COURTESYRGMWATCHCOMPANY
HOMEGROWN:
RGM’snew flagshipmechanicalwatch, theAmericanMadePennsylvaniaTourbillon, is crafted in
LancasterCounty, Pa., and is amanualwindwith 19 jewels andan 18,000vph tourbillon.
G
LANCEATTHEWATCH
onyourwrist.It
maybemodestormagnificentbut,al-
mostcertainly, it isn’tAmerican-made.
Themodernwatchbusiness is
dominatedbyEuropeanandAsianmanu-
facturersatboththehighand lowends.
Asaresult,mostofushave forgottenthat
fornearlyacentury, fromthe1870stothe
1950s, storiedAmericanwatchmanu-
facturers likeHamiltonandBulovawere
knowntheworldover formassproducing
qualitytimepieces.
ButthediversionofAmericanprecision
manufacturing forWorldWarIIandthe
quartz-watchtechnicalrevolutionof the
1960sreducedwatchmaking intheU.S. to
ashadowof itself.Bythemid-1970s, the
market formechanicalwatcheshadallbut
evaporated,andwith itwentAmerica’s
manufacturers.
Today, while there are a fewbrands
that claim tobe “Americanmade,” there
is reallyonlyone: RGMWatchCompany
in the small, quiet townofMount Joy,
Pa. RGM is keeping alive thewatchmak-
ing skills, processes and techniques
that havenearly vanished from this
country— and it is doing so successfully
bybeing a low-volumenichebusiness.
RGM isnamed for its founder,Roland
G.Murphy,aMarylanderwhospenthis
highschoolyears learningcabinetmaking
andworkingatDaneckerClockCompany,
whichspecialized ingrandfatherclocks.
There,hiscuriosity intimepieceswas
piqued,andhebegantinkeringwithclock
movements,disassemblingthemandsuc-
cessfullyputtingthembacktogether.
Thathands-ontime ledMurphyto
BowmanTechnicalSchool inLancaster,
Pa., in1980.Therenownedwatchand
jewelryschoolcementedhis interest inthe
techniquesandhistoryofwatchmaking,
leadinghimtobecomeacquaintedwiththe
legacythatmadeAmerica’s industrygreat.
“Iwasn’t just learning,”Murphyasserts, “I
THE
ARTOF
TIME
A look inside the
LUXURY
TIMEPIECES
ofRGMWatch
Company
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HOROLOGY
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AUTUMN
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