Fire up the grill, crack open a cold Bud Heavy, dial up your favorite Bluetooth speaker with some Creedence Clearwater Revival and… quick, check what’s on your wrist. There are ways both big and small to truly embrace a sense of Americana this summer (it’s the 250th anniversary of the U.S. of A., after all), and your watch collection certainly qualifies.
The idea that they simply “don’t make ‘em like they used to” is a sad reality across many an industry, but that makes the companies who double down—in matters of domestic design, production, sourcing, materials or all of the above—stand out in even more remarkable fashion.
From your favorite pair of selvedge denim to your trusted pocket T-shirt or your well-worn leather wallet, if you know where to look, you can find American-made gear aplenty. And yes, that includes your go-to daily timepiece.
Photos via Weiss Watch Co.
That’s what makes Weiss Watch Co. so appealing, impressive, and enviable: Care, intention, and remarkably fastidious production take center stage in the company’s Nashville home, where modern precision machining meets old-school elbow grease and American ingenuity.
That means, led by founder Cameron Weiss, that each timepiece is assembled by hand and finished in small batches (extremely small batches, at that).
Weiss’ background in horology is steeped in both luxury and precision, thanks to stints at the likes of Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet.
The complexities of making a fully American watch certainly aren’t lost on its founder, he told Cool Material.
“The biggest challenge is that we are not just building watches, in many ways we are rebuilding an industry. When American watchmaking faded, we did not just lose factories. We lost suppliers, specialized knowledge, tooling, and generations of experience,” he said. “Making watches here means solving problems that already have established solutions elsewhere because the ecosystem around the craft has to be recreated.”
Weiss is also well aware of the road ahead, without a doubt.
“It is definitely not the easiest path, but that challenge is also what makes it meaningful,” he told Cool Material. “Every component we manufacture, every process we bring back, and every skill we teach helps rebuild a small piece of American watchmaking.”
Photo via Weiss Watch Co.
With the option to select your dial and strap option, these utterly timeless, appealingly rugged and yet stylish, handcrafted timepieces reflect “the highest standards of American watchmaking,” the company notes, and ship within 10-12 weeks. To say a Weiss Watch Co. timepiece is worth the wait very well might be underselling it.
The effort hasn’t gone unnoticed. Over the years, Weiss has teamed with the likes of Todd Snyder on old-school-inspired timepieces.
Hand-finished cases complement handcrafted dials, while the company also finishes, assembles, and regulates its movements right at the watchmaker’s bench.
Appointments are available to dive into the entire process down in Nashville, a one-on-one experience offering the chance to select a handsome Weiss watch in person. Up-close and personal is perhaps the best way to get the entire Weiss experience: Its standard-issue field watches and a mix of Cordura canvas and Horween leather strap options, plus your selection of dial color, are utterly timeless and remarkably versatile.
Photo via Weiss Watch Co.
It’s certainly not easy to entirely build or even assemble a watch in the United States. For one, you need the precise hands of a watchmaker to do so. Cameron Weiss carries a distinct sense of pride into work every day, it seems.
“What makes me most proud is seeing something that started as an idea at a workbench become part of people’s lives,” he said. “We have built thousands of watches over the years, but each one eventually leaves our workshop and starts collecting a story of its own.”
The wearer assuredly notices a difference right away when wearing a watch that can trace its roots across America (the same can be said for your favorite USA-made tee or shirt, but horological masterpieces made in the United States are a true rarity).
There’s a sense of pride, a distinct and noticeable air of quality, perhaps even details you simply can’t find anywhere else.
Particularly in the world of watch-building, this obsessive attention to detail makes a supremely delicate, precise and yet enviable difference. When you pay for quality, you certainly get quality in return, at least as far as your hankering for an investment-level watch is concerned.
Weiss Watch Co. rises to the occasion in memorable, jealousy-inducing fashion (its standard issue 38mm or 42mm field watches start at $3,250), but that price begins to feel like a steal when you consider the hard-fought toil and old-fashioned American gumption that goes into each watch.
“I’m… proud that we have proven there is still a place for traditional craftsmanship and mechanical watchmaking in America,” Weiss said. “The goal was never simply to make a watch with our name on the dial. It was to preserve skills, train craftspeople, and create objects that can last for generations.”
The Weiss Watch Co. story continues to unfold much like that of the United States. Grit, innovation, a willingness to face down challenges, and deliver precision in every single area, no matter how small the detail (or the watch part, in this instance).
