Chrysler has made that slogan pretty famous, and it’s one I like to use (since I used to be from there). And watch-related businesses have been springing up (see Motor City Watch Works), but now we’ve got a company building watches in the Motor City.
In a former GM facility, Shinola is gearing up to make a variety of products. Fi
rst off of the lines will be bicycles and watches – and of course we’re going to focus in on the smaller gears on these pages. Of course, most people are probably most familiar with the Shinola brand from the old shoe polish – which they do have plans to make at some point.
For the watches, all of the assembly will be done in Detroit, from components sourced elsewhere. While Shinola is assembling their own movements, all of the parts that make them up are coming from the fine folks at Ronda, over in Switzerland (they also have an ownership stake in the company. The straps are, likewise, quite the team effort. The leather will be coming from Horween in Chicago (both calf and cordovan), which is then turned into some great straps by the folks at Hadley-Roma.
In terms of pricing, they’re targeting models to come in in the $400-$800 range; from the information that I’ve found online, it looks like they’ll have a nice variety of models coming to the market. In that regard, keep an eye on this blog – when they are available in January, we’re planning to give you a hands-on review.
