Independent American watchmaker RGM is introducing its fourth watch, celebrating its 30th anniversary. Founded in 1992, the brand already has several in-house movements, including the tonneau-shaped caliber 20, caliber 801 and Pennsylvania Tourbillon, and both enamel and guilloché dials are a speciality. We looked at some of RGM’s Grand Feu enamel dials in the past […]
RGM Watch Co. is the brand that brought legitimate watchmaking back to America, creating ground-up, in-house movements such as the tonneau-shaped Caliber 20, 801 Calibre and Pennsylvania Tourbillon. Other brands such as J.N. Shapiro and Weiss Watch Company have since produced American calibres, but CEO Roland Murphy started the revival in 1992, creating the company […]
RGM, the initials of Roland G. Murphy, is an atypical brand, being the only vertically integrated manufacture in the United States – and by that we mean a company that produces components and movements, not just assembling watches from Swiss or Asian parts. Known for its use of large hand-wound calibres and guilloché or enamel dials, […]
We’ve covered American watchmaker RGM on several occasions as it is, for the most part, the only true vertically integrated manufacturer in the US. Weiss Watch Company in Los Angeles has the in-house calibre 1003, but it’s generally an ETA/Unitas 6497 copy. That’s certainly not a bad thing but doesn’t match the unique designs and […]
Well-executed dials, decorated with classic Grand Feu enamel or elaborate guilloché, can add thousands to the price and define the character of a piece; however, there are times when the sheer absence of a dial can result in the most intriguing aesthetic. André-Charles Caron, legendary clockmaker for Louis XV of France in the mid-18th century, […]
RGM Watch Co. is truly an anomaly in the industry, designing and manufacturing ground-up movements, dials and cases in a country that’s long abandoned such horological endeavours. The days of great American brands like Hamilton, Waltham and Ingersoll are long gone, but RGM brought traditional watchmaking back in the 1990s, setting up shop in Mount […]
RGM Watch Co. is currently the only vertically integrated American brand with in-house, ground-up movements, cases and dials. Weiss Watch Company out of Los Angeles also produces an in-house movement (Calibre 1003), but it’s closely modelled after the Swiss ETA-Unitas 6497. What RGM does is slightly different, as we’ve seen with our review of this […]
When you think of great American watch companies, brands like Hamilton and Waltham come to mind. Neither of those are American anymore, with Hamilton ending US production in 1969 after being acquired by the Buren Watch Company in Büren an der Aare, Switzerland. Hamilton ultimately became part of the Swatch Group and remains a popular […]
Recently at the WatchTime New York show, Roland Murphy of RGM Watch Company showed off his newest collection of Art watches for men and women. Significantly different for RGM, which usually plays on the classical side of things (enamel dials or engine-turned dials) or American-inspired pieces (railroad watches), these timepieces are designed to inspire the art lover in all of us.
RGM Watch Co., based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and founded in 1992 by Roland G. Murphy, is quite literally the only true American watch company standing. Unlike other brands that might build cases, dials or straps in America, RGM manufactures their own high-grade, in-house calibres that rival comparable movements from Switzerland. They’re a complete watch manufacturer. My first serious mechanical watch was a Model 107-P Pilot, an entry-level RGM piece (with an ETA 2892-A2) that’s also the oldest in their portfolio, produced since the mid-1990’s. They often use antique, hand-operated machinery to craft dials and to hand-polish components, mixing modern and traditional techniques to produce luxury watches that are often limited editions. Many have advanced complications, such as the Pennsylvania Tourbillon or Caliber 20 (with a 2nd type motor barrel and “Precise Moonphase”), and are painstakingly adorned with elaborate engine-turned (guilloché) dials and movements like the Model 801-EE. One of their most popular watch series was the Model 121-M William Penn line from the years 1999 to 2000, and in RGM style, they have reissued the watches in a very limited series of 10.