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Turning Back the Hands of Time: America’s Handmade-Watch Revivalist

Cameron Weiss has an admittedly bold goal: to bring the business of mechanical watchmaking back to the U.S. It’s an industry, and an art, that virtually disappeared from these shores following the introduction of quartz watches in the 1970s and 1980s. “I want to go back to where we left off,” Weiss says. Actually, further than that: “We’re focused on bringing back the watchmaking industry that used to exist here a hundred years ago.”

To help achieve his dream, Weiss headed to Switzerland—where, with the advent of quartz, the industry shifted its focus to luxury handmade timepieces—to study under some of the finest watchmakers in the world.

In 2013, he founded Weiss Watch Company in Los Angeles, where the whole of his watches’ exteriors, from case to dials, are produced. (In production, Weiss does incorporate modern technology—namely, computer-controlled cutting machinery—but his company assembles and decorates everything by hand.) He sources many of the movement components from Switzerland but is increasingly manufacturing them himself in L.A. His aim is to one day make his watches entirely in America.

Here, Weiss shares his tips for producing timeless timepieces:

Control the manufacturing. Our watches consist of about 150 components. And every time we can start to manufacture one of those components in Los Angeles, we move forward with that. The goal is to get as close to 100% production here as we can. I want to have control over what we make.

Maintain the tradition. A lot of the decoration you see on the movement parts was designed with a function in mind. For instance, the blue screws in the watch were initially designed to minimize surface rust—the heat-treating process makes them blue. That’s not as important today because we have watertight cases, but we maintain the blue screws out of a sense of tradition.

Make it future-proof. All the components and materials we use were chosen for durability—and repair-ability. We use traditional watchmaking materials, so that 100 or 200 years from now, any watchmaker with a standard set of tools should be able to repair anything on our timepieces.

Respect the parts. One thing I was told by a much older watchmaker in Switzerland was, “As long as you respect the parts, you’ll be a great watchmaker.” What that means is that if you have to make a certain tool just to handle a part correctly—so you don’t scratch it or mar it—do that. Don’t try to take a shortcut and use something that’s not perfect; it won’t lead to a product that will wow somebody.