Martin Unveils Its Two Millionth Guitar, A Crazy Horology-Themed Creation With An RGM Watch In The Headstock (And A More Consumer-Friendly Limited Edition Too)

By Stephen Pulvirent

This is, without question, one of the more out-there watch collaborations we’ve ever seen here at HODINKEE. To celebrate the creation of its two millionth guitar, Pennsylvania-based Martin Guitar teamed up with another Keystone State stalwart, RGM watches, to create a one-off custom guitar with watch-themed inlays and an actual working RGM watch embedded in the headstock. Yeah, it’s intense. Along with the unique creation is a limited edition guitar that comes paired with a special RGM watch (this one for your wrist), for a more restrained take on the idea. Let’s take a look at the pair.

The Two Millionth Guitar

I won’t go too much into the history of guitar maker C.F. Martin & Company, better known at Martin Guitar, but the family firm has been making hand-crafted wooden guitars in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, since 1833 and has just hit a major milestone: it has made its two millionth guitar. Yeah, that’s a ton of guitars. They folks at Martin thought they needed to make number two million a special guitar, so they teamed up with RGM watches to do just that. The result is what you see here, a guitar they’re simply calling Two Millionth. Fitting.

The guitar starts with Martin’s D-45 style body, with the back and sides made from Brazilian rosewood and the top made from bearclaw Engelmann spruce. But, the highlight here isn’t the basic construction. It’s all the decoration that makes Two Millionth special. The front features obvious nods to watchmaking, including gear-shaped inlays (which look like what you might find directly under a dial), a faux moonphase indicator, and aluminum components with actual guilloché decoration, including the rosette and the pick guard. Those motifs continue up the neck, with various gears depicted as inlays up the fret board, culminating in the balance overlapping the headstock. Turn the guitar over and you get another amazing view, with what looks like the rear of a watch movement depicted, again with everything from the barrel to the going train to the balance to individual bridges, jewels, and blued screws all accurately there. It’s clear a real watch expert was involved in the creation of Two Millionth – this isn’t something an amateur could have achieved on his own.

That expertise becomes even more evident when you look at the headstock of the guitar. Between the aluminum …read more