"Crafted for the Bold: Shinola’s Iconic Timepieces Redefine Elegance"

Detroit-based Shinola Watches released the original Runwell watch about ten years ago. At the time, Shinola made headlines for assembling its watches in Detroit, thanks to a large investment from Bedrock (its holding company) in an impressive facility near downtown Detroit. Shinola is a modern company founded by experts with extensive knowledge of building brands and selling to American consumers. It was not originally founded as a passionate watchmaker. Ten years later, things have changed. Shinola has refined and improved its products while expanding its technical expertise. The company’s employees began assembling Swiss Ronda quartz movements and have since mastered the assembly of Swiss mechanical watch movements.

This Shinola Runwell Station Agent watch I’m reviewing today features a Sellita automatic movement that was checked and tested in Detroit. I recently visited the factory and saw how they assembled this watch. I found that the installation is very similar to assembling clocks in Europe or Asia. It was reassuring to see workers in watchmaker’s clothing sitting on the benches who were fellow Americans, a somewhat new experience for me. I also saw how Shinola makes its own leather bracelets. This process creates some of the best-made bracelets on the market. Even if the topic of Shinola watches doesn’t appeal to you, there’s still a great way to enjoy the brand through its high-quality, American-made straps.

The Shinola Runwell Station Agent represents Runwell’s latest look while paying homage to the style that has maintained a certain consistency since the brand’s inception. This visual appearance begins with a 45mm wide pocket watch-on-strap case with a wall clock-style dial that feels friendly, familiar and inspired by mid-century Americana. The Runwell was a cleverly designed watch whose quality took years to prove and which also benefited from numerous improvements. This Runwell Station Agent is sturdy and durable, with excellent case polish and details that appear higher quality than the retail price suggests. For the price under $1,500, it indeed offers good value for money.

The name Station Agent (which comes from the station agents who helped shuttle countless passengers to their destinations every day during busy times in American history) is said to refer to the new Runwell automatic collection, which features a seconds subdial (instead of a central dial for seconds). Hand). This is a sleeker look that more effectively ties a central part of the design theme to the look of classic pocket watches. The subdial is slightly recessed and features a spiral-shaped surface. The rest of the dial details are excellent, including the shape of the date window (which does not intersect the display at 3 o’clock) and the length of the hands. Shinola is currently producing the Runwell Station Agent in off-white, but additional colors will be released later in 2023. While it’s a little off-brand (given the focus on home-made straps), Shinola still offers a strap for Runwell. Station Agent watch that I think works pretty well with this case. There is a slightly domed sapphire crystal above the dial, which creates some reflections, but that’s not too bad.

If you balk at the 45mm wide case size, note that Shinola makes a smaller version of the Runwell. However, the watch doesn’t feel too big. The case is only 12 mm thick (without tabs) and the distance between the tabs is just under 50 mm. This means it wears rather modestly for a size 45mm wide. The rounded, polished steel case has a narrow bezel and offers enough space for an efficient dial. The indices and hands are painted with Super-LumiNova and the matt black outer hands ensure excellent legibility and contrast to the main dial. (Shinola calls this cream hue “parchment.”) The small seconds subdial also helps maximize dial space—a designer’s love letter to classic American watches.

Attached to the case is a 22mm wide Detroit-made leather strap with a brown color and texture that Shinola calls “Cattail Grizzly.” For added convenience, the strap is equipped with quick-release spring bars so you can easily attach other people to the Station Agent watch. Although the case has a screw-down crown, it is only water-resistant to 50 meters. I think this is because the bottom of the case is attached with screws (for design reasons) rather than screwed down. I would like to see Shinola increase the original Runwell’s water resistance to 100 meters in the future, but that’s a very minor point. Through the caseback you can see the automatic mechanical movement with a custom black Shinola automatic rotor stamped with the company’s lightning bolt logo.

The movement inside the Runwell Station Agent is a Swiss self-winding Sellita caliber SW260-1. This is essentially the SW200 with a second subdial. It operates at 4 Hz and has a power reserve of approximately two days. Again, the movement is assembled in Switzerland but packaged and tested by Shinola at its factory in Detroit. So while it’s not an all-American movement, I think it’s just as emotionally satisfying and combines practicality and movement reliability that most consumers will likely appreciate.

For years, I saw Shinola Runwell quartz watches on the wrists of everyday people who loved the brand. Now Shinola has opened the world of its most popular watch collection to more enthusiasts with its automatic models in improved products such as the Runwell Station Agent. In addition to the now well-known quartz movements, the brand is also introducing more mechanical watches made in the USA. Of course, there are now entire collections of Shinola models that are exclusively equipped with mechanical watches.

The Shinola Runwell Station Agent is a conservative, vintage-style watch designed to celebrate a sense of American nostalgia and tell an authentic story about the urban renaissance in the great city of Detroit. It’s a story that will definitely appeal to some consumers more than others, but I think there’s enough room in the United States for a product like this to be very successful. Despite being a newer model, Shinola performs well. As a watch or everyday gift that is both modest and beautiful, the Runwell Station Agent is a very nice item from Shinola. The price (each part has an individual serial number) is $1,450.

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