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Virgil's Mother-of-Pearl Watch
Virgil's Mother-of-Pearl Watch
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Virgil's Mother-of-Pearl Watch
Picked by hand off the bottom of the Mississippi, before the beds closed
Virgil Sindt, seventy-one, Muscatine, Iowa. Twenty years in the river and forty-eight at the bench. His eyes are finished, and 214 dials are all that is left.
“A buyer offered to take the whole shed by the pound, cash, one appointment. It would have ended up in twelve-thousand-dollar watches on wrists that would never be told where it came from. My wife put those plates aside one at a time for forty-eight years. They are not going out of here by weight.”
— Virgil Sindt, sheller and cutter, Muscatine, Iowa
“Three things about this stock cannot be reproduced. It is thick, because those animals had decades on the bottom before anyone took them. It came out of a river that has since been dammed, dredged and silted, which changes how shell is laid down. And commercial harvest here is finished — several of the species that fed that industry are federally protected now. What is in that man’s shed is a sample of a river that no longer exists. There is no way to go and get more, and no legal way to try.”
— Dr. Renata Buhrow, malacologist, Upper Mississippi mussel populations
- Genuine nacre, not a print. A real slice of freshwater mother-of-pearl, ground and finished by hand — with a tilt test anyone can run at a window in about two seconds.
- Yours exists once. The layering, the grain and the way the color breaks never repeat, so no two dials on Earth are the same.
- A documented origin. A numbered card naming the plate it was cut from — not a generic authenticity slip.
- Built to be worn, not stored. Solid 316L steel case, sapphire crystal, 50 m water resistance, a Swiss quartz movement that runs for years on one battery.
- Small on purpose, and not by choice. 28 mm is the largest flat disc this shell will give up. At 36 mm the drawer would have been empty after forty watches.
- 214 exist and there is no restock. The beds closed in the nineties and the shell that is left is what one man carried up the bank.
If it doesn’t move in the light, send it back within 30 days and get your money back. Virgil has been handing this material to people for forty-eight years and has never once had a piece handed back.
Every dial is cut from a different plate of shell. The grain, the depth of the layering and the exact way the color breaks vary from watch to watch — the photographs show examples, not the specific dial you will receive. That variation is the material, not a defect. It is also the reason a photograph never quite matches the watch: a camera picks one angle, and the whole point of nacre is that it does not have one.
The small markers around the dial are cut glass, not diamonds. We would rather say so here than let anybody find out later.
| Dial material | Genuine freshwater mother-of-pearl (nacre), Upper Mississippi river shell, Muscatine, Iowa |
| Dial finish | Hand-ground wet to approx. 0.5 mm, sealed. Each dial cut from its own numbered plate |
| Hour markers | Cut glass (Czech rhinestone) |
| Case | 28 mm 316L stainless steel, brushed and polished, 8.4 mm height, 34 mm lug to lug |
| Case back | 316L stainless steel, screw-down |
| Glass | Synthetic sapphire crystal |
| Movement | Swiss quartz, three-hand with date |
| Water resistance | 50 m — hand washing, swimming and daily wear |
| Bracelet | 316L stainless steel, 16 mm lug width, 200 mm total length, link-removal tool included |
| Weight | 72 g |
| Finishes | Silver, gold, two-tone — the case is the part you choose. The dial is not. |
| In the box | Watch, numbered card, sizing tool, presentation box |
| Shell recovered by | Virgil Sindt, Muscatine, Iowa — river shell picked by hand 1974–1994; plant stock saved 1962 |
| Quantity available | 214 pieces across all three finishes. No allocation per finish, no restock. |
| Shipping | Free US shipping, dispatched within 48 hours |
The Final Series
The Final Series
Message from the studio:
After forty-six years painting the Blue Ridge mountains from her window, a small stroke this past winter took the steady hand Eleanor Voss needs for the fine detail. She finished her three 2027 series — the American landscapes, the French villages, and the twelve famous-painting cats — in the last weeks the line still held. Every month is printed from an original oil painting. When these are gone, there is no reprint and no 2028.
Free US Shipping
Free US Shipping
Free shipping across the United States
- Delivery time: 3–5 business days
- Each calendar is carefully packed and ships from the US
- Printed from original oil paintings on thick, writable paper
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email support@backroad-goods.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Email us anytime at support@backroad-goods.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (ET) — whether it’s about your order, a gift, or just to say hello.
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Of course. 30-day money-back guarantee. Hang it in your kitchen, and if it simply isn’t right for you, email support@backroad-goods.com within 30 days for a full refund. No questions asked.
How is it made?
How is it made?
Every month is an original oil painting by Eleanor Voss near Boone, North Carolina, printed on thick coated paper with a twin-wire spiral binding and large writable date blocks. Three editions: American Landscape, French Town Scenery, and the whimsical Famous Painting Cat. This is her final complete series — no reprint.