It’s easy to think of J.N. Shapiro as a brand largely focused on a style of watchmaking from an earlier generation. But that’s a trap. While the design language is rooted in classicism and J.N. Shapiro prides itself on the highest level execution of traditional guilloche, the brand has also been open to experimenting with materials in a way that many other contemporary indies have embraced to great success in recent years. Their new watch, the Radiant, enters the Infinity Series with a host of exotic materials at its core, and the watch serves as a reminder that while J.N. Shapiro is capable of doing things in an old school way, and might lean into that at times, the brand is not opposed to taking a modern perspective on some of these old fashioned ideas.
J.N. Shapiro’s Southern California manufacture sits at the heart of the American aerospace industry, and that connection serves as a loose inspiration for the Radiant, a new monopusher chronograph that is a bit of a sequel to their first chrono, released just last year in a very small run for Escapement, a Boston area collector’s group. Watches that are linked to aerospace are nothing new, but usually watches in this genre are conceived as fit for an astronaut, or something along those lines (there’s been a glut of space-travel oriented watches just this year, from IWC, Bremont, and others). J.N. Shapiro takes a different approach, focusing on materials that are closely tied to the industry and have unique applications in watchmaking. In this case, that means the use of zirconium and tantalum.
The Radiant will be available in two variations. The first includes a center dial crafted from meteorite with a meteorite 30 minute register that has a guilloche pattern applied to it. This version also includes a zirconium chapter ring that has been heat blued, with numerals and indices engraved following the heat treatment. The second variation features a blued zirconium center dial and 30 minute register, both with guilloche. Each variant comes in a 38mm tantalum case measuring 9.6mm tall and 43.9mm from lug to lug.
There is, frankly, a lot of flexing here in terms of how these materials are used. Tantalum of course is a very challenging material to machine, and J.N. Shapiro has become almost as well known for their expertise in working this incredibly dense and heavy metal as they have their guilloche work. When it comes to zirconium, the challenge is in the engraving work following the heat blueing process. According to the brand, this leaves zero margin for error and requires getting the blue tone to be just right on the first pass. The blue color achieved when blueing zirconium is distinct from the tone achieved when the same process is applied to other materials, and allows J.N. Shapiro to meet their goal of not using coatings or paint.
The Radiant runs on a La Joux-Perret 5000-4 monopusher chronograph movement, with an architecture originally designed for Cartier by F.P. Journe. The pedigree of the movement is impressive, and it’s a fairly exclusive caliber that is only used by a small number of brands, but the real draw is its thinness. The movement measures just 4.2mm tall, which allows J.N. Shapiro to build a slim case around it that is uncommon for a watch with this complication (the case height without the crystal is just 8.2mm). The caliber has a power reserve of 38 hours when fully wound.
The Radiant launches as a limited run of 75 pieces, and J.N. Shapiro is ready to produce a second run of watches if the demand is there. This watch comes at a time of growth for J.N. Shapiro. According to the press materials provided for the Radiant, the brand’s higher end Resurgence line, which features a caliber made entirely in-house, has a multiple year waitlist. The Infinity Series watches, which use very nice off-the-shelf movements, enable J.N. Shapiro to use a two-pronged approach that allows more people to buy in to the brand and experience what most agree is what really makes them special: their perfectly executed guilloche dials.
The retail price for the Radiant is $35,900, with a 50% deposit required when ordering. A tantalum bracelet is an optional extra for an additional $12,950. J.N. Shapiro
