Process: Shinola Watches
Manufacturing in Detroit has a rich history that predates Henry Ford's assembly line, and it's this heritage that lives on at Shinola. We decided we needed a closer look at the company's watch-making process, so we drove up to the Motor City to visit the Shinola watch factory. Housed on the fifth floor of the Argonaut Building — formerly known as the GM Research Lab — Shinola is bringing hand-powered watch making back to America one timepiece at a time. The workers hand-build each timepiece, meticulously seating and fitting together as many as 100 parts per watch — including the Detroit-built movement made with Swiss parts — until they meet the final, one-person quality test, creating lasting products that rival their European counterparts in quality but exhibit a strength that's unique to the place in which they're built. America. Detroit.