An American Resurgence For Your Wrists - J. N. Shapiro

Making history as the first "U.S.-Made" mechanical watch is the California-based American watch brand J. N. Shapiro with the first-of-its-kind Resurgence timepiece.

When it comes to the art of watchmaking, the world understands and appreciates only Swiss-made watches. Although worthy of admiration, we have to acknowledge that the world of watches is vast and ever-growing. In this ever-growing world of watches, American watchmaking has proudly taken up space when it comes to traditional and avant-garde watch manufacturing. Among the many innovative American watch brands, the relatively new watch brand J. N. Shapiro has made its mark with its many unique timepieces. Today, the indie American watch brand reaches new heights with the release of the J.N. Shapiro Resurgence, the first "U.S.-made mechanical watch since 1969.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Josh Shapiro, the man behind J.N. Shapiro Watches started his watchmaking journey when he saw a flashy Chronoswiss Opus poster in a local shop. According to him, it was love at first sight. Soon after, Shapiro started skeletonising ETA movements while simultaneously undergoing a distance learning programme at the British Horological Institute. In the year 2013, inspired by the book Watchmaking written by the great George Daniels, Shapiro got captivated by the mysterious art of engine-turning. His obsession with the form led to his becoming a master in the art of creating engine-turned-watch dials for many watchmakers and brands.

With the objective of leaving a mark in the American horological industry, Shapiro launched his watch brand, J. N. Shapiro Watches, a unique watch brand that specialises in watches with engine-turned dials. His collection (which famously includes the Infinity Series) focuses on detailed dials with guilloché patterns, hand-made hands, and in-house-crafted cases, all done in a traditional way.

J.N. Shapiro's Resurgence: The First of Its Kind

Now, following the success of his latest J. N. Shapiro Infinity Tantalum Limited Edition, the independent watch brand announces the unveiling of the first "U.S. Made" mechanical watch, the J. N. Shapiro Resurgence. It is the first all-American wristwatch produced in its entirety in the Land of Liberty and arguably the most expensive time-only mechanical watch ever manufactured in the U.S. "We are proudly reinvigorating the American system of watchmaking and reviving it after the industry died in the late ‘60s. Hamilton, Waltham, and Elgin had vertically integrated factories where they made everything for their watches under one roof, using automatic methods. This was unique in the watch world, as the Swiss system then and now involves multiple suppliers to complete one watch. The virtues of this American system include high-quality control, versatility, and consistent uptime without supplier delays." says Shapiro.

Creating an all-American watch containing a U.S.-made movement, case, and dial comprising 148 components had been a dream for Shapiro for quite some time. "When I first started getting into watchmaking, this was the dream—making a watch from scratch and everything in it. We made 148 of the 180 components for the J.N. Shapiro Resurgence," says Shapiro. The J.N. Shapiro Resurgence timepiece took almost 4 years to complete. It features four exclusive elements like a layered guilloché dial,an engine-turned mid-case, damaskeening (the American equivalent of Côtes de Genève) pattern on the bridges, and rounded spokes on the wheels, all of which require a high level of expertise to develop.

The Devil Is Always in the Details

Taking customisation and variety to a whole new level, the J.N. Shapiro Resurgence comes in many 38-mm versions. This includes a rose gold case and accents with frosted silver-white or dark grey zirconium dial, an 18k palladium white gold case and accents with frosted silver, a tantalum case with white gold accents and a navy dial, a steel case with blued numerals and a frosted silver dial, and finally a dark zirconium case and dial with purple accents. Additionally, the brand also offers three different bridge layouts that customers can choose from.

The engine-turned mid-case, historically seen on the finest pocket watches, features traditional barleycorn decoration. The presence of detachable lugs allows the brand to customise the case according to the client’s demands. This enables two-tone customisation, which means a customer could opt for white gold or tantalum lugs, caseback, and bezel in conjunction with a rose gold mid-case. How neat is that?

In regard to the movement working within, the watch is lovingly nicknamed "a micromechanical wonder". This means that the timepiece is offered with a choice of three free-sprung, hand-engraved movements with hacking seconds, beating at 18,000 BPH. All of these movement choices are offered with different decoration styles beyond the damaskeening already on offer.

Following in the footsteps of the brand's DNA, the J.N. Shapiro Resurgence is home to a multi-layered dial available in a range of customisable colours. On further inspection, this multi-layered dial features separately engine-turned sectors that offer a wonderful display of multiple patterns. These include barley corn and Shapiro’s signature Infinity weaves. For each of the different layers of the dial, Shapiro has ensured the use of different pieces of metal that have been engine-turned separately and trimmed to perfection. Further adding to the overall look is the sundial decorated with miniaturised moiré pattern which are usually reserved to decorate entire dials. Each element of the rest of the dial, including the numerals and hands, individually machined and black polished

The first delivery of the watch is scheduled for the end of 2023.