Shinola and another Watch Gang Watch-Earnshaw

Growing up, I often heard my father say about someone, "They don't know shit from shinola." I knew what he meant-that someone didn't know what they were talking about, but I didn't know why 'shinola.'

 Many, many years later, I was in my mother-in-law's store and saw this vintage rack where they displayed a few cans of Kiwi shoe polish, and then it all became clear. Shinola! A brand of shoe polish! Shoe polish kind of looks like poop, and you get poop on your shoes, and the person who didn't look too closely might mistake the two! As I take a quick look at Wikipedia, Shinola was specifically a boot polish, and with my Dad's many years in the military, a boot polish allusion would be totally appropriate for him. That I didn't know boot polish was irrelevant to his using the phrase. I knew what he meant, and that was all that I needed.

Moving on, about a decade ago I started reading about Shinola watches. The origin story was a good one, a group of guys wanting to restart American manufacturing by heading to one of the great manufacturing cities of the last century, Detroit, and opening up a factory for high quality goods like watches and leather products. 

If I remember correctly, initially they had only quartz watches that were vintage in styling and larger in size-a modern take on old watches. I saw them in magazines and liked the look, though I thought they were priced a little on the high side. I did want one, though, and would look at their shops in Los Angeles and the Bay area with a bit of longing. I really liked their leather goods, too, as well as their pens and bicycles.

About five years or six years ago I was at TJ Maxx looking at their watch case and came across a Filson Argonite 715. I'd never heard of Filson, but I knew the Argonite tag, and turned it over to reveal the Shinola connection. If I recall, it was around $150, and though high for something from TJ Maxx,  I knew that was a good price for a Shinola and I bought it. I later found out that Filson is an outdoor goods manufacturer in the Northwest with a solid reputation. From what I can gather plowing through the internet right now, it was somewhere between $600-900.

The leather band has picked up a nice patina over the years, with both Shinola and Filson logos. Some online research shows that both companies are owned by the same development group explaining the partnership between the two. Apparently, it didn't go as well as they would have liked, because no watches are currently shown on the Filson site.

The other Shinola I have I picked up from an online auction for $100. I didn't think I'd win, and I wasn't too sure what to make of it when I received it. I was going to change the band, but the guy who replaces my watch batteries was impressed and said I should keep it the way it is. It's comfortable on the wrist and does have a nice look to it. 

I do still think that Shinola is a bit overpriced for what it is, but if I can find them below $200, I might by another.

 

More Watchgang Watches

I've had this Earnshaw watch for a few months now, and I thought maybe I should get it out of the box. I did open it when I got it, but I really didn't have a call to wear it. It's dressy without being too dressy, but not necessarily a beater either, dwelling in a watch limbo for me. But I have a few minutes and so here we go.

I had to hunt on the website to find it, but it is a Maudslay in Scotsman Blue. According to their site, it runs $400 and as of this writing there is only one left. It's not quite a skeleton, though you can see part of the 21 Jewel Miyota Movement ticking away. The movement, by Citizen, is a solid performer, so the watch should keep good time.

The blue leather strap is interesting. It doesn't really feel like leather, but more like pleather, and I don't really like the feel on my wrist, especially compared to watchbands like the one on the Filson that I spoke about above. The band also seems long-I've got it in the third hole, and there are six more holes in it-that would be a seriously huge wrist.

The blue accents of the watch are nice, with roman numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9. There is some lume on the hands, but not too much. The calendar being out in the open is interesting, and not unappealing but not wowing me either. 

The Earnshaw origin story says that they're named after the watchmaker that made Darwin's watch, and all their watches are named after explorers. There are a few Maudslay's listed in Wikipedia, and I'm assuming that this watch is named after Alfred Maudslay, the diplomat and explorer.

The company is based in England, though I can find no indication that the watch was made there. My best guess is that it was made in China. That's not a bad thing, and it explains why their prices are so low. 

 

I wore it for a few days, and though I really didn't care for the look or feel of the band, it wasn't terrible. I noticed that there was some lume, but it seemed to fade away rather quickly. The watch itself is a little bigger than I like them, but I'm sure that I'll wear it more.