SDC Weekly 116; Louis Vuitton’s Monterey; Audemars Piguet's RD#5; American Watchmaking Directory
Mercedes Gleitze's watch at auction, Marteau & Co First Auction, Tim Mosso and Jack Forster on Minute Repeaters, Patek 2499 Deep Dive, Why are Truffles So Expensive? ... and much more!
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Estimated reading time: ~28 mins
🆕 American Watchmaking Directory
Two watch enthusiasts in Seattle just launched something which, some might argue, is overdue for American watchmaking. Hamza and Vivek have created the American Watchmaking Directory, and while they are the first to admit it looks rather basic for now, the ambition behind it addresses a gap in the industry, which many enthusiasts agree is worth filling.
The Swiss have built an entire industry on mythmaking and collective storytelling. They’ve built entire marketing ecosystems around their watchmaking heritage. The British seem to have recognised this and established the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers in 2020. The French have had Francéclat since 1978. As for America; until now, nothing has focused on the brands themselves.
For now, the directory provides basic information: brand names, locations, founding years, websites, and social media links. You can search by brand name, location, or founding year, and filter by country, state, or time period. Each listing includes contact information to help you connect directly with brands.
The site runs on volunteer time and cost them nothing beyond the time spent populating the database, and domain registration. Their goals extend beyond simple information aggregation, though what comes next depends on whether American watch brands see value in this as a starting point for collective action.
An Interview With The Founders
I connected with both founders about the project, their personal journeys into watches, and what they hope this directory becomes. Here’s what they said.
What got you both into watches in the first place? Was there a specific moment or watch that hooked you?
H: ‘My descent down the rabbit hole started with a Hodinkee article my brother shared with me back in 2016 or 2017, and it has not stopped since. Everything about the watches (and the community around them) has kept me in.‘
V: ‘As a child I always loved watches. I always used to admire them on the internet. I never really had the chance to handle / study / understand them until I got a real job in 2019. Covid time really got me hooked to watches, I had so much free time, all I was doing was reading watches on the internet, met Hamza at a Watchfinder event, then he introduced me to several friends locally and the Redbar chapter, ever since I was down the rabbit hole and it never stopped. I always love handling and experiencing all kinds of watches which Redbar really enabled me to.‘
How did you two meet, and what made you think ‘Right, let’s build something together for the watch community’?
H: ‘We met through RedBar Seattle, happy to be in a community of watch collectors and enthusiasts that was warm and welcoming. I had been sitting on the idea since 2021 (when I first started keeping track of American brands in a spreadsheet) and earlier this year finally arm-twisted/voluntold Vivek into making time to help out.’
V: ‘Hamza is really a kind soul, he carves out time to do for the watch community. This is rare in today’s world. It was totally his idea, I just followed his lead.‘
This looks pretty basic right now, why should anyone care that it exists at all? Can people not just Google this stuff?
H: It is indeed basic for the moment, but the goal is to enhance and grow it continually. Now that the website exists, people can indeed just Google it. Previously, if you wanted to do any research on American brands as a customer, there was no exhaustive list. And if, as a brand, you wanted to find potential collaborators the process involved word of mouth. The directory is an attempt to solve both problems by putting all the relevant information in one place.
What made you realise American watchmaking needed its own dedicated directory? Was there a specific frustration or gap you kept running into?
H: It’s partly a solution to a practical problem of information discovery. It is also a recognition that Swiss watchmaking does a relatively excellent job of mythmaking and storytelling. The British realised this and set up the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers in 2020. The French have had Francéclat since 1978.
Whilst the AWCI does manage a directory of individual watchmakers there was nothing focused on the brands themselves, and why as a whole American watchmaking is doing something interesting and exciting and worth paying attention to (and in many cases it absolutely is).
How did the idea evolve from ‘wouldn’t it be nice if...’ to actually building the thing?
H: Through persistence, and the belief that the final product was something worth creating.
Ok Gary Vee. What’s been the most surprising discovery about American watchmaking since you started digging into this?
H: Just the sheer number of brands, and how many of them popped up recently, but also how many of them have something artisanal about their products. The other is that American brands represent the diversity of this country: brand founders are white, black, Hispanic, Asian, male and female, and much more.
Any brands or makers that completely blew your minds when you first came across them? Why?
H: ‘Devon, RGM.’
V: ‘The first American brand I keenly observed to be honest was Typsim, I first saw that on Hamza’s wrist, I didn’t even know Matt (owner of Typsim then), the watch drew me in, later I became good friends with Matt and I understood the brand and his talent deeply. RGM, J.N. Shapiro always felt super interesting to me, especially the complicated ones from RGM.‘
Walk me through your typical week - how much time does this actually take to maintain and grow? Or do you guys plan to treat this... passively?
H: ‘Not passively, but on an ad hoc basis. The last few days I’ve learned about ten new brands, so those are already added. I doubt that’ll continue in the long term. To get the current version out probably required 15 hours of work over a weekend. Keeping the site running requires no work or financial commitment except paying for the domain name registration. Depending on how positive the response is, that level of commitment could change.’
Where do you see American watchmaking in five years? Are we witnessing something special happening right now, or do you think the manufacturing constraints will hinder growth?
H: ‘I think the last ten years have shown an explosion of new brands (this could be recency bias of the data collection exercise, but I’m not so sure that’s all there is to it), not all of whom may survive. Nevertheless, that so many people think the idea of a watch brand is worth pursuing suggests something has indeed changed. There is more consumer interest in micro brands. Modern manufacturing methods and precision manufacturing have meant better access to the tech necessary to make watches today. And of course, some of it is just that the right people have come along to blaze their own path because they believe deeply in their own vision of watchmaking and are crazy enough to attempt to realise that vision. The next five years will bring more complicated watches, more local parts manufacturing, maybe even more brands and parts makers and artisans, but odds are against a mass producible American made movement.’
You mentioned potentially expanding beyond just brands - what would that ecosystem look like, ideally?
H: ‘Suppliers, artisans, craftspeople, machinists, designers, marketers, and so much more. All these companies could and hopefully will eventually be listed. The AWCI already has a directory of individual watchmakers so that won’t be a use case that’s addressed.’
What’s your take on the whole Swiss vs. American watchmaking debate? Are we comparing apples to oranges?
Watches are watches are watches. I don’t know what the debate is you’re referring to.
Idiot.
Any American pieces in your personal collections that you’d never part with?
H: ‘My Typsim 200M-C and RGM 801-COE’
V: ‘Typsim Time Traveller is my daily and I would never part with.’
What kind of response have you gotten from the brands themselves? Are they embracing being part of this movement? Or did you simply not tell them? If not, why not?
H: ‘Brands were not told at the beginning, because this is just a public data collection exercise at the moment. The few conversations I’ve had with individual brands range from mild interest and encouragement, to suspicion and scepticism. These were all before the directory actually launched, so now that there’s a real product to show them, hopefully the response will be one of more receptiveness and willingness to engage because brands see how this could benefit them.’
How do you balance being comprehensive versus maintaining quality standards? Is this more like Wikipedia, where the community will police accuracy?
H: ‘For now, an open question. We would like brands to self report more information about their products, but for now of course we retain editorial control.’
Sounds like wishful thinking. If someone reading this wants to support American watchmaking, what should they actually do?
If you’re from a brand: tell us about your products, and tell us what else you want to see included in the directory: types of companies, information on each brand, etc.
If you’re an enthusiast: buy a watch from an American brand. Cold hard cash is better than words of support or Instagram reposts.
What’s the one thing you hope this directory achieves that maybe isn’t obvious from just browsing it?
A collaboration between American watchmakers who previously may not have known about each other.
That’s cool! What’s been the most rewarding part of this whole project? Or do you regret bothering?
The knowledge that whoever else may have wanted an answer to the same questions as us doesn’t have to start from scratch anymore.
Closing Thoughts
I thought this initiative was worth mentioning as a possible source of future potential, but it’s clear that The American Watchmaking Directory needs to evolve into something more substantial than a basic listing service. The verification and transparency piece feels absolutely critical. American watchmaking can only build credibility by being honest about what happens where. The industry benefits when brands which manufacture domestically get recognised for that work, and when brands which primarily assemble in the US, get appropriately categorised.
Consider what this could enable; imagine a future where you search the directory and immediately see which brands manufacture their own movements, which ones make cases domestically, which ones focus on dial work, and so on. Imagine cross-references showing which brands collaborate, which suppliers serve multiple brands, and more generally, how components flow through the American watchmaking ecosystem. That level of transparency would be revolutionary, and show the Swiss a thing or two about how to enable better collaboration.
The verification badge concept was my idea, so obviously I think it’s genius! Hamza later told me that he’d thought of this before I mentioned it - so I guess he didn’t; need convincing. Brands who open their books and prove their manufacturing claims should get recognised for that courage. Collectors seem to care more about provenance and manufacturing nowadays, so why wouldn’t brands lean into this? A verified badge would carry weight if implemented properly.
Hamza and Vivek have built a foundation, but what comes next depends on whether American watch brands see any value in collective action and transparency. The Swiss built their dominance partly through collaboration and shared storytelling, but without much transparency, particularly in recent years. American watchmaking may have the talent and diversity to create something special, and in theory, this directory could become the infrastructure that enables that transformation.
Or maybe it stays a simple listing service, which would still be better than nothing. The resource now exists, and what American watchmaking as a collective does with it, remains to be seen.
🎨 Louis Vuitton’s Monterey
I am going to begin with one thought: I really did not want to like this watch:
If you’ve been reading SDC for any length of time, you know my general thoughts on Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking efforts, and I’ve been harsh. I have previously gone as far as comparing LV watches to Hublot and questioning whether they were genuinely trying to appeal to enthusiasts, or just recreating Hublot’s success under a different banner. And yes, I thought Wei Koh was mad when he put the Escale in the same sentence as Philippe Dufour’s Simplicity.
I say all of this to underpin why, when I saw the new Monterey at Geneva Watch Days, I approached it with all my usual scepticism intact; and then I tried it on and I actually liked it.
Hang on to your pitchforks for a little longer.