American Watch Brand: Weiss
Our American watch brand series returns with its final watch brand—Weiss. California-native Cameron Weiss founded the Weiss Watch Company in 2013 after graduating from the Nicolas G. Hayek Watchmaking School and after completing extensive training with Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin. With his extensive watchmaking background, Cameron Weiss knows watches and he knows how to create luxury timepieces.
Unlike other American watch brands, Weiss watches are 100 percent made in the USA. That is quite a feat considering that the United States does not have an established watch industry. So there are very few “off the shelf” components, which means that every movement is engineered and hand-crafted by Weiss. When I asked Cameron Weiss about the design, manufacturing, and assembly process, here’s what he had to say:
“I begin by designing the timepiece myself, working with Grant our manufacturing engineer on prototyping the model in the studio, and testing it. We do all prototyping on our own CNC and lathe machines. From there, we go onto final production, where we are machining the components here in Los Angeles. We do machine some components on our own off-site but also in Los Angeles, and none of our 150 components are ‘off the shelf.’ We even machine our own pinions, screws, and winding stems right inside our studio. Once the machining of the components is complete, everything is hand-finished and assembled by me in our studio.”
This process is rather unique in the United States. Of the American watch brands that we profiled, RGM is the only other brand that comes close to manufacturing 100 percent of their components in the US.
In terms of design, Weiss watches are inspired by vintage gauges, aviation, and vintage pocket watches. Although these watches have a vintage design, they are modernized to fit today’s style. In 2013, Weiss first launched the Standard Issue Field Watch. Today, one of their most popular models is the Limited American Issue Field Watch, which is the newest model from the Field Watch collection. The Limited American Issue Field Watch features their in-house Caliber 1003. Nearly every component in this movement is machined in their studio; the hairspring and jewels are the only components that are not machined in-studio. They also complete hand-finishing, decoration, assembly, and final testing in-house.
The Limited American Issue Field Watch with a blue dial is their third timepiece featuring their American-made Weiss CAL 1003. Cameron Weiss builds each CAL 1003 by hand from start to finish. The watches come with a handmade brown leather strap with contrast stitching, which is supplied by Horween, the oldest operating tannery in America. If you’re interested in purchasing this watch, you better act soon. There will be only 200 timepieces of the Limited American Issue Field Watch created.
If you want to stay up to date with the newest Weiss timepieces, make sure you follow them on social media and subscribe to their email list. The Weiss watchmakers are developing some pretty amazing timepieces, and you’ll want to be the first to hear about them. Because as Cameron Weiss says, they are “the most vertically integrated watchmaker in the United States, blending traditional watchmaking and decoration with modern day manufacturing techniques.”
