American Watchmaking Is Here

A New Way of Making Watches

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the United States became a leader in industrial watch manufacturing. American companies transformed the way mechanical watches were produced, developing specialized machinery and systems that made precise, interchangeable components possible at scale.

In the 1850s, watchmakers at what would become the American Watch Company in Waltham, Massachusetts, developed the world’s first mass-produced, machine-made watches. Movements could be assembled from interchangeable components made on specialized machinery, creating a more precise and efficient method of production.

American Methods Travel the World

The success of the Waltham system helped establish a broader American watchmaking industry. Companies including Elgin and Hamilton carried that tradition forward, producing reliable mechanical watches in large quantities.

American machinery and manufacturing methods later influenced Swiss watch production. By 1880, the United States was exporting more watches than it imported.

The Industry Changes

The introduction of the first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969 began a technological transformation that reshaped watchmaking around the world.

As inexpensive quartz watches became widely available during the following decade, much of America’s mechanical-watch manufacturing capability disappeared.

The Work Continues

Weiss Watch Company was founded in 2013 to carry the American watchmaking tradition forward and restore prestige to the craft.

Today, Weiss assembles, finishes, regulates, tests, and services mechanical watches in its American workshop. The company also continues to manufacture select movements and components in the United States for private commissions and limited allocations.

These pieces are offered privately and through a waiting list.

We work with both American-made and imported components, with movement and material origins disclosed by model.