Bell Ross: Watches for Professionals

An RGM watch can be had starting at about $1,750, although themajority of the collection ranges from $4,500 to $26,000. Major watchcomplications, like its Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar orTourbillon, are the crown jewels of the collection exceeding $80,000to over $100,000. Even still, RGM is considered a bargain. Thequality of the $1,700 RGM watch matches that of many other brands'watches costing many times as much.And further:RGM watches are crafted in extremely small series of 18k yellow orrose gold, platinum, and stainless steel. They feature hand-finishedcases and such elements as engine-turned (guilloché) dials and blued-steel hands. In every case, they are of the highest quality in theirprice range. Most components are Swiss made although some modelsfeature American and Swiss made components. Every limited-editionwatch is individually numbered and signed.Their low-priced watches use Swiss movements from ETA, Valjoux, and ASchild. I was particularly entranced by the GMT Alarm (pictured here).Even their basic watches use high-grade movements that are finelydecorated.As amazing as it might sound, America used to be the preeminentwatch maker in the world in the pre World War II timeframe. Brandslike Hamilton, Elgin, Gruen, Benrus, and Illinois led the way inautomated production and railroad-grade watches, producing high-quality timepieces at a broad range of prices. Their decline can mainly be attributed to the quartzrevolution of the 1960s.I'm explaining a bit of history to give you some idea of how unusualRGM is. Roland GMurphy, based in Lancaster PA, makes and sells high-end and custommechanical watches for prices that are a lot less than the Swissmarques.