What We Know
Time flies, and it’s been almost 10 months since J.N. Shapiro launched the brand’s first complication, a limited-run monopusher chronograph for a private group of collectors in the Boston area. It featured a salmon-and-black dial and a stainless-steel case, limited to 14 pieces. Now the concept is back, with the same movement, but with some arguable upgrades in how the entire watch is treated.
The brand has tapped tantalum and zirconium as major parts of the watch’s construction, materials used extensively in aerospace engineering for their special properties. “Our workshop is located in one of the largest aerospace manufacturing hubs in the world,” says Shapiro in their press release. “Companies like SpaceX, Boeing, Northrop, and JPL are all nearby. This watch is a nod to that environment, using space-age metals and meteorite to reflect where we come from and what inspires us.”
The watch comes in two dial variants, both cased in 38mm-by-9.6mm (8.2mm without crystal) tantalum cases. The dark grey material, famously hard to machine, is incredibly heavy, giving the watch a lot of gravitas on the wrist.
Photo courtesy J.N. Shapiro.
The first dial, which is the most direct homage to the Californian tie with aerospace, features a Meteorite with a blued zirconium chapter ring and blued hands. The chapter ring is engraved with hour markers and Arabic numerals at 3, 6, and 9, plus a minute track, but no specific chronograph scale. The subsidiary dial counter has a guilloché pattern in Shapiro’s signature style.
The Guilloché-blued zirconium dial and chapter ring, with polished steel hands, is the more traditional treatment from Shapiro. For most people, what you’d generally sign up for when getting a watch from the brand is the guillochage that originally put the brand on the map. The steel hands pop off the punchy blue dial, but the brand gets extra credit for using such an unconventional material.
Photo courtesy J.N. Shapiro.
Photo courtesy J.N. Shapiro.
The watch is powered by the manually wound, monopusher La Joux-Perret 5000-4 movement, with a 38-hour power reserve and a 4Hz frequency, featuring Shapiro’s guilloché hallmark logo on the bridge. If this sounds familiar, we just covered an Angelus with their own version of the same movement. But this is essentially the famous monopusher movement that THA (with Journe and Halter) designed and was used in the Cartier Tortue Monopoussoir. With that said, you can see the movement is a lot smaller than the watch, so if case size to movement size ratios are important to you, this imbalance might be noticeable.
Photo courtesy J.N. Shapiro.
On the wrist, it’s a substantial watch for its weight but also has a reasonable presence due to its fair size profile. While the movement could go in a smaller case, this fits a wide variety of wrists. Tantalum is an interesting material and not what I would have expected from Shapiro, but it makes sense in at least one way.
Photo courtesy J.N. Shapiro.
J.N Shapiro, along with Ming and Fleming, is a part of the Alternative Horological Alliance, and with Ming specifically, they developed a universal 20mm bracelet that fits the brand watches featuring curved springbar holes. So, in addition to the blue alligator strap, you can see in some pictures that the watch is paired with the tantalum bracelet. This is an optional addition for $12,950, but one that is a good investment if you have a Ming in tantalum (or a watch with a blue dial from a brand whose name rhymes with Jeff G. Bjørn).
The new J.N Shapiro Infinity Series Radiant chronograph is going to be made in a first-run limited to 75 pieces across both dials, retailing for $35,900. The optional bracelet is an additional $12,950.
What We Think
In a world full of Swiss and Japanese watchmakers, it’s nice to be able to root for the hometown team, even if they’re on the opposite coast. Shapiro’s Resurgence series remains the gold standard for fulfilling the title of Made in America, though there are others doing good work on that front at different levels. But the Infinity series presents a lot of opportunity for the brand to showcase quality craftsmanship from their American workshop without relying solely on an American movement, which is more resource-intensive than you might realize.
Josh Shapiro himself says that more variety, including a ladies’ watch, is coming from the Infinity series, but this is a solid addition to the collection. Shapiro’s craftsmanship follows a specific lineage of watchmaking, especially in dial work that reminds you a bit of Roger Smith, and is the main focus and value-add here. Yes, it takes a particular buyer to understand it, but I don’t think Shapiro ever imagined it as a broad commercial product like that from a high-volume manufacturer. Any feedback is somewhat hard to give; I was looking at a prototype, and I found a few things, like the engraving for the “6” and the evenness of the blued hands, that could use a bit more work. But I think it’s a very interesting addition to the Shapiro lineup and an attractive one at that.
The Basics
Brand: J.N. Shapiro
Model: Infinity Series Radiant
Diameter: 38mm
Thickness: 9.6mm (8.2mm without crystal)
Case Material: Tantalum
Dial Color: Meteorite with blued zirconium chapter ring and blued hands, or Guilloché blued zirconium dial and chapter ring with polished steel hands
Lume: None
Water Resistance: 50m
Strap/Bracelet: Alligator leather strap, with an optional AHA tantalum bracelet available separately.
Photo courtesy J.N. Shapiro.
The Movement
Caliber: La Joux-Perret 5000-4
Functions: Monopusher Chronograph with 30-minute counter
Thickness: 4.2mm
Power Reserve: 38 hours
Winding: Manual
Frequency: 4Hz
Jewels: 23
Pricing & Availability
Price: $35,900 with 50% deposit upon order. $12,950 for the optional AHA Tantalum bracelet
Availability: Delivery beginning Q2 2026
Limited Edition: 75 pieces for the first run
For more, click here.
