The Made in America J.N. Shapiro Resurgence

A year or so ago, I embarked on a mission to see what was holding up the expansion of the American watchmaking industry. I wanted to talk to people at the forefront of American watchmaking about where it was or could be going, and why it wasn’t already here. Remember, the Swiss used to steal secrets from American watch companies, not the other way around. America was ground zero for the microbrand movement, which is no longer a movement but now a permanent market segment. The United States is ostensibly a cradle of innovation and capitalism and entrepreneurship. So why hasn’t there been more progress toward rebuilding the once-dominant American watchmaking industry? Not just a handful of high-end, 10-piece-a-year independents, but a flourishing manufacturing segment. Where is my “Made in America” entry-level luxury watch?

To try to answer this question, I talked to as many American brands and watchmakers as possible, from Vero and J.N. Shapiro to Weiss and Orion and more. Nick Harris of Orion shared his goals of building a network of makers through the U.S. to support the still-fledgling American watchmaking segment. J. N. Shapiro shared details of his Resurgence, the first truly mechanical “Made in America” watch since the 1969 closure of Hamilton’s Lancaster, PA, factory. Cameron Weiss shared his Nashville workshop where he produces a number of movement components. Yet when the discussions turned to where things were going and why they weren’t already there, several obstacles kept coming up.

Cameron Weiss at work in the Weiss Watch Company workshop.

One problem is that the FTC has established an “all or virtually all” standard for Made in America. In addition to being far more stringent than other country’s standards for watches, this allows for interpretation. Some argue that everything must be made in the U.S. while others argue that components like the hairspring, which is a useless strip of metal until placed in a movement, can be imported. On the consumer end, this means a lack of clarity in what actually makes a watch Made in America, which dilutes the ostensible value of the label. Also at the federal level, there’s been plenty of international lobbying to hamper any efforts to reestablish the American watchmaking industry. The American Watch Association is made up almost entirely of non-American brands, and the group’s ” successes” mean that it’s cheaper to have a watch produced in China, assembled in Switzerland, and shipped to the U.S. than to have it produced in China and assembled in the U.S. But blaming the FTC’s vagueness or international lobbying is a superficial argument that ignores the deeper, much larger obstacles that face the re-establishment of American watchmaking at scale.

Even with a clearer standard and less effective lobbying, there would still be the issue of demand. While some prize a “Made in America” label on the products they buy, most are indifferent to the country of origin. Vero started out producing almost everything but its movements in its Portland, Oregon facility. It turns out people didn’t care; its most successful models were never the ones it made in-house. Eventually, the brand pivoted to overseas manufacturing. When it comes to watches, people either want Swiss Made or they don’t care. People generally want the product that provides the highest quality at the best price. “Made in America” comes with a price premium that consumers aren’t willing to pay because it doesn’t offer a commensurate increase in quality.

The Vero Meridian

Another complicating factor is labor. Even if there were demand, there’s no one to meet it. Building out a full industry that can produce all the components of a watch, especially a catalog of movements, doesn’t just require huge amounts of capital. It also requires a highly skilled labor force that knows how to do all those things. There’s no pipeline for training the number of people necessary and no indication that there are enough people who would even be interested. The training infrastructure that exists in watchmaking schools in the U.S. mostly feeds directly into the U.S. service centers of non-American brands. It’s far less common to see watchmakers strike out on their own and build something like Maryland Watch Works, for instance, which has started assembling its own movements based on the ETA 2824, but is still figuring out how it might be possible to actually manufacture the components. And if it solves that puzzle, there likely won’t be the necessary demand or labor force to scale.

The Maryland Watch Works MD-1, fully assembled in Hagerstown, MD.

What became clear in my discussions with American brands and makers was that almost every single one of them had abandoned hopes of a resurgent American watch manufacturing sector, if they ever had them. While several still maintain that what currently exists can be expanded and built upon, none were so delusional as to think the United States will return to its pre-Quartz watchmaking glory. Aside from saying “Made in America” on the case or dial, building a watch that will sell can be done more cheaply through existing Chinese and Swiss supply chains — and, in most cases, better. There is no “In the meantime…” to this article because there is almost certainly no return of American watch manufacturing. There’s nothing to wait for or anticipate. For most people — the rest of the world — that’s probably fine, and as long as the independents keep pushing the envelope and the microbrands keep having fun, I think I’ll be okay, too.