A New Dawn for the American Field Watch
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Watchmaker Velarde begins in New Mexico.
Inspired by the life and legacy of Rodolfo Velarde, a northern New Mexico rancher and community leader, each watch draws from the places, symbols, and stories that have shaped this region for generations.
From red and green chile set against adobe brown, to the Zia and Albuquerque’s unmistakable balloon-filled skies, the details are familiar by design.
These are watches made with a sense of place.
Built to be worn. Made to carry a story.
May 26, 1903. August 29, 2024.
Two dates separated by more than a century, but connected by one story.
May 26, 1903, was the birth of my grandfather, Rodolfo “Rudolph” Velarde. August 29, 2024, was the day Watchmaker Velarde LLC was founded.
In many ways, this company began long before that second date.
My grandfather’s life was rooted in northern New Mexico. He was a sheep and cattle rancher, a businessman, and someone who believed deeply in the place he called home. In Cuba, New Mexico, formerly known as Nacimiento, he worked the land, traded with neighboring communities, raised a family, and gave his time and energy to helping a small rural community move forward.
It is also an homage to my grandfather and to the kind of life he lived:
useful, hardworking, rooted in place, and connected to something larger than himself.
His life would take him from cattle and sheep in northern New Mexico to Geneva, Switzerland, where he traveled to speak about his role in helping establish the Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative. That contrast has always stayed with me. A life grounded in ranching, family, hard work, and community could also reach far beyond the high desert.
That is part of what I want Watchmaker Velarde to carry.
I grew up surrounded by the colors, textures, and stories of this place. Adobe and weathered wood. Red and green chile. Leather, wool, open range, mountain light, and skies that seem to go on forever. These things were never a design trend to me. They were simply part of life.
Years later, as I began making watches, I found myself returning to them.
Watchmaker Velarde is my way of bringing those memories into something tangible. Each watch begins with a connection to New Mexico, whether it comes through color, landscape, history, a familiar symbol, or a story passed from one generation to another.
I do not want to simply reproduce the past or turn New Mexico into decoration. I want to make watches that feel honest to where they come from, while creating something that can be worn, used, and carried into the future.
That is where this story begins.
Welcome to Watchmaker Velarde.