Review: the RGM Model 222-RR “Ferguson”
Words By Zach Kazan
This has been a great year for American watchmaking. It just feels like there’s an interest in watches made in America that I haven’t really observed in years past. There are a few reasons for this, I think, including the continued uncertainty regarding tariffs placed on imported watches from Switzerland and elsewhere, as well as a handful of brands that are doing some very interesting things here in the United States, and rethinking what defines “American watchmaking” to begin with. And while I’m genuinely very excited about new brands like Cornell, 5280, Typsim, and a variety of others that bring new ideas to the American watchmaking landscape and are indeed actively producing components for their timepieces in America, it’s worth reminding ourselves that some brands have been doing interesting things on these shores for years.
Roland Murphy is a legendary figure in contemporary American watchmaking, and for those of us celebrating a renewed interest in domestic watch manufacturing, Roland and his RGM brand need to be part of the conversation. RGM was founded in 1992, and Roland and his team have been consistently pushing the envelope forward in American watch production ever since. Based in Lancaster, PA (the historic home of Hamilton before the Swatch Group acquisition and a move to Switzerland) RGM produces a variety of watches that showcase American watchmaking in different ways. The catalog consists of watches with American made movements, dials decorated in-house (in a number of ways, including skeletonization and guilloche finishes), and American manufactured cases. Through it all, there is real focus on linking RGM’s modern production to American watchmaking history. These watches serve as wearable tributes to a proud tradition.
That’s arguably most evident in the Model 222-RR collection. These watches take antique pocket watch movements, rebuilt to a better than original state in terms of timekeeping and finish, and house them in an incredibly satisfying stainless steel case with dials made to evoke historic watches built for timing America’s expanding railroad networks over 100 years ago. I had a chance to wear the latest addition to the 222-RR collection with a “Ferguson Style” dial recently, and it’s a truly unique experience thanks to the nature of the pocket watch movement, and the offset dial and crown. If you ever want to feel truly connected to American watchmaking history, the best way is probably by owning an American made pocket watch. But the second best way might be to wear a watch like the 222-RR that makes creative use of an old movement.
The movement is the heart of the experience of the 222-RR so we’ll start there. It’s a Hamilton 10-sized pocket watch movement (a grade 921 or 923) that is rebuilt by RGM using as many like-new parts as possible. The nice thing, of course, about American pocket watches is that brands like Hamilton made them in the millions, and while certainly many have not survived the last century in a condition that would allow parts to be used in a modern watch made for daily use, watchmakers have access to to enough parts and various components to ensure that something like the 222-RR can be made to the high standards set by RGM. That said, not all movement components are sourced from vintage pieces – the mainsprings used on the 222-RR, for example, are new. The entire movement is overhauled and refinished by a single watchmaker, and the end result is a beautiful piece of work that I found myself frequently finding excuses to look at. It’s also a lot of fun to operate, and has a heavy and satisfying winding and setting feel that is entirely different from any modern watch you’re likely to have experienced.
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The dial of this 222-RR is referred to by RGM as a “Ferguson Style Dial”. It’s modeled after a specific type of aftermarket dial first produced in 1908 by the O’Hara Dial Company in Waltham, MA for L. B. Ferguson of Monroe, LA, who held a patent on the dial. It’s characterized by an inner 12 hour track in bright red, and outer minute track with large numerals at five minute intervals. The hour hand is a matching red and shorter than hour hands used for other dials as it’s designed to meet the edge of the inner sector precisely. The dial is large enough that all numerals can be effectively oversized, and it’s extremely legible. The Ferguson dial is grand feu enamel and has a rich depth and fantastic contrast between the white surface and red and black text.
As you can see clearly in our photos, the dial and crown are offset to the right. RGM explains that they chose to build the watch in this way to keep the orientation of the crown consistent with the 12:00 position as well as the subsidiary seconds register at 6:00. They also claim to take design inspiration from WWI era trench watches, which had a similar configuration and were often built from converted pendant watches made for women. RGM insists that the 222-RR is not inspired by the Vacheron Constantin 1921, nor is it conceived as a “driver’s watch.” Rather, it’s part of a tradition of wrist watches with offset dials from the early part of the 20th century – a design characteristic that was actually quite a bit more common than many might realize.
Wearing a watch configured in such a way takes some getting used to, but honestly not as much as you might think. This configuration is designed to be worn on the left wrist, but as a lefty I always wear my watches on my right wrist, including the 222-RR sample. It took me no more than a few hours to adjust to reading the time from a slightly askew angle, and while I don’t think there’s an inherent benefit to the offset dial in terms of reading the time, it’s not something that would be a dealbreaker for me either if I loved everything else about the watch (this watch, or any other watch with a similar layout). The clear contrast between the red hour track and the black minute track on the dial’s perimeter also helps draw the eye where it needs to be to get the time at a quick glance.
Another factor that might mitigate any difficulty in time telling due to dial configuration is the case itself, which measures 41mm in diameter, 12mm tall, and 52mm from lug to lug. That lug to span is really the measurement, as is the lug width of 22mm, both of which contribute to a watch with a ton of what we in the trade like to call “wrist presence.” This watch wears larger than the dimensions would indicate, and represents the somewhat rare case where that’s actually a good thing, as it highlights the incredibly high quality of every component. The case is beautifully machined with a mirror polish, and as you’d expect it’s sized to perfectly fit the vintage movement, which takes up the entirety of the caseback. There’s also something fun about wearing a watch made from something old that is unapologetically contemporary in its size.
The retail price of the 222-RR “Ferguson” is $8,950 with a 921 movement, or $9,950 with a rarer and higher jewel count 923 movement. That is, of course, an expensive watch by any measure, and I’m not here to tell anyone that this represents a great value proposition, or anything like that. But I will say that I don’t feel like the watch is overpriced, given the quality of the dial, the case, and the meticulous rehabilitation of the vintage movement, which likely looks better today than it did when it came out of the Hamilton factory. You’re paying a premium as well for decades of experience that Roland Murphy imbues into every watch coming out of RGM, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a certain kind of collector, perhaps one who is particularly focused on American watchmaking and its history, would be willing to pay a premium to be connected to that history in a fairly direct way by an important American watchmaker. RGM