"Shinnola watches are powered by a mechanical system of hand-assembled quartz components, and when it came to assembling those motors in America, we couldn't imagine any city other than Detroit," says Jacques Panis, president of Shinola. We spoke with him during his visit to Japan for the official launch of the brand.

Click here for the Isetan Online Store Shinola special page.
Shinola products are also available for purchase at Mitsukoshi Isetan's luxury online store, "NOREN NOREN".

Jax Panisse, President of Shinola

The aspirations entrusted to Shinola, a company that aims to realize "big ideas in a small size."

—First, could you tell us the origin of the name Shinola?

Shinola was a small manufacturer of shoe polish wax that was founded in New York in 1907. During World War II, it became so popular that American soldiers kept Shinola shoe polish wax in their backpacks, and it even made an appearance in the 1973 film "Jerk."

Prior to its launch in Japan in May, it was unveiled to the press in mid-April.

—So it's a really popular name in America.

Shinola disappeared in the 1960s, but older generations will know that its name originated from shoe polishing. We chose this name for our new company as a tribute to this long-forgotten, historic brand and the "American integrity" embodied in its name. Like the original Shinola, we believe it's a perfect name for an American manufacturer that starts as a "small company that brings big ideas to life."

"Runwell" 89,640 yen each . Purchase here.

Experienced personnel in the manufacturing industry and a partnership with Ronda, Switzerland.

—We don't associate America with watchmaking today, so why did you focus on wrist statistics?

First, we received cooperation from Mr. Eric of Ronda AG, a world-class mechanical equipment manufacturer based in Switzerland and known in the watch industry as a leader in the field of high-precision quartz mechanical devices. Mr. Eric, a Swiss national over 60 years old with whom we had a personal friendship, introduced factory equipment of the same standard as in Switzerland to Detroit, and at the same time supervised the training of the craftsmen.

Detroit has a large pool of people with experience in automobile manufacturing, so starting in 2012, we gradually hired around 350 people with that background, and 200 of them became employees working in the manufacturing department. Even now, half of them are involved in the production of watches.


--In Japan, when people think of Detroit, the news that the city filed for bankruptcy is what comes to mind.

I get asked that question a lot (laughs). Detroit filed for bankruptcy in December 2013 after its stable employment and tax revenue base was shaken, but even now, Detroit and its surrounding areas are home to the headquarters of GM, Ford, and Chrysler, and the automotive industry thrives. Certainly, there was a time when it shone as an iconic city of the automotive industry, but of course, Detroit has a future. It still has many skilled craftsmen and remains a mecca for manufacturing throughout America.

This is also one of the reasons why, when we considered manufacturing arm statistics in Shinola, we couldn't think of any city other than Detroit. Detroit has an environment that is suitable for manufacturing.