Most mere mortals would be satisfied with reaching the very pinnacle of one high profile career, and live off the spoils of that success thereafter, but for Dan Spitz, three Grammy Awards nominations, thirty million album sales, and years on the road and in the studio as lead guitarist with world famous hard rock band Anthrax, all that now seems like it was just for openers.

That’s because the former heavy metal hell raiser has this week unveiled a couple of renders of his - and indeed the USA’s - first hand manufactured haute horlogerie wristwatch. If it sounds like a strange jump across from the ear-bending decibels and non-stop high octane grind of the rock n’ roll circus to the almost silent world of the watchmaker’s atelier, then knowing that a good part of Spitz’s childhood was spent admiring his grandfather at his own work bench, repairing and servicing high grade mechanical watches might explain why, for him, that this radical personal reinvention has been more like a natural progression.

Still, the title of Master Watchmaker is not one that is lightly bestowed on a whimsical notion, and neither fame nor fortune can make a difference to that. And so for the past twenty-five years, Dan Spitz has taken the only route open to achieve that status, beginning his formal training in 1995, and gaining a full scholarship to study and graduate from the prestigious WOSTEP in Neuchâtel, and then progressing through the watchmaking métiers, before establishing himself as master of mechanical complications, instructor and head of complications at Chopard.

It’s not exactly been a secret in recent years that he had immersed himself in his new career, as being head of complications at Chopard is hardly a low profile position, especially considering the notoriety gained from the distraction of having enjoyed the life in the fast lane as a full-blown, A-list rock star, along the path taken to arrive at that station of his calling.

Equipped with those hard earned skills, complementing an inherent talent, and surrounding himself with hundreds of vintage watchmaking tools in his own home based atelier, Spitz undertook the most demanding studio sessions of his career as he designed, developed and finally manufactured his, and the United States of America’s first fully homemade, hand crafted haute horlogerie wristwatch, possibly ever.

And so, this new creation by Daniel A. Spitz Watchmaker, for the time being going only by the codename J11.13, is pretty much destined to be considered a watch of quite some significant historic importance, and it deserves to be, as not only is it a piece that has been entirely crafted by his own hand in the purest sense of classical haute horlogerie, but as it is also the first ground-up, authentically Made in the USA timepiece in generations, to cheesily paraphrase another great American icon, this watch represents a giant leap for watchmaking in the United States of America.

Speaking to me earlier this week, Dan explained that “the mission is not simply to make a timepiece, but to shine a very bright light toward American watchmaking, its history, and to revive independent watchmaking in this country.”

A testament to an unwavering devotion to achieving his objective, and putting those wonderful old manually operated tools back into good service, the J11.13 has been created from scratch in-house in North Carolina. it features unique technical innovations whose origins stem back to the very earliest days of watchmaking, and also others which are completely new, such as his Libre Excentrique escapement and full plate bridge (for comparison, think Glashütte ¾ plates and add in the rest).

The black dial is finished with hand guilloché decoration and features polished steel detailing, with a single piece for the chapter ring and roman numerals, as well as a grooved circle around the centre. The time is displayed with blued steel hour and minute hands, which are broad and sword-like, before sharply turning in and tapering to long fine ends, and the seconds are displayed in a deep and generously proportioned recessed dial-within-dial at the six o’clock position.

On the underside of the watch, a sapphire caseback reveals the stunning vista of the hand finished, manual winding movement. The predominant feature is the huge titanium balance wheel with solid gold weights and in-house hand made hairspring, which pulses at a graceful 18’000 vib/h, it oscillates beneath a stand-alone mirror polished bridge, which spans across the lower part of the movement. Beneath the balance, a very unusual escape wheel with pronounced teeth is the Daniel Spitz Libre Excentrique escapement, which is yet another unique in-house development, and an evolution of the 18th Century Louis Richard escapement. Requiring no oil, it performs with minimal friction and is a beautiful refinement of what is quite literally a centuries old innovation which the watchmaker has scaled down for the confines of his wristwatch.

On the subject of this remarkable escapement Dan explained how it is part of a wider “Open Source Watchmaking project, collaborating with and working alongside Luc Monnet of Arts Mechanics and Cyril Brevet Naudot, who is currently using this same escapement in his own Eccentricity timepiece,” which we covered here previously.

Available in a choice of either polished stainless steel or Grade 5 Titanium, the J11.13 has a distinctive, assertive aesthetic and an impressive presence on the wrist. Its round case measures 40.5 mm across, with a straight, tall-sided waist, rounded bezel and a squat, fluted onion crown at the three o’clock position. A subtle theme of accentuated edges is found elsewhere on the watch too, such as the stepped underside bezel and the surround of the small seconds.

In creating what is the first 100% American manufactured movement since the early days of the quartz invasion, the magnitude of what Daniel Spitz has accomplished in this first watch and what it actually represents is quite profound. A true labour of love and an uncompromising dedication to very old-school standards of artisanale watchmaking techniques places him among a very small number of watchmakers, who themselves are recognised as being the very finest in their field.

What’s going on here isn’t just remarkable because of its “US rock legend creates horologic masterpiece in America” headline newsworthiness; it is significant in watchmaking terms too, because he has crafted and hand finished virtually every single component of this extraordinary watch, by himself, in his own atelier, including the hairspring, which is something only a very few watchmakers have been able to do, even in Switzerland where the tools and skills exist in relative abundance.

But this dynamic character’s task doesn’t stop with the realisation of his own masterpiece either, because for the green shoots of true high end horology to take root once again on American soil, he knows that a new generation of watchmakers must be nurtured and developed to prevent that which he has invested the last twenty-five years of his life into from disappearing again once he has called time on his remarkable career.

In his own words; “Another part of Daniel Spitz Watchmaking is not only to point eyes to the United States for haute horology but to help young American, classically trained watchmakers gain a foothold, and the experience needed to go out and do the same thing I’m doing. Be independent.”

And so he finishes by telling me how he has “started a foundation with others to help bring a few of these watchmakers into my own manufacturing facility, to learn what is not normally taught, and to provide access and the opportunity to use these machines for themselves, to produce their own first timepieces, to be sold here in America.”

For such an important market in the luxury watches industry, and as a country with a rich history in mechanical engineering, America has waited long for its own homegrown champion for watchmaking, and the vanguard for reviving an industry. Dan Spitz is well used to the stage and he’s already rocked one world. Don’t bet against him doing it in another.

Keep up to date with this natural born creator over at danspitz.com

Soon after this story was published in early 2020, things took something of an unexpected twist. After a lengthy Skype chat one evening, where Dan and myself talked and talked and talked about the world of independent watchmaking, we soon realised that we had some strange kind of cosmic chemistry, and so when, at the end of the call, we lamented that it would have been a really great thing to have recorded (and it was), on the spur of the moment, we decided to see if we could maybe get some of our watchmaking heroes to join us for a chat to tell us about their lives, their work and their interests and influences.

Well… through 2020 we have taken that whimsical notion and gone on to establish a truly unique webcast called In The Metal, which has evolved to become a trailblazing series which goes behind the glamorous frontage of these historically important horologic masterpieces, and into the ateliers and workshops where they are brought to life by the very finest watchmakers in the world today.

A lively, free and open series of informal and unfiltered conversations with these incredible obsessive creators of mechanical art, each episode is another instalment in the story of contemporary independent watchmaking, taking us through a usually closed door, and into a secret, rarely seen side of the business to hear about real hands-on experiences from the workbench, with the people who make it happen.

If you’re reading this, then you will have an interest. Click here or on the banner image below to open a growing archive which is documenting an era in which artisanal hand crafted watchmaking has grown from a fringe interest to an increasingly powerful and dynamic force in the watch industry.

If it’s for you, then please subscribe on the In The Metal YouTube channel. Join the tribe, stay informed, and let myself and the force of nature who is Dan Spitz take you on a winding journey of discovery, as we explore the art of hand crafted watchmaking like no-one has done before.