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Full transparency, your correspondent is a sucker for a good collab — I just enjoy the alchemy that can come from two complementary brands getting together on a project. A collab between two of my favorite brands to commemorate the life of one of my all-time personal idols, though? A new level of hype has been unlocked.
Two days ago, on the birthday of Burton Snowboards’ late founder Jake Burton Carpenter (whose untimely death and legacy of innovation we’ve written about before), Burton and Detroit watchmakers Shinola debuted a “Great Americans Series” timepiece and gift set celebrating Jake’s life and love of riding.
Limited to just 1977 pieces — in honor of the year Jake founded Burton out of a Vermont barn — the JBC Duck Watch is a special-edition take on Shinola’s most rough and tumble sports watch line, sporting the Duck’s signature brawn with several cheeky design cues paying homage to Jake. A rugged 42mm stainless steel case features an extra thick sapphire crystal (depth rated for 20 ATM), beneath which an exclusive blue dial with red and white detailing + Burton logo calls to mind vintage Performer snowboards from early in the brand’s history. The caseback also features a bit of history, with a 3D engraving of Jake himself shredding an early Burton model in the late 1970s (more on that in a moment).
The gift set also includes a suite of exclusive gear co-designed by the Burton team, the centerpiece of which (outside of the watch itself, of course) is a hardbound coffee table book entitled 13: The Story of Jake Burton Carpenter, which tells the story of Jake’s life and journey as snowboarding’s most important pioneer accompanied by photos collected from family, friends, and (naturally) the best professional snowboard photographers alive.
The book and watch are housed in a handsome leather cooler backpack modeled after a carrying case Jake created to do double duty carrying both snowboard boots and beers. Laser etched into the bag’s surface is a topographic map of Stowe, Jake’s home mountain.
Rounding out the kit is a replica of a 1979 Burton Backhill board (aka the “BB1”), the very same board Jake is pictured riding on the watch’s caseback and the first production board he ever put out into the world. Burton warns, however, that the replica is more meant for show and “definitely wouldn’t pass Jake’s durability test” on the hill.
The watch, however, most certainly would. What it will not likely pass is an “availability test” — the kit is already sold out on Burton’s site and only available via Shinola, where it will likely go quickly. So strap in and get on it.
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