JS Watch Co.
JS Watch Co. Reykjavik describes itself, with a certain wry accuracy, as probably the world's smallest watch manufacturer — and it is, in fact, the first and only watch manufacturer in Iceland. Founded in 2005 and based at Laugavegur 62 in the heart of Reykjavik's old town, the company is a genuine family enterprise now in its third generation: Master Watchmaker Gilbert O. Guðjónsson, his son Watchmaker Sigurður Gilbertsson (who also serves as Technical Director), and Sigurður's own son Gilbert Sigurðsson (known within the company as Gilbert II), who graduated as a fully qualified watchmaker in 2024 after four years of formal training — continuing a lineage of craftsmanship that now spans three generations under the same roof. The founding team is completed by Julius Heidarsson as Director of Development and Grimkell Sigurthorsson as Design and Marketing Director. All timepieces are designed and hand-assembled entirely in the Reykjavik studio and workshop, built around high-quality Swiss movements and European-made components, with every detail given the personal attention the small scale of the operation allows — a deliberately low production volume that gives each timepiece, in the company's own words, a personal character and a feeling of exclusivity that mass production cannot replicate.
Despite its small scale and remote island location, JS Watch Co. has built an extraordinary roster of well-known wrists: the company's watches have been worn by Tom Cruise, Ben Stiller, Jude Law, Gordon Ramsay, Ed Sheeran, Quentin Tarantino, Kit Harington, Mads Mikkelsen, Viggo Mortensen, Tobey Maguire, Yoko Ono, Nick Cave, Dennis Quaid, Ian Anderson, Sean Lennon, Katie Couric, Vinnie Jones, Elvis Costello, His Majesty King Constantine II, and the 14th Dalai Lama, among many others — a hall of fame the company documents with genuine pride and evident personal warmth, often noting individual visits to the Reykjavik workshop itself. Beyond celebrity wrists, JS Watch Co. has also produced deeply personal commission pieces, including a unique custom timepiece created in 2026 to celebrate the 70th birthday of Bubbi Morthens, one of Iceland's most influential musicians and cultural figures — a watch featuring an Icelandic volcanic ash dial with golden lava details and personal engravings commemorating milestones from his career, developed over several months in close collaboration with his management team. The company's outlook is summarised in its own words: the most meaningful watches are those connected to people, memories, and milestones.
The current collection draws heavily on Icelandic and North Atlantic heritage and landscape for its naming and design inspiration. The 101 collection — named for Reykjavik's own postal code, honouring the old town centre where the company was founded — is JS Watch Co.'s most successful series to date, built around a classically proportioned 38mm steel dress-watch case; the 101 10-Year Edition, first released in 2015, has been reissued in successive limited colourways including a Deep Purple edition that has now sold out after four consecutive runs, and a frosted salmon-dial version with flame-blued Lancette hands introduced for the line's near-decade milestone. The Frisland collection takes its name from a phantom island once charted on nautical maps south of Iceland — believed to exist for centuries yet never actually found — and includes the Frisland Classic in Navy Blue (a deep frosted dial with white Lancette hands and Roman numerals) and the Glacier Blue Frisland 1941, inspired by the shifting light across Icelandic glaciers. The Vínland Special Edition and Vínland Chronograph collections draw on Norse heritage and the Viking-age discovery of North America, blending timeless luxury with Norse historical reference; the Vínland Chronograph line has sold in runs as small as 100 pieces per release, moving quickly upon launch.
The Gilbert Vintage Collection and Gilbert Bóhem lines are named for the family's own watchmaking patriarch, while the SIF N.A.R.T. and SIF NART 1948 references form a further limited-edition strand, including a Burgundy Red 20-Year / 20-Piece Limited Edition that sold out immediately upon release, part of an ongoing series of anniversary editions celebrating the company's milestones. The Fraternitas Islandica, created at the request of the Icelandic Freemason organisation, and an homage watch dedicated to the Knights Templar reflect the brand's occasional work with institutional and fraternal commissions. Special, one-off custom commissions — like the Bubbi Morthens piece — remain an ongoing and cherished part of the company's work alongside its standing collection.