Why I Started Declan James Watch Co.

The short answer: for my son.

The long answer? It’s a story about obsession, legacy, and the quiet strength found in failure.

Watches have always had a hold on me. I wore one before I even knew how to read it. There was just something about it, the weight on my wrist, the rhythm of the ticking, the way time lived inside that little case. As I got older, the obsession only grew. But it wasn’t just about the mechanics or the design of a luxury watch, though I could talk about movements and dials all day. It was what a watch represented. A watch is never just a watch. It’s a symbol. Of who you are, how you carry yourself, what you believe in. It’s the one accessory that says everything without saying a word. It doesn’t demand attention, it earns it.

That’s what first pulled me in.

But what pushed me to start a watch company, to really go all in, was fatherhood. I wanted to pass this love, this obsession, onto my son. But more than that, I wanted to pass down the values that shaped me: grit, discipline, humility, and the understanding that failure isn’t something to fear, it’s something to learn from.

I spent a good part of my life in the Navy SEAL Teams. And if there’s one lesson that’s seared into me from that time, it’s this: you’re going to get knocked down. Again and again. And again. What separates the people who make it from the ones who don’t isn’t talent or strength, it’s the ability to get back up. Every single time. A mentor of mine once said, “It’s not that SEALs are amazing at what we do. It’s that we get back up every single time we’re knocked down.” It might sound obvious. But I’m telling you, it’s everything. That mindset, the one that embraces failure, that welcomes it as part of the path, it changes how you move through the world. It makes what once felt impossible seem inevitable.

That’s the foundation this veteran owned watch brand is built on.

Starting Declan James Watch Co. has been anything but smooth. Starting anything worthwhile never is. There have been moments of doubt, of second guessing, of wondering what I got myself into. There are days that feel like wins and days that feel like I’m starting from zero all over again. But that’s the point. That’s the lesson. You keep going. You learn. You adjust. You get back up.

I created Declan James not just to design beautiful timepieces, though we do that. I created it as a way to teach my son, and someday others, that discipline and beauty aren’t mutually exclusive. That craftsmanship matters. That legacy is something you build, moment by moment, failure by failure, until one day you look down at your wrist and realize: you’ve been telling your story all along.

And that story? It’s worth wearing.