Tim Mancuso doesn’t drive to the Main Line Armory so much as float there. It’s Tuesday morning, just thirty miles outside of Philadelphia, and the avid watch collector’s Jaguar F-Pace SVR is filling the gaps on the road that the other cars don’t have the horsepower to reach. “I’m going to let this big girl sing,” Mancuso says, as his wife, Kate, jokes that he’s going to induce his passengers to vomit.

He’s in a hurry because today is the day his watch group is set to meet at the Armory—a luxury indoor shooting range and members club near Philadelphia founded by Iraq War veterans—for some conversation, some indoor shooting, and some cigars.

Less a formal watch event than a group hangout where timepieces are discussed and seen and friendships are born, it feels more like a gathering of friends than an industry function.

Nevertheless, there are a few industry figures on hand. Patrick Pruniaux, CEO of Girard-Perregaux, is here to present the brand’s latest Laureato collection. It is his first time in Philadelphia. It is also the first time that the timepieces, worked on meticulously for months—years even—are going to be previewed. Pruniaux rides in the passenger seat next to Mancuso’s wife, Kate.

Together, we arrive at the Armory and wait for the other members of the Philadelphia watch group. It includes all kinds of people from various places, representing many different nationalities. Ted Lape, a collector from Columbus, Ohio, with a 30-year career in finance; Erika Ratini, a watch influencer known as @watchmissgmt; and Akaash Singh, an Indian-American comedian, are just a few of the names that show up.

The Main Line Armory functions as a sort of clubhouse for the group.

Dinner is at the Four Seasons, but beforehand, Pruniaux is going to show off the Laureato Three Gold Bridges, Neo Constant Escapement, Minute Repeater Flying Bridges, and La Esmeralda Tourbillon. The group checks out the collection, excitedly putting the watches on their wrists to try them on.

Besides the artillery in the back room—and maybe even because of it—the Armory looks less like a gathering for modern horology aficionados and more like a meeting place for the members who signed the Declaration of Independence. A painting of George Washington’s face is framed on the wall. Beneath an old wood ceiling is a fireplace and, just beyond, a replica of the lantern that guided Paul Revere when alerting the revolutionary militia that the British were arriving. President Gerald Ford lit it 200 years after Revere rode to warn colonists so they could defend their homes and establish independence from the British. Greg Butler, the owner of the Main Line Armory, bought the replica lantern and created an eternal flame beneath it. In April 2023, Butler opened the Armory. As the Armory broke ground, Butler left his State Police job to work on opening the business full-time, creating an upscale space where people could shoot safely.

All of the weapons and military history make it seem like a boys’ club, but it is a place where women are welcome to hang out and feel comfortable as well.

Wearing a Rolex Daytona, Ratini kicks back and smokes a cigar, describing it as a spiritual experience akin to the feeling she has about watches. “I’m excited to see that the watches are slimming down from 42 to 39 millimeters and, as a female, that is really appreciated,” Ratini says. “Noticing that GP is realizing that trend makes me even more excited to see what they have.”

As he takes photos of his H. Moser red tourbillon, Mancuso echoes that opinion, saying he welcomes the industry-wide shift to smaller watches and more in-house movements. He also doesn’t shy away from stating where he believes the brand has been faltering. “The problem was that they had too many old watches on the secondary market that were bringing the value down,” he says. “This is now their new re-emergence.”

Like many seasoned collectors, he also laments the skyrocketing prices in the market. Many factors have played into the hyperbolic shift—from an increase in disposable income during the COVID shutdown to a rise in the cost of materials—but he says he still feels it’s overwrought. “You doubled the prices of watches in the last five years but certainly haven’t doubled the quality,” he notes. “Gold and precious metals have gone up, but not to the extent that they should increase watch prices.”

Mancuso thinks that the difference between his watch group and other groups he hears about is honesty. There’s never any anger or malice when members discuss watches, but members are encouraged to talk about what they like and dislike.

“If the people aren’t right, then the group doesn’t work,” Mancuso explains.

Part of the draw of this watch gathering is its informality.

Despite the occasional presence of industry executives eager to share new product, the atmosphere is anything but corporate. “The space allows us to hang out,” Ratini tells Robb Report. “When you go to corporate watch events, you are lucky to get a handshake with a CEO. Here, we are a tight-knit group, so we are able to actually get to know people like Patrick. There’s a human element here: You are engaging with people and their style.”

In November 2025, the group officially formed, but Kate and Mancuso wanted to vet every member. So he made it invite-only; he made it family. Ratini, for example, first met Mancuso in Geneva when they bonded over being fellow watch geeks from Philadelphia. Eventually, Ratini and her husband, Mike, and Mancuso and his wife, Kate, became very close. Ratini even gifted Kate a watch case bearing the names of their two dogs, Guinness and Sinatra, who tragically passed away within four months of each other. A mountain and moon overlooked their names, signifying the dogs going to heaven.

That’s why the memories are so potent.

“As cliché as this sounds, time is the most precious commodity we have,” Mancuso says. “You can always make more money, you can always rebuild. Timepieces represent the seconds, the minutes, the hours of the day. I would rather spend those seconds and minutes with people that I care about.”