Sponsored: The Watch That Was There — Meet the Sopwith Aero Marquis Nieuport 28 Limited Edition GMT
Limited to 98 Pieces
The most authentic new American watch of 2026 may also be the most beautiful. The entire case of the Sopwith Aero Marquis Nieuport 28 Limited Edition is crafted from the repurposed steel of an original World War I fighter airplane. America's newest brand builds its cases in-house at the company's own steel foundry in Houston, using proprietary technology to upgrade historic steel to modern standards.
“We're challenging traditional case technology with a fundamentally different concept,” said Sopwith President Stephen Cox. “This watch isn't just inspired by a great airplane. We don't add a tiny piece of an airplane to an existing design. The watch is the airplane – literally. Your watch case was actually in France, on the Western Front in the spring of 1918.”
Powered by the Mecaline Specialities Calibre 2893-A2, this stunning new travel companion is made from the unserviceable engine block, cylinders and pistons of Gnome Monosoupape 9N engine #55521 of the United States Air Service that once powered a Nieuport 28 fighter.
The Aero Marquis is intended for international travel, boasting a screw-down crown, 200 meters of water resistance, anti-magnetic protection to 20,000 Gauss, dual time zones, and a functional bronze direction-finding bezel with luminous sapphire insert. Every Sopwith watch housing is finished with a titanium carbide veneer to achieve a 1500 Vickers rating, and all Sopwith cases are guaranteed forever.
The color combination of the Nieuport 28 Limited Edition is inspired by the 95th Aero Squadron's paint scheme while stationed at Toul, France in mid-May 1918. The hands are shaped like the needle on the Nieuport's altimeter while the GMT chapter ring font is reminiscent of the Nieuport's original instrumentation. The airplane's French design is reflected in the tri-color bar at 6 o'clock.
Authentic Scarcity
Sopwith watch cases are created from a finite supply of extraordinarily scarce metals. Each edition is limited by the amount of historic steel that can be obtained. Fewer than twenty-five original, airworthy Gnome 9N rotary engines are documented worldwide, all of them well over 100 years old.
Sopwith Watch Company secures historic metals in small lots from around the globe. Each piece is personally acquired by the company's founder and brought back to Sopwith headquarters in Houston, one piece at a time. It is in these forms – and these small measures – that Sopwith acquires the base metals of its watch cases.
Designed in Desperate Times
“During a trip across North Africa, I was trapped at the Hamani International Airport in Niger as a terrorist group closed in,” Cox explained, when asked about the origins of the Aero Marquis. “Everyone in our travel group – except me – was airlifted to Libya, but Americans were not permitted to enter Libya so I was on my own. The few commercial flights that still operated were oversold. I was making last-ditch plans to leave the city by car or even on foot.”
Cox eventually bribed his way onto a sold-out flight to Paris, but the incident left a lasting impression. The Aero Marquis was designed to be the timepiece he would have wanted in those circumstances. Accuracy, dual time zone tracking and durability were essential, in addition to a backup method of navigation. The ideal watch had to be able to survive water, magnetic fields, and the Sahara Desert.
And perhaps most importantly, this timpiece was designed to offer inspiration to the privileged few who wear it. The Aero Marquis was born in an era when men overcame insurmountable odds and survived the impossible, and that spirit still haunts the steel of every Sopwith watch case.
Presentation
Every Aero Marquis is accompanied by an authentication book that details the precise part used in the making of each watch and the history of the airplane from whence it came. The Nieuport 28 Limited Edition is presented on a burgundy stitched Horween leather strap and delivered with a travel pouch handmade from vintage waxed leather.
The Nieuport's original Hélice Levasseur propellers were crafted by hand from Honduran Mahogany in 1918, so the company sourced a supply of full grain Honduran Mahogany from which to create the presentation boxes for the Nieuport 28 Limited Edition.
“We wanted to offer an entirely new unboxing and ownership experience,” Cox said. “The United States Postal Service has helped us acquire early 20th century shipping materials, so your watch arrives with original, unused air mail stamps from the 1940's. The new owner's delivery address is handwritten on a batch of stained – but original – 1930's mail tags. The entire experience truly takes you back in time.”
Sopwith eliminated the watch collector's eternal struggle on where and how to store boxes by making the presentation box in the shape of a book. Easily identified by the gold-scripted spine title, every Sopwith presentation box slides easily onto an office bookshelf.
Pre-order
Limited to 98 pieces, the Sopwith Aero Marquis Nieuport 28 Limited Edition can be pre-ordered now at $8,500 USD.
Specifications
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, GMT, azimuth
Case:
Steel processed, melted, poured, cast, cut at Sopwith Foundry, Houston USA
Laboratory metallurgic analysis by Sopwith Watch Company, Houston USA
41 mm case width
Lug width, 20 mm
Lug to lug, 49 mm
Hardness, titanium carbide coating 1500 HV
Hardness, enhanced historic steel 168.2 HV
Titanium carbide coating
Water resistance: 200 meters
Magnetic field resistance: 20,000 Gauss
Movement:
Mecaline Specialities Calibre 2893-A2 Élaboré
Power reserve, 42 hours
Crystal: Boxed sapphire, inner anti-reflective coating
Crown: Screw down, extruded diamond grip bronze
Bezel: Bronze
120-position
Unidirectional rotating
Azimuth +/-3 degrees
Luminous sapphire insert
Strap: Stitched, hand-cut Horween leather
Lume: Swiss X1 grade C3 GL
Bookshelf presentation box:
Full grain Honduran Mahogany
To learn more, visit Sopwith, here.
