Old School Watchmaking meets Aerospace with the J.N. Shapiro Radiant Chronograph
The Radiant by American watchmaker Joshua Shapiro is the latest watch, and first chronograph, in his Infinity Weave series. Its origins come from a limited edition made for the Boston collectors’ group Escapement.
The Radiant is striking. I already wear a watch almost constantly, and I imagine that the Radiant would never leave my wrist. It’s intricate infinite basketweave pattern and engraving are a joy to observe. Plus the amount of time taken to achieve this wonder makes you appreciate it even more.
Inspiration for the watch comes from the aerospace industry that surrounds Shapiro’s Torrance, California workshop. Being in close proximity to SpaceX, Boeing, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has certainly had an effect. The case and dial draw on two materials borrowed straight from that industry, materials rarely seen in watchmaking at all.
Shapiro uses a technique that would have been well known to watchmakers 100 years ago. He uses a straight-line engine to create a basketweave pattern that, according to Revolution Watch, is “regarded as the most demanding guilloché pattern to execute owing to the series of repetitive advances required after each cut.” And to take it further, he incorporates a “second basketweave within the first. The miniature baskets are interrupted cuts… each has to be engraved individually without encroaching on the larger baskets that surround it.”
A Meteorite and a Zirconium Dial with One Signature Pattern
The watch comprises two aerospace materials: tantalum and zirconium. Neither is common in watchmaking. Tantalum in particular is dense and heavy, but Shapiro has used it since 2021 and has built real expertise working with it.
To go one step further with the space them, one of the two dial options is a Gibeon meteorite. The Gibeon meteorite is prized for its tight Widmanstätten pattern that forms from cooling in space over millions of years (simplistic, but an astronomer can explain it better).
The second dial option is a heat-blued zirconium. This is a difficult process since the stunning blue color comes from heating, not paint or a coating. When cooled, Shapiro can create the pattern on the dial. He uses the same process for the chapter ring on each watch. After the ring cools, he engraves the numerals and indices on it. And since he is engraving and not painting, the stakes are high for the engraving to go perfectly. One engraving mistake means that the whole ring is ruined.
The Radiant Movement
The movement is a La Joux-Perret 5000-4, a hand-wound monopusher movement with rich history dating back to the 1990s. It’s been used by other brands and is widely respected in the watch industry. The 23-jewel movement runs at 21,600 vibrations per hour with a 38-hour power reserve.
The Radiant’s case measures 38mm wide, 10mm thick, and 43.8mm lug-to-lug. It’s my understanding that 10mm is thin for a chronograph movement. And the chronograph, it’s a monopusher, meaning that there is a single button that starts, stops, and resets the timer instead of two buttons.
The Price and Availability
The price of the watch is $35,900 and comes with an alligator strap. You can add a full tantalum strap for $12,950. The price is in line with other watches from independent watchmakers, given the cost of tantalum and the difficulty of heat treating and engraving.
Shapiro is one of the few watchmakers crafting mechanical watches in America at this moment. His path to where he is started with a master’s degree in US history and time as an LA school principal. He learned watchmaking through a remote course by the British Horological Institute, conversations with other watchmakers, and learning machining and engine turning. He founded J.N. Shapiro in 2018 in a garage creating guilloché dials before growing into full movement manufacturing. He only went full-time watchmaking in 2021.
Shapiro has had a major influence on modern American watchmaking and he’s doing all he can to revive a once dominant industry. He has certainly created amazing watches so far, and the demand for his watches proves that the future of J.N. Shapiro is bright.
