Rpaige watches are conceived, designed and produced by Rpaige Watch Co. Richard Paige is a 4th generation watchmaker, who founded several high profile watch stores in California. His signature store was Paris 1925, in San Francisco.

Richard was the founder and owner of TimeZone.com, which is considered the world’s most popular website for watch enthusiasts.

During his tenure at TimeZone.com, Richard launched an online watch repair school. Also, Richard conceived and produced 4 other limited edition watches, all sold out, and marketed exclusively on TimeZone.com.

Richard has designed and produced furniture, jewelry, glassware, and art, all in the Art Deco theme and sold exclusively through retail stores.

The Rpaige watch company is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Antique and Vintage movements

The limited edition Rpaige Wrocket watch is a play on words. The watch uses an antique/vintage “12 size” (39.78mm) American pocket watch movement made by either Elgin of Illinois, or Waltham of Massachusetts.

The Wrocket model comes from the joining of two technologies….the wristwatch and pocket watch…The wrist-pocket = the Wrocket watch. The 12 size pocket watch movements measures 39.78 mm, a perfect size for a modern oversize wristwatch.

The 12 size movements were produced mainly between 1897 and around 1929, after these dates, the wristwatch gained market acceptance and popularity, and the movements were then manufactured much smaller to fit into wristwatch cases. Although the movements in these limited edition watches were produced between 1899 and 1929, it does not mean that they have “old technology”.

The basic design of the mechanical wristwatch has not changed since the late 1800’s. In fact, the materials and workmanship used on these movements is far superior than most brand name watches.

The only major improvements in modern watch manufacturer were the “Incabloc shock protection system”, the “unbreakable mainspring”, using newer alloys, and anti-magnetism. Although the watch is not shock resistant, it is still very durable, and they are meant to be worn. The engineers and designers of these movements probably never realized how incredibly durable the product ended up being. And we believe that if these watches are serviced at regular intervals, that they will last another 100 years.

History of the watch

The story of the Rpaige “Wrocket” watch begins with a milestone birthday celebration. My wife, knowing I was a watch fanatic and collector, and a 4th generation watchmaker, who has been collecting watches since I was a teenager, decided to buy me a special gift of a watch for my birthday. She wanted to spend between $2,000 to $3,000 for my gift, and she was excited that I would find the perfect watch for such a vast sum. She knows I collect steel and titanium watches. So in we walked, arm and arm, into a national, high profile, watch chain store. All of the great, and less great, brands were represented, and they even had their own brand of watches.

“Show me everything between $2,000 and $3,000”. And out they came, all shapes and sizes, mechanical and quartz, with all sorts of complications. But, not a “Great Swiss House” brand in the bunch: no Jaegers, IWCs, Panerais, Breguets, Ulysse Nardins, Pateks, Vacherons, Blancpains, Cartiers, nor Zeniths. What was more frustrating, was that all the watches of lesser known brands that we were shown, all used the same basic mechanical movement: the ETA brand caliber. Was this what the watch industry had evolved into? The same insides with a brand name slapped on the dial? Wasn’t there any watch in the store, for this price range, that I would want for this special gift? This is where the story of Rpaige Wrocket really starts.

These watches were a pleasure to work on: great materials, great design, and visually beautiful. I fell in love with these miniature “motors” of a time and era of long ago. But it wasn’t till many years later, after I had become adept at repairing modern watches, did I come to realize that I had learned my trade on the “Michangelos” of movements. The Golden Era of Watchmaking: American pocket watch movements made between 1890 and 1930. So now I had identified my movements, and the project took a giant step forward….the Wrocket watch: a fusion of the pocket watch and the wristwatch.

Now the question arose: since the project needed to produce at least 300 watches to make the project manufacturing and economically feasible, could I actually obtain 300 to 500 American pocket watch movements?? After all, you just can’t pick up the phone, call a watch manufacturer that doesn’t exist anymore and order 500 movements. Conversely, even if I found this movements, who would be capable of restoring them to their former glory? Also, what size movement and manufacturer should I use? The great American watch manufacturers – the most prolific and famous being Waltham, Elgin, Hamilton, and Illinois – produced watches from the mid 1800’s to the mid 1900’s. If you think about the evolution of the watch, you’d see that timepieces started off as large clocks, and as time evolved, the makers were able to miniaturize the parts to make smaller and smaller devices. The original pocket watches were huge by today’s standard, yet back then they were considered marvels of manufacturing. And it wasn’t until the 1920’s that it was possible to produce and manufacture a “miniature clock” small enough to fit on your wrist. Further, the great American watch companies didn’t produce the cases for the watches, only the movements. Other companies produced the cases, and often times they were “married” together at the watch and jewelry stores. The watch manufactures produced a standardized diameter size, and the case companies produced and accommodated these standard sizes to fit their cases. A customer could pick his or her movement and case and leave the store with the finished product. Thus a watch case could accommodate several different brand movements. Step two: I had to become a case manufacturer.

Step Three: Design. I have a passion for Art Deco. Spending my whole adult life in San Francisco, I
became a student, then champion of the design. Art Deco was born in Paris in the early 1900’s, and America’s contribution was the great architectural designs of the 1920’s and 1930’s (Chrysler and Empire State buildings). To do justice to these watch movements, an Art Deco designed case was the only way to go. Also, I wanted an “oversize” watch, around 42 to 44 mm, and the “12 size” (39mm) pocket watch movements are perfect size for a case of this size. Further, these magnificent watch movements mostly came from “open Face” pocket watches, meaning the winding crown was at 12 o’clock on the dial, and the second hand at the 6 o’clock position. Wristwatches have the crown on the side at 3 o’clock , and the sub second dial at 6 o’clock. So to create my new brand I had to design a new dial that had the winding crown at the 3 o’clock position, which due to the design of the movement placed the sub second dial at 9 o’clock. I wanted everything about the watch to be unique, so I designed an Art deco numbered dial to accommodate my special designed “art deco” round hands.” I liked the concept of the dial and hands being “kenetic”: as the hands rotate around the dial, it creates a new design, especially at 8:45, where 4 circles overlap. But finally, I wanted the watch to be unique. Let’s face it, from the across the room it’s very difficult to differentiate one watch from another….they seem to all mimic each other in design and style: military, chronograph, divers: in round, square and rectangle. I wanted the watch to be able to be recognized from across the room…dial, hands, case…..”hey, that’s an Rpaige Watch”!

Step Four: Restoration of the Movements. In my opinion, the American watch companies produced the finest watch movements in horological history (the art of making clocks and watches) between 1860 and 1935. These masterpieces of machinery far surpassed the workmanship and finish of the Swiss watch industry products from the same period. If you put a 1920’s Omega, Rolex, Patek and Waltham together on a table, you would have no problem visually seeing the “best” movement. I decided to use only fully jeweled (15 or 17 jewels) movements for The Rpaige watch, and found that the most bountiful were the Elgin and Waltham movements. Only a small percentage of watchmakers today can restore an antique watch movement, so picking the right watchmakers to accompany my workload for the project was critical. I looked no further than my family. I have three cousins who are also fourth generation watchmakers, and who better to help me restore these treasures than these experienced and knowledgeable watch masters.

Final Product. It was also very important to me that I produce a limited number of editions of these watches, and the movements themselves dictated the number I could do. I believe that these watches will have a noted place in horological history, and they will last hundreds of years, becoming future heirlooms for generations to come.

I’ve also allotted several unnumbered cases for those of you who have an heirloom watch from your family that could be converted to one of the Rpaige “wrocket” watches……to wear your granddads watch again! Email me for criteria for this conversion, your watch must fit certain specifications to be used in the Wrocket watch case.

Richard Paige