While I am known as a flagrant non rule follower at least on here, in an effort to make @Warren Money and others "Happy" I am going to follow the 3 day new watch rule. Today's post will be more about the specs of the watch, as yesterday was about the emotion and the story in being able to add it to the collection. The RGM x Teddy Baldassarre Model 501. This is the second run of the collaboration; I was told by Teddy’s team that the first run was 25 pieces and this second run was 20 pieces, with some differences between the two that I’m working on getting documented in writing. Mine is from the 2026 batch and came with the full RGM/Teddy kit and certificate. The watch is built by RGM Watch Co. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Roland G. Murphy’s independent American watch company. RGM is one of the few American makers still strongly associated with traditional watchmaking craft, especially engine-turned/guilloché dials, traditional case work, and historically inspired mechanical watch design. The Model 501-Teddy uses a 39mm stainless-steel case, roughly 48mm lug-to-lug, 20mm lug width, and 50 meters of water resistance, putting it very much in the refined dress-watch category. The dial is really the soul of the watch. It has a blue galvanic, hand-guilloché style dial with a traditional layout: central hours/minutes, small seconds at 6, Breguet-style numerals, and a stepped vintage-inspired case profile. It has that old-world American watchmaking feel without looking like a pure reproduction. It is dressy, but not sterile. The movement is the Schwarz Etienne ASE 200, which is a Swiss manufacture automatic micro-rotor caliber. So while this is not one of RGM’s in-house American movements, it is not a generic outsourced movement either. Schwarz Etienne is a legitimate Swiss manufacture, and the ASE 200 is a high-grade movement with a micro-rotor architecture, visible through the display back. The micro-rotor gives you automatic winding while leaving much more of the movement architecture visible than a full central rotor would.

The sunlight reflection on the case makes the stainless steel look rose gold, so I had to take a pic! Even though the bracelet is a winner, this beauty has been living on the strap and will be staying there for a long time to come!

Today is a proud day. As a Watch collector, I have been wanting to find a watch that spoke to me that was made in the USA. There are not many watch makers left especially ones that make their own m movements and dials etc. About 6 months ago I saw the video on Teddy Baldassarre's Youtube Chanel about a watch he designed with Roland Murphy from RGM watches. I had come across RGM a few years ago, but I had wanted to go visit him before I purchased anything. Of course how life happens, it hadn't happened. When I saw Teddy's video I was felt like I was struck by lightning! This watch spoke to me like very few others in my collection. Some speak to me because of the Heirlooms that they are, Some speak to me because of their place in History like the moon watches, Some are just so stunning to me that I can't think about anything else. (This is one of the Stunners). When I make a purchase of this size I try to have it linked to a special moment in my life and this does that. My wife and I celebrated an expansion in our business and when something like that happens we each pick something special to commemorate the event. I generally go to watches and to be fair so does she! 😎. After the video I went on Teddy's site only to find out they were sold out before they even became available and before the video went live. They were only making 25! I was disappointed, but hit the "Notify Me" button just in case someone backed out. A couple of months go by and my cell phone rings and it is AJ from Teddy Baldassarre's.😳. He proceeds to tell me that they had decided to make another 20. They would be slightly different than the original 25 and they had 2 left and would I like one? 😎 I immediately said YES! Without talking to my wife. A dangerous play for sure, but she very rarely says no to me and she had loved the watch when I had showed it to her when it was sold out, so it was a gamble I decided to take. When I got home and told her about the phone call, I asked her if she thought I should get it? She said "If you don't call them right now and order it I WILL"!!