re: Wristwatch Friday...What are you Baws wearing today?

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What’s the word on Shinola watches?

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Nothing wrong with them if you like them, that being said there is a significant premium for a watch assembled in Detroit. Most watch nuts that buy them do it as a way to lend a little support to US watchmaking which there is precious little. They have branched out all over the place so they really aren't a watch company now, more like a lifestyle brand not that there is anything wrong with that.

I bought one of the original Runwells when they first opened. I gave it to my BIL who loves watches but doesn't indulge himself. The price was a little steep but that's compared to the average Chinese watch but I could have gotten a lot of watches in the gray market with Swiss Made on the dial.

I did like the Mackinac yacht timer that came out last year but at $3.5k it was too steep for me for what it was. I am pretty sure it was their most expensive piece to date.

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Bottom line they are not a bargain and you can get watches made in other countries that represent better value but if you like one and are willing to pay a "Built in Detroit" premium then go for it. If the built in Detroit angle is a big part of the allure for you then you may way to investigate exactly what that means because they can not use Made in US legally, it really fits into the standard assembled in the US from foreign and domestic parts label and it isn't really heavy on domestic parts. There are doing more than all but a tiny few US watchmakers and they are doing it on the more budget end.

Below is a list of US watchmakers each with varying amounts of US involvement and before you buy from anyone of them for that reason do a little research to get a feel for if you want to support them>

RGM this is the closest thing to true manufacture we have in the US, expensive but can be highly custom with a high degree of handwork

Vortic they rebuild and redesign old US made watches. They got sued by Hamilton (Swatch Group) for leaving the hamilton name on the watches they refurbished... they won but it was a protracted fight. Good people.

DuFrane inexpensive watches assembled in Austin

Weiss built in L.A. with US cases and dials

Vaer inexpensive watches with some US assembly

Pelton another Detroit assembled watch with Swiss parts

Kobold I mention this because it is US but I would not buy from them if you are interested in them research before you buy

Detroit Watch Company you guess it another MI brand US assembly with Swiss parts


Not a fan of Dave Portnoy but he has a US assembled with foreign (Swiss and Asian) parts watch brand called Brick