Born in the USA, Avoirdupois Debuts with the 100% American-Made Force Majeure Watch

We have exciting news from the United States, and it has nothing to do with the Trump Administration’s Swiss watch import tariffs or their recent reduction. Avoirdupois, a New York City-based brand founded in 2017 by designer/engineer James Stumpf, has expanded its product mix beyond retro-styled furniture and lighting products to include watches. Designed and manufactured in the brand’s vertically integrated downtown manufactory, all the way down to the hairspring, the new Avoirdupois Force Majeure surprises on all fronts. Characterised by a pragmatic monobloc steel case construction, an ingenious deployant clasp on the integrated bracelet, industrial design vibes, and a micro-rotor calibre, the 100% Made-in-Manhattan Force Majeure marks a new chapter in mechanical design for Avoirdupois.

For the past five years, Avoirdupois has been honing and prepping a section of its installations located in the Hudson Square neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan to produce watches. With import tariffs (now reduced to 15%) on Swiss watches in place, Avoirdupois’ timing is timely, to say the least.

Evidently proud of its American/Manhattan roots, one wonders why the brand name and inaugural watch have been christened with French names. Although the term “avoirdupois” has several meanings, it refers to a weighing system based on the pound (not the metric system), and true to its name, all the specifications of the watch on the website are posted in inches and feet.

At first glance, the inaugural Force Majeure wristwatch is a fresh take on the integrated bracelet sports watch crafted in steel. The slim, rounded square monobloc case and round bezel, measuring 38mm (1.50″) across, 6mm (0.24″) thick and 48mm (1.90″) lug-to-lug, features a prominent brushed finish, lending it an industrial vibe. The reasoning behind the one-piece monobloc design is, as the brand relates, to reduce the “traditional five + ingress points” of normal watches to “only three points for water ingress.” That being said, the water-resistance is a classic 150 feet or 50 metres.

In contrast to the grained finish, the bevel running along the two extremities of the middle case and the bezel has a brightly polished finish. Viewed laterally, there is a slight dip in the bezel, adding interest to the design. Also displaying brushed and polished finishes, the large crown has an 18k gold stem tube and a trademarked pump-action design.

The biggest surprise involves the integrated bracelet. Instead of a traditional clasp with “a protruding clasp system” at the end of a bracelet, the Force Majeure opens at the lugs. An ingenious design element, the openworked, wishbone-shaped deployant clasp is integrated on the underside of the case, creating a seamless, continuous flow of rectangular ingot-style links decorated with brushed and polished surfaces. Viewed from the reverse, the deployant wishbone clasp sits snuggly inside the case; each blade can be activated independently. The bracelet also features a novel, trademarked Snap-Link assembly, allowing the links to be detached without the need for tools.

Underscoring the industrial design vibe of the watch, the dial, available in vertically grained black or a grained golden dial with a fumé effect, has applied screw-shaped indices and double rectangular blocks at 12, 3 and 9 o’clock. A nice detail, the screws are oriented in the right direction. The baton hour and minute hands have a metal insert and a slightly openworked tip, but no trace of lume.

Proudly manufactured in-house in Manhattan, Avoirdepois explains its independent, self-sufficient American attitude regarding the movement. “When certain traditional components were found to be monopolized by foreign entities, we chose instead to reinvent the components themselves!” Developed entirely in the brand’s Manhattan manufactory, the automatic micro-rotor calibre AVDP.130.LB has an unusual frequency of 2.4Hz and stores a solid 60-hour power reserve. As a pragmatic American-made movement, it has just 47 components (excluding its 39 jewels) and is pending approval of 10 patents filed for its innovative “construction, simplicity, durability and manufacturability.” The 22k gold microrotor is decorated with a series of concentric grooves.

The Force Majeure 150 with a black dial is a limited edition of 550 pieces and retails for USD 12,950. The Force Majeure 150R with a golden fumé dial and an 18k gold mainplate with hand-finished components is limited to 75 pieces and retails for USD 24,950. Only available for shipping within the United States (other countries must arrange their own shipping service), a deposit of USD 10,000 for the black dial and USD 20,000 for the golden dial is required to secure a watch. Deliveries are anticipated no sooner than July 2026 and no later than December 2026.

More information at avoirdupois.com.