Visiting Lovell Hunter's Atelier

Late last year, I had a chance to visit a truly special space in the United States: the workshop of an independent American watchmaker.

Lovell Hunter showing components on a bench in his workshop. Photo Credit: Lovell Hunter's YouTube channel.

I've written about Lovell Hunter before, I posted my first story about Lovell right here on Horolonomics. There, I described his career as a watchmaker for Breitling and his decisions to strike out on his own and launch an independent brand called Love Hunter Watches. Lovell and I have kept in touch since then and he periodically reaches out to share updates on the progress of his watch design as well as other updates regarding his brand.

At one point, Lovell invited me to visit his workshop, which is located in Connecticut's Naugatuck River Valley. The location couldn't be more appropriate given that "Brass City," aka Waterbury, is located on the northern portion of the valley. Brass has historically, and presently, been a popular metal for fashioning watch and clock components suck as wheels and other movement parts. While Waterbury is no longer the center of brass production in the United States, at one time convenient access to brass drew clockmakers like Terry & Andrews to the Naugatuck Valley. From this perspective, Lovell's workshop represents a rebirth of watchmaking in western Connecticut.

When I entered the lobby of Lovell's workshop, I was greeted by a replica Eiffel tower built from Legos. I'm not certain I've seen a Lego construction that large short of the sculpture-esque pieces assembled by Master Builders. It seemed fitting in many ways.

Lovell's workshop has three sections past the lobby. The first is an area for assembly, design, and photography of his work. Here you find a number of watchmaker's benches, which are the hallmark of any serious workshop.

Two plates and a crown manufactured by Lovell. Perlage finishing is well excuted here and the knurling detail on the crown evokes FP Journe's crowns. Also included is bar stock from Lovell's workshop.

The next section is where Lovell has two lathes for making blank parts. This area also holds a number of machines for finishing work, including polishing and brushwork. Alongside one wall in this area is a library of books on watchmaking.

The final section of Lovell's workshop is more isolated than the others, for good reason. It is here that Lovell "makes chips," ie does precision machining of parts using relatively heavy equipment.

Lovell operating his high precision mill.

He has three Schaublin lathes in this part of the workshop. He previously installed some of his lathes in a basement workshop, which is a challenging feat given how heavy they are. Alongside the lathes, Lovell has two high precision milling machines. He spent a little time using one of them while I was visiting his workshop.

In addition to Lovell's continued work on his first timepiece, he is also dedicated to the transmission of watchmaking skills. I met one of his apprentices during my visit, who was clearly directly engaged in the process of machining parts. Lovell also teaches students at a number of local institutions.

Lovell is acquiring additional watchmaking skills even as he finishes his first timepiece. One day, as I was scrolling through Instagram, I saw him in a photo taken at the California workshop of legendary independent American watchmaker Josh Shapiro. There, Lovell participated in a one week workshop on finishing by watchmaker Philippe Narbel, who worked for eight years with Audemars Piguet in Switzerland.

Lovell is close to completing his first timepiece, a moment I am very much looking forward to. In the meantime, he does have a Gofundme campaign set up in case any of my readers are interested in supporting his dream of establishing an independent top-tier watchmaking brand in the United States. On the Gofundme page, you'll also find a YouTube video in which Lovell gives a guided tour of his workshop.

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