I have always felt that Shinola makes some nice looking watches. Having said that, and having also spoken with manh owners of Shinola watches (and briefly owning one myself) I feel that many of Shinola's proud customers have been misled to varying degrees.

First, let me get this out before I go any further. It is a nice looking watch, that's for sure. If you're happy with it, that is just about all that matters. You may already know all of what I am about to say, but I am leaving it here in case others are unaware.

The first misconception that I hear frequently from Shinola owners is that they are "good" watches. Shinola is not marketed towards people who know watches. They are marketed to people who don't know much about watches but want something nice on their wrist.

Shinola uses cheap Quartz movements in their watches. Other brands in the same price range use quality, expensive mechanical movements. Nomos, Stowa. Hamilton, Weiss, Seiko, etc. all make quality mechanical timepieces at prices ranging from considerably lower than Shinola to somewhat higher (but all have models in the similar price range).

Shinola customers often think that they are buying a handcrafted watch made by a single person in the USA. Their marketing conjures up images of the good old way of doing things. Their watches even come with a metal tag that says the name of the person who built your watch. Stephen Mihoc if I remember correctly. Well, Stephen Mihoc did not build your watch and the Shinola rep on reddit admitted to this.

Shinola's marketing uses the phrase "Built in Detroit" because saying "Made in Detroit" would be illegal. Their watch components are mostly made in Asia and movement parts are partially Swiss (strap and dial are made in U.S. apparently). They are shipped to Detroit and screwed together by an assembly line of low wage workers. Not artisans. Not skilled craftsmen. Not watchmaster Stephen Mihoc. An assembly line of low wage workers. Sure, bringing jobs in Detroit is great and all, but we are talking a tremednosuly small number of workers who are not paid well. It doesn't help that Shinola uses this small group of workers as fodder for their marketing.

Remember, Shinola is having people screw together cheap Chinese and other foreign parts in Detroit, slapping on a U.S. made dial, saying the thing was built in Detroit, as misleading as they know it is to say that, telling customers that their watch was made by Stephen Mihoc when they know it wasn't, and charging as much for it as you can buy a real watch with expensive parts and no bullshit for.