Who We Are

"Our passion for aviation, adventure, and exploration drives everything we do. We are proud to be an American company crafting small quantities of precision watches in Switzerland for those with a sense of adventure who push boundaries and expand the envelope."

Time began for Hadley Rille in 2020 when we set out to create a timeless and rugged pilot’s watch. Inspired by my love of aviation and vintage aircraft and all precision instruments. Everybody needs a great watch and as a new pilot I was no exception. I became fascinated with classic pilot’s watches and set out to create a contemporary yet timeless pilot watch that my aviation heroes would have been proud to wear. Hadley Rille was born out of my admiration for the pioneers and a deep appreciation for the precision engineering and craftsmanship that took man from Kittyhawk to the Moon in less than a century. We started with a sketchbook and a clear vision, to create a precision tool watch fit for any occasion from the cockpit to the town. Our watches combine robust durability and high grade finishing with the heritage and spirit of adventure. Our watches are crafted by hand, in small numbers in Bienne, Switzerland.

Tom Reilly, Hadley Rille President

Our Pillars

Exploration and Adventure

We believe that limits are for others but not us. We provide precision tool watches for explorers and adventurers who push their limits in every environment from the mountains, to the ocean and beyond the bounds of our planet.

Spirit

Our Spirit is an attribute and an attitude. It is an uncompromising pursuit of excellence. It is a sense of adventure, exploration, and desire to push the boundaries of what is possible. An ambition to cut a new path and an eagerness to utilize all of one’s skill sets to get there. The arrogance to believe, the confidence to act, and the humility to achieve. Times change but our Spirit remains intrepid.

Swiss Made

When a watch is labeled Swiss Made, it means that its technical development, manufacture, production, and assembly are all completed to exacting standards established by Swiss law.

Swiss Made is a title that represents a legacy of exacting standards and quality. This label exemplifies craftsmanship, unrivaled accuracy, and unparalleled reliability. For those who aspire to push the limits, Swiss Made is the only option.

Our watches are meticulously manufactured, assembled, and tested in Bienne, Switzerland.

Aviation

Aviation and time have been inextricably linked from the beginning. Our watches are designed to perform in the unforgiving environments of high G and high altitude flight and extreme pressures of undersea depths. Our watches are tools trusted by professionals who go and do.

The Name Hadley Rille

In 1730 John Hadley invented the Hadley Quadrant, a double reflector precision instrument used for nautical navigation. Hadley’s Quadrant was a trusted tool for explorers and adventurers alike to navigate their vessels safely to destinations around the world.

John Hadley pushed the boundaries throughout his professional life. Hadley was a respected inventor and mathematician. He made significant improvements in accuracy and power to the reflecting telescope for use in astronomy.

To commemorate his contributions to science and exploration Hadley Rille, a steep-walled valley that winds 100km across the surface of the moon, was named in his honor on the lunar surface. The rille was formed by ancient lava flows early in the Moon’s history and is believed to be one of the most geologically significant lunar regions.

In July 1971, American astronauts gazed down into the unexplored rille for the first time. Hadley’s passion for exploration and adventure laid the foundation for exploring the far reaches of Earth and beyond. This same passion propels Hadley Rille today.

The Hadley Rille Watches Story

Where to start when staring at a blank page? This was a question I first had when the vision to build a watch company grew. It was an exciting prospect, creating a story that had not yet been written. The possibilities were endless but the objective was clear, to create mechanical watches centered around quality, craftsmanship, and precision.

An early Hadley Rille case sketch.

I never set out to become a watch collector but by the time I was a teenager I had developed a carefully curated selection of watches and a deep fascination and wonder for horology. Put simply I had a passion for fine watchmaking. The pillars of great timepieces that stood out to me then stand out to me now: the stories, the detailed craftsmanship, and the timelessness of their designs.

In the rear cockpit of a 1944 SNJ-5 at age 12.

Flight captured my imagination at a young age. It wasn’t a matter of if I would become a pilot but developing patience until I was old enough to be certified. Throughout my childhood my goals focused on adventure. The exhilarating feeling of tearing through the sky in an aircraft and even leaving the bounds of Earth on a rocket captured my imagination and set the course of my life. I had dreams of traveling to the South Pacific and the arctic to recover and restore rare vintage military aircraft abandoned to the depths of time long ago. The pilots, who flew those planes, became my heroes. I collected the watches that they wore: durable, purpose built, precision instruments. My heroes used these watches to track the time and make time count. When these pilots shattered the limits of what was possible in flight, their watches were there to witness it, right on time. Tom Wolfe captured the essence of this in his landmark book The Right Stuff:

“The wristwatches had about two thousand calibrations on them and dials for recording everything short of the sound of enemy guns. These terrific wristwatches were practically fraternal insignia among the pilots." (Wolfe, The Right Stuff).

The Right Stuff: Test Pilots and Apollo 8 Astronauts Anders, Borman, and Lovell (Photo Credit: NASA)

I first flew solo when I was 16 years old nearly a year before I ever drove an automobile alone and I earned my private pilot certificate soon after at 17. Since then, I’ve accumulated experience in a variety of aircraft, weather and to destinations that I only dreamed of as a child. There is still plenty more for me to master, I am constantly learning and expanding my knowledge and capabilities.

First solo at 16 years old.

Just returned from solo in T-6 Texan II years later.

I worked to learn the complexities of watches and assembled several of my own. As I refined my taste, I set about to design a watch my heroes would have been proud to wear, the first watch for what would become Hadley Rille Watches. Hadley Rille is the namesake of a geographic feature on the moon named after English astronomer John Hadley. The rille is somewhat mysterious; it was formed early in the Moon’s history and is believed to be one of the most geologically significant lunar regions unlocking a glimpse into the origin of the Moon and our own planet, Earth. Are you intrigued? This concept grew into the inspiration for Hadley Rille Watches. Our namesake, from beyond our world and the inspiration for our brand, embodies our inspiration from flight and the durability and precision that is required of professional tools in these environments.

From the earliest days of Hadley Rille, I knew that I wanted to build a respected brand crafting dependable mechanical watches capable of performing in the rigorous environments that professionals operate in. I wanted our watches to be classically designed and carefully constructed to stay on time while still being handsomely knocked around. My focus was to develop my designs in Switzerland and in working with some of the most renowned watchmakers in the business we manufactured watches earning the coveted “Swiss Made” designation, a testament to the quality of our watches.

Hadley Rille Escadrille 43

Emerging as a new luxury Swiss watch brand is easier said than done. The history of watch brands currently in business stretch back centuries; their catalogs are a testament to a focus on quality and incremental improvement over the years. So how does a brand break through? By providing a quality offering. It sounds so simple, but there are challenges. Inventory for a production run of our watches comes with expenses in six figures in advance. Additionally, there are considerable production lead times to contend with. More importantly however, is that getting the word out about who we are and what we are creating takes time, and a lot of sweat equity. From the beginning we have been focused on building Hadley Rille the right way. We could have taken an easier path, making lower quality watches but that would have been easier. We began with a commitment to great watches and that will not change. We could have compromised our standards but then our story wouldn’t be great. We are just getting started. The introduction of the Field Concept 01 is our next step.