Cameron Weiss is the kind of guy to forge his own path. Like many men, he has a fondness for the simplicity and ruggedness of a Land Rover. So much so, that he went a road trip in the beloved Landy, and then built a watch to commemorate it. This is that watch.
Taking a cross-country road trip in any vehicle made in 1971 is asking for a more visceral drive, one where you feel the road in the seat of your trousers, the connection between tires and the road telegraphed through the steering wheel. Driving from shore to shore, Los Angeles to Charleston, and back, is 2,479 miles of rolling ribbon of highway. Now double it for the return trip. If you were reckless and had the stamina, it’d take you 35 hours to drive it one way, straight through.
But this was no road race. Weiss took a lazy path, through the Rockies, Texas hill country, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, the Great Smoky moutains, and more. This is the kind of trip where you savor the experiences, the people you meet, along the way. This is where a Land Rover excels: off the beaten path.
What do you to commemorate such a journey? If you’re Cameron Weiss, you make your own watches, from the movement up. You use a calibre of your own design and making. You use a stainless steel case. And then, to cap it off, you make a minty green dial that complements the minty green of the reliable old Landy. And then you make a black one to match the black gauges, as well.
Let’s see that black gauge, and how well Weiss matched the font. The goal has to be, ‘everytime I look at my watch, I think of that Landy that carried through the desert, through the mountains, to the shore.
If you want to be a part of the journey, you too could have an American-made watch in 42mm size, with a black minty green dial. It’s Weiss’ perfect expression of what a field watch is to him, and if you’ve got 2500 USD and act in time, you could have one of the 21 being produced. The American Issue Field Watch – Light Green Weiss Rover Dial is a closed production timepiece limited to just 21 total pieces built by hand. Get yours at weisswatchcompany.com.
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Weiss
- Price: pricing starts at $2500
- Who we think it might be for: You like things with a story: made in America, Land Rover green, and a cross-country trek to see it all.
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: I personally like the 38mm Weiss Field Watch more than the 42mm size.
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: I wanted to see a shot of the minty green dial next to the Land Rover. I want to see how close the green matches, and I wish they had shown pictures of the guages in the 1971 Landy so we could see how closely they matched the fonts. (They match!)
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: The love for making a watch that matches a well-loved truck.
Tech Specs from Weiss
- Case size: 42mm
- Height: 12.8mm
- Case material: 316L stainless steel
- Crystal: sapphire front and back
- Strap: 20mm Tan Horween leather strap, and 18mm stainless steel buckle/li>
- Movement: Weiss hand-wound calibre 1003, 21,600 beats/hour, 46 hour power reserve, hours, minutes, sweep second hand at 9 with hacking feature, incabloc shock protection
