Made for a schooner
Towson's founders met as sailors in Annapolis. The Pride II is their watch for the Pride of Baltimore II, the topsail schooner that sails the world as Maryland's goodwill ambassador, and the SKIPJACK GMT is named for the Bay's oyster boats.
Two sailors and a watch company
George Thomas and Hartwig Balke met in an Irish pub in Annapolis. “We met in a pub in Annapolis, Galway Bay, after sailing,” Balke recalls.
Sailors' small talk turned to high-grade mechanical watches. Before the evening ended and they went back to their boats, they made a promise: “We have to meet again.” Thomas was a master watchmaker who restored antique timepieces for museums. Balke was a mechanical engineer. They founded Towson Watch Company in 1998 and went on sailing together.
The Chesapeake named much of what followed. “We have our Skipjack, Bay Pilot, Choptank, Potomac models,” Balke said of the search for the next one. “Then all of a sudden, because I'm a sailor and I like ships, I thought of the Pride of Baltimore. It's absolutely beautiful.”
The Pride of Baltimore II
Baltimore's shipyards built the fast schooners known as Baltimore Clippers, which made their name in the War of 1812. The Pride of Baltimore II is a reproduction Baltimore Clipper, successor to the original Pride of Baltimore launched in 1977.
“Fast and capable, they sailed boldly,” says Jan Miles, the ship's captain. “American seamanship was not hampered by traditionalism.”
The watch began with the Towson shield. When designer Patrick Ayoub redrew it, Balke saw something else: “That's a nice shape. That could be a watch case.” The five-radius triangular case took years to engineer so that an ETA 2892-A2 automatic could be fitted inside it.
Balke took the idea to Pride of Baltimore, Inc., the non-profit that operates the ship. The caseback engraving is drawn from a photograph by Bill McAllen, the ship's longtime chronicler, and the crown is shaped after a sailboat winch. Balke calls the Pride II the watch he is proudest of.
Pride II
Two references are available now and ship in 2–4 weeks. Each watch is numbered, assembled and regulated in Maryland, and carries a two-year warranty.
Five-radius triangular case, winch-shaped crown, and the ship engraved on the caseback. An edition of 100.
The same triangular case with a black dial and the ship engraved on the caseback. An edition of 100.
Named for the Bay's oyster boats
Skipjacks are the Chesapeake Bay's sailing workboats, built from the late 1800s to dredge oysters. They sail today as a symbol of the Bay's seafaring past.
Towson's SKIPJACK is a watch for two clocks at once: a 40.5 mm steel GMT on the Swiss ETA 2893-2 automatic, with an independently adjustable 24-hour hand and a case with coined sides. George Thomas designed it and Hartwig Balke built it. Balke traces it to sailing with Thomas, and recalls that the first pieces were built in earlier Mission cases.
Both editions are complete. A retired reference is not remade, and every SKIPJACK is still serviced in Baltimore.
One bay, separate watches
The Chesapeake runs through the whole catalog, but each collection is its own watch, with its own case, its own movement and its own purpose. This is where each name comes from, and how the watches differ.
Every reference
The Pride II and the SKIPJACK GMT, edition by edition. In a Towson reference the letters name the model, -2 marks a Second Edition, and the last letter is the dial: S for silver, B for black. A retired reference is not remade.
Made for the Pride of Baltimore II. 100 numbered pieces per dial color, in production today.
Named for the Chesapeake Bay's skipjacks. A 40.5 mm steel GMT on the Swiss ETA 2893-2 automatic, designed by George Thomas and built by Hartwig Balke, in silver or black.
Applied Roman numerals and an independently adjustable 24-hour hand, with sapphire crystal front and back.