From An Olympic Curling Match To Your Wrist: Oak & Oscar Creates Limited Edition Team Shuster Humboldt 12-HR

If you’ve been tuning into the 2022 Winter Olympics, and more specifically the USA Curling team holding it down at the Beijing National Aquatics Center, then you may have casually noticed that the entire team is sporting a watch from an independent brand that we have covered extensively here on the pages of W&W. And that brand is none other than Oak & Oscar. In addition to the Hardline curling brooms and Columbia branded USA jerseys, Oak & Oscar will also be a part of the USA Curling team kit, providing a special edition Team Shuster Humboldt 12-HR limited to only ten pieces.

The Humboldt 12-HR is Oak & Oscar’s offering for a durable, travel (and of course Curling) ready stainless steel sports watch. It checks all the boxes with its 200 meters of water resistance, a 12 hour rotating steel bezel to track another time zone (or the score of the bonspiel at hand) and a reliable movement in the ETA 2892-A2, all wrapped up in an easy wearing 40mm steel case. The Humboldt 12-HR, and all of the watches in the O&O catalog for that matter, have their own unique design cues such as their distinct numeral font for their hour markers and their signature orange seconds hand with an “O” on the end, that distinguishes the look of their watches from others, and makes it even easier to spot out in the wild or on tv during an Olympic curling match.

Turning the watch over displays the Ailsa Craig granite centerpiece of the Humboldt 12-HR. The granite used in each caseback actually comes from a curling stone that is a part of an Olympic competition set. Originally, each piece of granite used for making the curling stone is sourced from a quarry in Scotland, however before each piece of stone is fitted into the caseback of the Humboldt 12-HR, it first had to be sliced into watch-sized discs by a lapidary based out of California, and then transported to Oak & Oscar headquarters in Chicago where each piece was then meticulously shaped by their Director of Watchmaking, Nathan Bobinchak, to perfectly fit in its place at the center of the caseback.

Whether it’s a jersey, hat or any miscellaneous piece of gear, there’s no better way to feel like you’re a part of a team than owning a piece of kit that the players actually use. It’s not often where you get to see a watch as a part of a team’s kit and it’s even rarer to see a watch brand like Oak & Oscar get some shine on national television. Especially when the camera zooms in and captures the Humboldt 12-HR on the wrist of the skip (the captain) John Shuster as he skillfully pushes off the hack (rubber block), glides and then throws the curling stone, or on the wrists of the vice-skip and mates (the other teammates) as they skate along side the curling stone and vigorously sweep the ice with their curling brooms to produce an accurate shot.

The Team Shuster Humboldt 12-HR comes in a gray and navy blue dial strapped onto a Horween leather strap. As mentioned above, only ten pieces were produced and out of the ten, five are reserved for the players of the USA Curling team. Unfortunately the remaining five pieces available to the public have long been sold out. The good news is that if you want to appreciate the watch in action, you can check it out on the wrists of Team USA tonight at 7:05 CST as they go head to head against Team Switzerland during the Men’s Round Robin. Oak & Oscar