The Ultimate 4th of July Watch: 2022

Four years ago The Time Bum granted me the freedom to publish an article “The Ultimate 4th of July Watch” as a tribute to the holiday and, more personally, as a bit of a love letter to American watches. These born-in-the-USA gadgets still predominate my collection and now each year I have to admit I look forward to picking one ultimate choice for Independence Day wrist checks.  Something with the rockets’ red flair.

The criteria have remained as faithful as the national anthem:

1. Colors obviously: red, white, and blue
2. Water-resistant for a day splashing about in pools, lakes, and beaches
3. An American brand, especially now with so many star-spangled choices
4. And the ultimate pledge of allegiance: this silly contraption sitting on your wrist should somehow convey a deeper meaning — bringing an American story to your regular wrist-checks

Our first winner in 2019, Bill Yao’s bench-crafted MKII Key West Pepsi dial, set an absurdly high bar: tasteful use of red, white, and blue, water-resistance to 200 m, honoring American contributions to the original GMT, and … born in Philadelphia.  God Bless America.

And frankly the MKII might have been it; it’s an exceptional watch in its own right that didn’t really need a patriot encore.  But then 2020 happened.  I know, I barely got through that sentence too.

So yeah, the idea of jettisoning off planet Earth seemed pretty appealing, and there just so happened to be a watch that captured my rocket-propelled impulse: the Xeric Trappist-1 NASA Edition Apollo II.  It did other things too — like recall the United State’s legacy in NASA’s Space Age engineering, and as a Northern California brand, repped Silicon Valley as an edgy thought leader.  The crisp astronaut white accented in red and blue didn’t hurt either.

And so we had the Ultimate 4th of July Watch: 2020.

Well, now we had a list.  So in 2021 I knew I had to pick something.

What I found was damn-near perfect.  At a time when we were just coming up for air after the 18-month COVID wipeout, one brand buoyed our yearning for an endless summer with nostalgic and carefree Americana: the aptly named FreeStyle watches Surfin’ USA.

I swear I still smile every time I see this watch.  And you don’t just wear it, you feel it.  Sometimes I think I hear it: U-S-A! U-S-A!  Its signature stars & stripes punched up in bold primary colors are just the start — it also marks one of Freestyle watches’ many collaborations with female athletes, this time with surfer Caroline Marks as she led the US team to introduce the sport as an Olympic event.

Tell the teacher we’re surfing…  with your Ultimate 4th of July watch for 2021.

Which bring us to 2022.  And I’ve got to say things feel kind of… normal.

Instead of vaccine cards and measuring 6 feet, most of us are back to good ‘ol fashioned 4th of July festivities like BBQs, beaches, and comforting the dogs hiding under the couch during fireworks.  So with the apocalypse in the rear-view mirror and the open road ahead, it just might be time to push the gas toward the future.  We’ll forget about what that gas costs for a minute.

And two particular open roads may hold the key to American watch independence: interstates I-70 and I-81. These intersect in Hagerstown, Maryland, just outside Washington, DC, at the home of Maryland Watch Works who are launching something very close to an all-American made movement: the MWW 7081.

To be clear, it’s not quite there yet.  A mechanical watch has 130 parts and some are exceedingly hard to make.

Still, this ETA 2824 base movement — sourcing some parts from Switzerland and others — ultimately completes its in-house process of stamping, annealing, and final assembly in Maryland.  And with marching orders toward sovereignty in place, you can duly appreciate the craftsmanship of the heat-treated gray metal and blued screws; a full-salute nod to our nation’s blue and gray militia history.

Oh!  Right.  The watch.

This Yankee-doodle dandy of a movement comes packaged as the Rockville Automatic in several alluring dials, including a Francis Scott Key approved burst of blue.

And I don’t take “bombs bursting in air” references lightly.  Without a doubt this is one of most vibrant sunburst dials I’ve encountered — and as much fun as it was to take these pictures they still don’t quite do it justice.

For the 4th of July this year I’ll be sporting it on a red strap — a classic pairing that further accentuates the dial’s red lettering and overall brings the colorway into full patriotic glory.  Mr. Wonderful just might be on to something.

So there you have it, the Ultimate 4th of July Watch for 2022: a red, white, and blue diver from our nation’s capital proudly celebrating the road to independence.