulgari also make appearances
Omega dominated the 2023 Golden Globes red carpet Their range of styles and dial colours make their watches very easy to style Rolex, Cartier, TAG Heuer, and more were also spotted – but not nearly as many as Omega While high-brow enthusiasts may find themselves above the superficiality of watchspotting, it is hard to ignore … ContinuedThe post Omega dominate 2023 Golden Globes’ red carpet. Rolex, Cartier, TAG, Vacheron, Bulgari also make appearances appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
The new Hamilton Railroad Pocket embodies an American tradition
Hamilton’s history is a rich one. After taking over existing manufacturing facilities in Pennsylvania and establishing the Hamilton Watch Company in 1892, the brand was first focused on producing accurate railroad pocket watches, before shifting production to wristwatches after WWI, eventually only producing military watches during WWII. The new Hamilton Railroad Pocket watch focuses on … ContinuedThe post The new Hamilton Railroad Pocket embodies an American tradition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
MICRO MONDAYS: The Retter 22 channels the style of Vacheron’s iconic 222
It’s quite common for microbrand watches to become a competing list of specifications trying to undercut each other on price, with buzzwords thrown around that promise great water resistance, sapphire crystals and Swiss movements. It’s hard to blame them either, because watch enthusiasts can be easily swayed by these claims of unbeatable value for money, … ContinuedThe post MICRO MONDAYS: The Retter 22 channels the style of Vacheron’s iconic 222 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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