J.N. Shapiro is working with collectible watch specialist Wind Vintage on a limited edition of its Resurgence watch.
There will be only ten made of the Wind Vintage x J.N. Shapiro Resurgence watch, with production expected to begin soon.
Eric Wind, founder of Wind Vintage, describes the J.N. Shapiro Resurgence as the first fully made in America watch since 1969. “It is one of my favourite time-only watches being made today,” he adds.
J.N. Shapiro made its first watches, the Infinity Series, in 2018. The Resurgence launched in 2021 and represented the culmination of a dream to make complete watches again the United States.
Around 20 Resurgence watches are made per year, and there is a permanent waiting list.
Production of the collaboration piece with Wind Vintage — with nearly every component of the dial, case and movement made at the company’s workshop in California — will have to wait its turn.
Orders are being taken now, but customers for the watch will not leapfrog others who are already waiting for delivery of their own customised Resurgence watch.
Joshua Shapiro, founder of J.N. Shapiro, says the collaboration with Wind Vintage brings a new depth of experience to the design. “Eric is the World’s foremost expert on vintage watches, and the choice of the dial aesthetic was his,” he tells WatchPro. “That, paired with our layered and complex guilloché, is a powerful combination,” he adds.
J.N. Shapiro started making dials after acquiring vintage machinery capable of producing the intricate guilloché patterns.
It has since added more modern CNC machines for precision milling of cases and other components.
“Josh has an amazing team of watchmakers working with him and some of the most advanced equipment for watchmaking outside of the biggest watch companies in Switzerland,” says Mr Wind.
The Wind Vintage x J.N. Shapiro Resurgence watch uses every discipline in the workshop to create three guilloché patterns for the main dial, a small seconds subdial and an outer circle.
Raised, faceted hour markers on the dial and feuille or “leaf” hands are inspired by dials and hands found on vintage Rolex, Patek Philippe and Movado pieces made by Stern Frères. “These are some of the finest dials made in decades past,” Mr Wind suggests.
“I love the numerals and hands in particular,” Mr Shapiro agrees.
Customers can normally choose any combination of case metal and movement bridge layout from J.N. Shapiro, but this dial and hands are exclusive to the Wind Vintage edition.
Both Mr Shapiro and Mr Wind are passionate advocates for a return of watchmaking to the United States, but are realistic about how far there is to go.
American watchmaking
“The American watchmaking scene is tiny but growing,” Mr Shapiro says.
“We are working very very hard to grow the watch infrastructure. That is done by us forging a path and also being very open with our knowledge and suppliers. It is headed in a very strong direction. However, American watch sales are still a fraction of a percent of the watches sold in the global or domestic market. We want to change that,” he adds.
