The Liberty & Independence Project
Swiss Engine. American Frame. Mission Ready.
The 39% tariff doesn’t apply to us—because we were never dependent in the first place.
Whether you’ve dropped your goggles down before stepping off an Osprey, ridden domestic or international as a commercial passenger, or spent your time in the left seat of your own G-series aircraft, you know the feel of a Rolls-Royce engine in an American airframe. The engine may be the best in the world, but the airframe is what carries the mission.
That’s how we think about Swiss movements: they’re the best mechanical engines in the world, and they belong inside the best operational mission timer in the world. Everything around them—the case, the crown, the dial, the strap, the service system—is built here, by us, with intent.
The Tariff Just Proved the Point
As of August 7, Swiss watches imported into the U.S. will face a 39% tariff—up from 10%.
That’s not just a pricing issue. It’s a systems issue. A credibility issue. A sovereignty issue.
Most Swiss brands are reacting the only way they can: raising prices, tightening supply, or knowing their buyers will notice but quietly hoping they won’t care.
At ARES, we aren’t adjusting, apologizing, or slowing down. We’ve been building toward independence from day one, because we saw the dependency and fragility long before the tariffs hit.
What We Built—and Why It Matters Now
In founding ARES in 2018, I took the road less traveled and chose to build an American watch manufacturing company, not just a watch-branding company. We cut, shape, and finish our steel in machine shops in and around our hometown. We finish, coat, and spray timers in our own shop, sew our straps with a partner a few blocks down Main Street, and build every timer and handle every call and email ourselves.
At ARES, you can shake the hand of the person who machined and built your watch—not just thank a clerk who sold it to you.
The Sunk Narrative Fallacy
Here’s the truth about much of the watch world today:
People are still chasing a story that hasn’t been true in years. They’re chasing the logo. The scarcity games. The boutique lighting and glass displays.
And then they’re getting in their car, driving to the mall, or walking a few blocks over to the boutique, and spending $10,000 on a mass-produced item sitting in a lightbox — all for the comfort of mall-brand prestige.
It’s what I call the sunk narrative fallacy—paying more because you’ve already bought-in too much, doubling down on an old story because it’s the one you’ve been selling yourself. It’s the emotional cousin of the sunk cost fallacy, but instead of throwing good money after bad, you’re throwing belief after branding.
"I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull's ass, but I'd rather take a butcher's word for it." — Tommy Boy
Some people enjoy that boutique experience — the polished floors, the champagne, the aloofness, the waitlists — and that’s fine if that’s what they’re buying.
We build for a different customer. The one who’d rather skip the staged show and talk to the butcher. The one who can meet the person who made their watch, experience how it was built, and know it’s backed for life.
If that’s you, you already know where you belong.
The Liberty & Independence Project
From now through July 4, 2026, we are building two American mission timers with one goal: complete sovereignty in American watchmaking. Your Buy-In to Build-In.
Liberty Field GMT – The American Timer
Liberty is the ideal — the principle that drives the mission.
Built on our precision-turned, solid-bar-stock Field case - what is already regarded by our peers as the new mil-spec standard for field watches - each Liberty funds the machines, tooling, and capability to bring case machining, movement finishing, dial printing, and final assembly fully under one roof.
Every Liberty purchase puts your name on our machines — a permanent mark on the tools that will build the future of ARES.
Independence Diver GMT – The American Factory
Independence is the mechanism — the means to make that liberty permanent.
Built on our 1000m Diver platform, Independence funds the acquisition of our permanent home base — securing the property that will house our manufacturing for decades to come.
Every Independence purchase puts your name in our floor — literally set into the foundation of our facility, as part of the ground we stand on.
Together, Liberty and Independence create sovereignty — the ability to design, machine, build, and ship every ARES mission timer entirely from American soil, in an American-owned facility, with American-made capability.
Choose Who You Want to Build With
ARES isn’t a reaction to tariffs — it’s a response to fragility. We didn’t raise our prices when the news hit. We didn’t adjust our story. We didn’t ask for permission. We just kept building, because that’s what we’ve been doing all along.
A Swiss engine. An American frame. The best of what exists, surrounded by the best of what America can make. Our can-do spirit, woven into the lives of the people who wear it.
If you’re tired of mall watches and the theatre that sells them… if you’re done defending old decisions… if you want something you can stand behind for life — then you already know where to find us. We believe your life is your mission: it’s our mission to time it.
We’re ready when you are.
