Making Every Part — CNC Machining & Watchmaking Videos
When I first started this watchmaking project I reached out to a bunch of other microbrands with questions about how they were machining their cases or crowns, or hands. The answer was always the same. They were outsourcing the parts. All of the parts.
Four years in, I can understand why almost all brands get someone in Asia or Switzerland to make their watch components. Making them yourself is a giant pain in the ass.
A network of global suppliers can definitely a fine watch, but so can a very stubborn fella in a tiny Brooklyn machine shop. And when it comes to character, rarity and the amount of blood sweat and tears poured into each timepiece that goes out my doors, I’ve got the global boys beat every time.
I’m still working on a more extensive page showing the processes I use, till then here’s a few clips.
Before I was making CNC-machined titanium cases, I was a Brooklyn photographer learning to fix old watches during a lockdown. This short documentary by Worn & Wound captures how I went from repairing vintage pieces to building two custom CNC mills from scrap steel and surplus parts. It's an unfiltered look at what it actually took to get here: the obsession, the failed cuts, and the point where building my own machines became the only logical next step.
The crown is one of the most mechanically demanding parts I make. it’s a five-piece assembly with triple-seal, screw-down capability, machined from Grade 5 titanium billet. This video shows me CNC machining the crown and strap lugs for the Model 255, my 38mm titanium field watch. Every piece is produced entirely in my Brooklyn workshop rather than sourced from an outside vendor. The strap lugs emerge from solid titanium alongside the case itself, then go through individual hand-finishing to achieve the final blend of polish and bead blast. It's the kind of detail work that defines what it means to actually make a watch rather than just assemble one.
The caseback of the Orbital Chronograph is more than a dust cover. It's a record of what this watch accomplished. This video shows me CNC machining the lettering directly into the titanium case back, a process that requires tight tolerances and precise toolpath planning to produce sharp, legible text on a curved surface. The Orbital Chronograph flew to the International Space Station on a six-month mission with NASA Commander Zena Cardman, making it one of the few watches ever worn in orbit by an independent American watchmaker. Every character is cut in-house at my Brooklyn workshop. No outsourcing, no shortcuts, no compromises.
Unlike stamped brass dials found in most watches at any price point, the Model 255 dial is a fully machined three-dimensional component. This video shows me CNC machining the dial indices and numerals — cut directly into the titanium surface to create precision wells that hold the luminous compound and define the watch's visual character. I designed the typeface myself, balancing legibility, aesthetics, and what's actually achievable at these tolerances on a custom-built machine. The finished dial is then coated with an ultra-durable matte black ceramic. It takes far longer than buying a dial off the shelf — and produces results that look like nothing else in independent watchmaking today.
Watch hands are among the most visible design elements in any timepiece — and among the most technically demanding parts I make. In this video, I'm CNC machining the titanium minute hands for the Model 255 before finishing each one individually by hand. Machined from solid billet, they're extremely lightweight while staying rigid enough to sit flat and track cleanly across the dial. After the CNC work is done, I inspect, shape, and surface-treat each hand in my Brooklyn workshop. It's a process most microbrand watchmakers outsource entirely. Here, it's done in-house, one hand at a time — which, as I've said before, is a giant pain in the ass. That's exactly the point.