Television presenter Jeremy Clarkson spotted wearing a Shinola

Jeremy Clarkson, the automotive journalist and Grand Tour co-host known for championing British industry while gleefully skewering pretension, was recently spotted behind the wheel wearing a Shinola Canfield Chronograph in pine green — a watch that occupies a genuinely interesting position in the modern market, straddling accessible American manufacturing pride and legitimate watchmaking credentials.

The Shinola Canfield Chronograph features a 43mm case finished in black PVD coating, lending it a tool-watch seriousness that contrasts productively with the rich pine green lacquered dial. The layout is clean and legible: Arabic numerals, two white subsidiary dials at 9 and 3 o'clock for the chronograph registers, and a date window at 6. The dark brown leather strap completes a palette that is cohesive without being showy. Critically, the watch runs on the Argonite 5021, a Swiss-sourced movement assembled in Shinola's Detroit facility — a detail the brand prints directly on the dial as a statement of manufacturing transparency.

Shinola was founded in Detroit in 2011, deliberately positioning itself as a revival of American watchmaking. The brand sources Swiss movements and trains American workers to assemble them — a model that has attracted both admiration and criticism, but has proved commercially durable. The Canfield line sits at the more serious end of the range, with the chronograph variant aimed at buyers who want function alongside the brand's lifestyle narrative.

For Clarkson, whose public persona involves an almost theatrical suspicion of affectation, Shinola is a logical choice. It is not a status watch, not a Swiss prestige piece, and carries no auction cachet — which may be precisely the point. A man who has long argued that things should be judged on what they do rather than what they cost wearing a $650 American-assembled chronograph is entirely consistent.

On the grey market, the Canfield Chronograph trades close to retail, reflecting steady but unspeculative demand. It will never be a collector trophy, but it earns its place on the wrist through honest design and functional intent — qualities Clarkson himself might reluctantly approve of.