Six people, one room above a sail loft

We assemble, regulate, test and service every Middlewatch on the second floor of 212 Commercial Street in Portland, Maine. The windows face the harbor, which is less romantic in February than it sounds.

Empty workshop with three watchmaker benches under tall windows over the harbor

How a second mate ended up building watches

Maren Lindqvist spent six years as second mate on product tankers, which meant standing the 12-to-4 twice a day: midnight to 4 and noon to 4. On the bridge at 3 a.m., the watch on her wrist mattered more than she expected. Most of the ones she tried glowed brightly for an hour and then went dim, and the logo printed across the dial didn’t help.

She came ashore in 2016, took a two-year watchmaking course and spent three years servicing other people’s watches in Portland. Middlewatch started in 2019 with one design: a dial built to be read at 3 a.m., with nothing on it that didn’t help.

Batch 1 was 150 watches, assembled at a kitchen table on Munjoy Hill. It sold out in 11 weeks. The room on Commercial Street came with batch 2, and so did Theo.

We still make one batch at a time. It is slower than keeping stock, and it means a reference is sometimes sold out for months. It also means every watch has been through the same six pairs of hands, and the card in the box says whose.

Batch 1 was 150 watches, assembled at a kitchen table on Munjoy Hill. It sold out in 11 weeks. The room on Commercial Street came with batch 2, and so did Theo.

Every watch takes the same six steps

This is the path every Middlewatch takes, in order. Nothing is outsourced after the parts arrive.

01

Movement check

Maren

Sellita ships movements in trays of 50. Each one goes on the timegrapher in five positions before anything else and is regulated to −2 to +6 seconds a day. About 20 minutes each.

02

Dial and hands

Theo

Theo fits the dial and sets the hands under a loupe. The 12-to-4 arc has to start within half a millimeter of the 12 index, or the dial goes back to the printer.

03

Casing

Theo

Movement into the case, crown fitted, caseback closed with the batch and serial number engraved. Two hours for a Middle 39, a full day for a chronograph.

04

Pressure test

Ruth

An hour at 25 bar, then a condensation test on a hot plate. 14 of our first 1,000 watches failed here and were rebuilt.

05

Second rate check

Maren

Back on the timegrapher. Anything that drifted more than 3 seconds a day since the first check gets opened up again.

06

Packing

Ines

Bracelet sized to the note in your order, sailcloth strap, strap tool and the test card Ruth signed. UPS collects at 3 p.m., so most orders leave the same day.

The crew list

Every watch ships with a card that names who regulated it, who cased it and who tested it.

Founder, regulation

2019

Maren Lindqvist

Second mate on product tankers from 2010 to 2016. Regulates every movement before it’s cased. Still wakes up at 11:45 p.m. most nights.

Assembly

2020

Theo Achebe

Fits the dials and hands and cases every watch. Builds the chronographs, a full day each.

Finishing and testing

2021

Ruth Saldana

Brushes the cases and runs every pressure test. Has failed 14 of our first 1,000 watches, all before they shipped.

Orders and owners

2021

Ines Carvalho

Answers the email, packs every box and writes the card inside it.

Service bench

2022

Jonah Petit

Handles every service and repair. Spent 11 years at a jeweler’s repair counter in Boston before this.

Straps

2023

Sam Whitcomb

Cuts the sailcloth straps from sails retired by Hollis Sails, the loft downstairs.

The brick building on Commercial Street at dusk, sail loft doors open on the ground floor, workshop windows lit above

Visit the workshop

Thursday and Saturday, 10 to 4, by appointment. Email us a day and a time and we’ll confirm within a working day. Bring your watch: Jonah will check the rate and the gaskets while you’re here, free.

Address

212 Commercial Street, second floor, Portland, ME 04101

Door

Ring the bell marked Middlewatch. The door on the left is the sail loft.

Parking

Ocean Gateway garage on Fore Street, a six-minute walk

Email to book a visit

Open in Google Maps