MAKER BESPOKE WATCH PRODUCTS’ VINTAGE INSPIRATION.
Bespoke Watch Projects fuses vintage & modern in a timely fashion
When John Beck McConnico’s father gave him his first timepiece at age 6, a vintage 1960s mechanical watch, he was first struck by its astonishing mechanics and unique style. But reflecting upon this pivotal experience today, McConnico, now 44, admits that he was ultimately most impressed by how the generous gift deepened their fatherson connection.
“I was fascinated by the mechanics and look of it,” he says from his North Oakland watch studio. “But at that time, it was mostly about the emotional connection with the well-worn watch. The fact that it was given to me by my father and that he had it before I was born, was about passing something along to me.”
As McConnico’s burgeoning interest in watch design and mechanization grew — he’d eventually take the vintage watch apart to see what made it tick — he began collecting and later tinkering with and assembling timepieces. He knew it was only a matter of, ahem, time before he’d design them.
“There was a moment I had about 25 years ago, when I decided I should try to design my own watch,” he says. “But the last 10 years of my life, after my mom died, has been about establishing priorities and focusing on what’s really fulfilling.”
That included founding Bespoke Watch Projects, whose vintage-inspired watches trade on timeless mechanics, sophisticated design and deep-rooted emotion. The one-man operation formalized in 2013 as McConnico began prototyping, sourcing parts, assembling and collaborating with local leather workers and machinists to create limitededition timepieces.
His first models, inspired by traditional aviation and “tool watch” timepieces, featured modern-size cases, clean graphic dials and handmade leather straps, all powered by robust mechanical movements. The initial editions allowed for a range of customizations and upgrades, including case finishes, dial variations, hand-set designs, decorated Swiss movements, crown shapes and leatherstrap details.
“Bespoke Watch Projects is about creating a piece that is very personal to someone, much like a suit, in which you can choose from a set of options
to create something that fits your style and purpose,” he says. “Then I make each piece to order.“
The early pieces informed subsequent models, such as the Modern Pilot Watch, California Flieger and Oakland Officer’s Watch — all reinterpretations of classic military timepieces. McConnico recently released two new watches: the Sub 60 and Super 60 Pilot Watches, exuding utilitarian details influenced by early 20th century gauges, tachometers and measurement tools.
Each timepiece, which ranges in price from $500 to $1,200 depending on customizations, takes between four to six weeks to produce before it’s shipped in a burl wood display
box, leatherette cigar-style travel case or German-made piano gloss case.
“My clients love having a quality handmade product,” he says, “something that is inspired by historical tradition but driven by modern design, made to last with mechanical parts and that can be passed along as an heirloom. “
This summer he will introduce his first limited-edition production model: the 72 Flyback Chronograph.
Inspired by military timepieces and rugged chronographs of the late 1960s, the watch, set for release on Aug. 1, features a distinctive asymmetrical-case shape, dramatic domed sapphire crystal and design details that pair vintage horology with modern simplicity.
McConnico’s obsession with classic watch styles isn’t purely aesthetic. Whether receiving his father’s wristwatch as a young boy or more recently discovering his late grandfather’s pocket watch among his late father’s personal effects, it goes back to emotionally connecting to his past.
“I didn’t know my grandfather, but there’s always been an emotional connection around objects like that where you feel like you’re holding a piece of history,” he says. “Opening up this pristine pocket watch from 1910 made me relive that moment when I was a 6-year-old, popping open my dad’s pristine watch. So what’s important to me today is creating something my clients can pass along to their loved ones that brings joy and will work 100 years from now.”