A Dream Watch: The Shinola Detroit Runwell 47mm

Do you have cabin fever yet?  Are you ready for all this Covid-19 lockdown to end?  What will you do when you get out?  What will you buy when you get out? I would sure like increase the proportion of American products on my shopping list. 

Unfortunately, when it comes to watches, there aren't many watches made in America today.  Nevertheless, if we are going to start down the road to economic recovery and employment opportunities for all Americans, we need to start somewhere.

I'd love to start with a luxury watch like this Shinola Detroit Runwell 47mm.  It's a quartz watch with a lustrous stainless case, a luxurious 24 5/13 millimeter leather band, and a double-curve sapphire crystal.

The Detroit Skyline from an early 1900s vintage postcard

The watch would come in a beautiful wooden display box with a booklet.  It would truly be a dream watch.  Best of all, it would be assembled with pride in the United States using a mix of American and foreign components.  The watch represents a small step towards bringing a watch manufacturing industry back to the United States.  It's a step worth taking!

The Pride of Baltimore II - The Ship that Inspired a Watch

The Pride of Baltimore II is an authentic Baltimore Clipper ship that serves as a goodwill ambassador for the city of Baltimore.  She is 100-feet long on the deck and has a beam of just over 26 feet.  A top-sail schooner she can spread just over 9000 square feet of sail.  That's the equivalent sail to 41 Flying Scot sail boats.

The Pride of Baltimore II - Photo by Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK (Pride of Balitmore II  Uploaded by tm) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The original Pride of Baltimore was launched in 1977 as part of the city's inner harbor renaissance.  She served as the city's ambassador for 9 years until she was lost in a squall along with her captain and three crew members.  Citizens of the city started sending donations shortly after the tragedy and a movement to build a new ship gained momentum.  The Pride of Baltimore II was launched in 1988.  While it remained true to the design of Baltimore clipper ships, it also incorporated more modern safety features.

The Pride of Baltimore II, on the Chester River, Chestertown MD, By Diiscool (Own work) [CC0 or CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

I briefly visited aboard the Pride of Baltimore at the Annapolis Boat Show many, many, years ago and she is a truly beautiful vessel.  The hardwoods used to build her are amazing as is the workmanship that went into her construction.

The Wheel and Binnacle - photo by Diiscool (Own work) [CC0 or CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Pride of Baltimore II is truly a ship to be proud of and an amazing ambassador for the city of Baltimore.

The Pride of Baltimore's Bell - photo by Diiscool (Own work) [CC0 or CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Pride of Baltimore II also inspired the Towson Watch Company to create a watch with her name.  The Towson Watch Company's Pride of Baltimore II was recently chosen as iW Magazine's Watch of the Day. 

For more information on the Towson Watch Company check out there website - https://www.towsonwatchcompany.com/

Surprisingly Made in the USA: The Wristwatch

I wrote this profile of three American watch companies a while back for Yahoo.  Perhaps Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, and Vietnam need to move over, American companies are making some of the world's finest wristwatches.  Today, these three companies remain leaders in the American watch industry.

One of my cheap Chinese watches from a big box store is beeping every hour. The poorly written directions don't say how to make it stop. So, I've buried my offending cheap Chinese watch under clothing, in a dresser drawer, and in a box. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I still hear it: beep. It makes me think that there has to be a better way: an American way that leads to a watch that doesn't need to be buried in the deep recesses of a dresser drawer. I did a little research and found that there are still companies proudly making some of the world's finest wristwatches right here in America: The Towson Watch Company, The RGM Watch Company, and The Sedona Watch Company.

Towson Watch Company. George Thomas and Hartwig Balke founded the Towson Watch Company in Towson, Maryland, in the year 2000. Today, they proudly offer a product line that has been called the Chesapeake Class Watch Collection because it is attuned to their company's Maryland heritage with names like Choptank, Potomac, Bay Pilot, Skipjack, and Pride II (after the ship Pride of Baltimore II).

Pride of Baltimore II - photo by Acroterion [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

One of their first watches was worn aboard the space shuttle during STS-99 by an astronaut and is now sold as their Mission series of watches. Towson watches are special because they are designed and manufactured in the United States and they are the creations of craftsmen. Towson Watch Company watches run from about $2,100 to about $14,000. Perhaps the most distinctive Towson watch is the Pride II watch which has a case shaped like the shield logo of the Towson Watch Company. It features the silhouette of the famous Baltimore clipper ship, Pride of Baltimore II, on the back of the case. These wonderful Made in U.S.A. watches really are the pride of America.

Photo from Amazon

RGM Watch Company. Another company returning the art and science of fine watch making to America is the RGM Watch Company of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. RGM makes a wide variety of mechanical watches from classic diver style watches to complexities of a Grand Complication called the Pennsylvania Grand Tourbillon (MM2). The RGM watch companies watches range from about $1,850 to $75,000 for the Pennsylvania Grand Tourbillon. The RGM watch company has an interesting blog where you can follow the adventures of intrepid divers, bicycle racers, and world travelers who wear American-made RGM watches on their journeys. It's exciting to see a small watch maker in small town, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, take on the world with high quality designs and meticulous craftsmanship. In the watch making world, fine "grand complication" watches can run hundreds of thousands of dollars. The American-made Pennsylvania Grand Tourbillon competes well in that rarefied atmosphere of competition.

Sedona Watch Works. Finally, Sedona Watch Works brings the artistry and engineering of fine watch making out to the American West in Sedona, Arizona. Sedona Watch Works wristwatches are "designed, machined, created, assembled, and tested" in the studio of artisan, Geoffrey Roth. While his watches are powered by the venerable ETA 2892-A2 Swiss mechanical movement, every bit of the design and creation of these watches is the result of American artistry. Featuring rose gold bezels and Louisiana Alligator straps, classic Sedona Watch Works watches range from $6,700 to $20,000. The Sedona watches represent another American step back onto the world stage of watchmaking.

While the price tags on these American-made watches may seem steep to big box store shoppers, all of these watches are real bargains in the world of high end luxury wristwatches and show that America can compete with the finest European watchmakers. Best of all, the Towson Watch Company, RGM Watch Company, and Sedona Watch Works are joined by other trailblazing American watch companies. Other American watchmakers like the Bozeman Watch Company and the Montana Watch Company make beautiful watches and are rising in prominence. None of these Made in USA watches beep and none of these American-made watches deserve to be buried under socks. Any of these American made wristwatches would be a proud addition to a collector's watch box.

Sources:
The Towson Watch Company website.www.twcwatches.com RGM Watch Company website. www.rgmwatches.com
Sedona Watch Works website. www.sedonawatchworks.com Bozeman Watch Company website. www.bozemanwatch.com
Montana Watch Company website. www.montanawatch.com

Thinking about a high end watch? Think American! Think Towson Watch Company

One day all your credit cards will be vanquished.  One day your Powerball numbers might get called.  On that day, you might be able to consider a really high end wristwatch.  If you ever find yourself in that market, you might try looking to an unusual source:  America!

Companies like the Towson Watch Company proudly make premium watches in the U.S.A.!  When the "behind the music" years end, I am so there .  .  .