A family name and a mark carried from the ranch to the watchmaking bench.
Why Velarde
Watchmaker Velarde was established in January 2023 by New Mexico maker John “Juan” Velarde-Brandt. The name honors his grandfather, Rodolfo Felipe “Rudy” Velarde, and the northern New Mexico history that shaped their family.
Precision from Around the World. A Spirit Rooted in New Mexico.
Watchmaker Velarde brings together trusted Swiss, Japanese, and American movements with designs born in northern New Mexico. Each timepiece is designed and assembled here, drawing inspiration from ranching traditions, multicultural heritage, and a landscape shaped by leather, dust, open range, and dark skies. These are watches that carry a distinct sense of place—made to be worn wherever life takes you.The Velarde Mark
Rudy raised sheep and cattle near Cuba, New Mexico, formerly known as Nacimiento. His livestock carried a distinctive mark: a V enclosed in a circle, with a separate bar to the right. On the ranch, the mark identified the animals as Velarde cattle. It connected the work to the family name behind it.
John has carried that same mark into work of his own. Today, it is burned into wood and leather and used throughout Watchmaker Velarde. What once identified the work of a New Mexico ranch now identifies the work of a New Mexico watchmaker.
A Name With Responsibility
John chose the Velarde name as a tribute, but also as a standard. Rudy believed in useful work, keeping one’s word, and helping the people around him. Those values give the name its weight.
Watchmaker Velarde does not try to recreate Rudy’s life. It carries something from it forward: pride in work done carefully, respect for where that work comes from, and responsibility for what bears your name.
“The mark has moved from the ranch to the watchmaking bench, but it still says the same thing: this is Velarde work.”
— John "Juan" Velarde-Brandt
