Some machines take you places, and some machines take you back. For Jay Turkbas—a genuine car guy and founder of the modern Sheffield Watch brand—a particular vintage watch transports him not across mountain passes but back to a moment in the early 1970s when his parents gave him the thirteen-dollar Sheffield diver that would wind up a lifelong obsession.
Teach your children well
“It could’ve been a Sheffield, a Bulova, whatever…” Turkbas says, “But it came at the perfect time in my life. I was ten or eleven years old, dreaming about scuba diving, and my parents gave me this dive watch. It’s just one of those keystone memories I have from back in the day.” Fast forward to 2023, and Jay decided he wanted to build the modern equivalent of what he’d been gifted. “And I think that’s what’s resonated with people; that someone could reach back into the past, bring a piece of it forward, and create this touch point for others to have for themselves and for their own sons and daughters.”
“There are a lot of people who are just into watches, and they think that Sheffields are great value. And some people’ve never been into watches but enjoy the idea of something analog that they can give their kid, or that they can have for themselves that’s not part of this digital world, you know?”
Full disclosure: Jay’s a friend and Sheffield Watches has been a sponsor of That Car Show, the automotive podcast I co-host. But before I even met Jay, I was a fan of his watches; I’ve since become a fan of the man himself.
The Land Before Time
Turkbas’s professional journey isn’t that of your typical watchmaker. He’d worked for years in the advertising world and in product development for the sporting goods industry. “I’d never had a watch business,” he says. “But, I’m extremely hands-on.” And Jay appreciated good design, had global manufacturing connections, and knew how to treat customers right. “If there’s an issue or a question, I’m usually the guy responding. And I answer quickly.” It’s an approach that’s paid off as Turkbas estimates that 30 to 40 percent of Sheffield’s sales come from repeat buyers. “And they’re not all car people.”
Spike in demand
But cars would, of course, factor into it. Because the watch world, like the automotive world, runs on equal parts passion and chance. A while back, while Turkbas was driving his ‘83 911 SC through Wyoming and listening to an episode of Spike’s Car Radio, host Spike Feresten—of Seinfeld writing fame—lamented that nobody made a decent watch for under $200. “I was just about to launch my first Sheffield, a quartz diver,” Turkbas recalls. “So I sent him a message: I’m doing just that, actually. Can I send you some watches?” Spike said sure, and soon Sheffield watches were on the wrists of Feresten and his SCR co-hosts—Paul Zuckerman and Jonny Lieberman—who loved the vintage tool-watch vibe.
The Seinfeld effect
And then came the serendipitous Seinfeld moment. During a live SCR recording at the Pebble Beach Concours, Jerry himself glanced at Spike’s wrist and said, “I see you have a Sheffield. Back in 1966, a Sheffield was my first underwater watch.” And just like that, the brand had its own plot twist: a vintage name recognized by one of the most famous enthusiasts in the business. Seinfeld’s mention alone gave Sheffield instant street cred. “It was just wild,” Turkbas laughs. “Totally out of the blue. And there was a bump from that point on.”
With friends like these
Since then, new Sheffield models have continued at a frantic pace, including additional collaborations with both Feresten and Jay Leno, who’s perhaps the most recognizable name of all in the car world. “The first Leno watch—all 300 pieces—sold out in a single day. We’ve got the Lenos, the SCRs, and now the Steel City watches for the UK. Honestly, I have too many models. I need to pare it back. But people like new stuff. And you have to balance what’s current with what’s coming next. But it’s been really rewarding and gratifying that we’ve been able to do these collaborations,” Turkbas says. “Who would have ever imagined?”
Past perfect
But Turkbas’s top seller? Appropriately enough, it’s the 1A diver, his faithful homage to the Sheffield watch his parents gave him, way back when. These days, Turkbas spends plenty of time looking for vintage Sheffields, and some have become direct templates for new models, while others feed his design vocabulary. “There’s so much cool stuff from that era. The fifties and sixties were radical,” he says. “People were taking chances. And I think watches—like cars—reflected that.”
Honestly, now, did you spend your youth dreaming about someday owning a Casio?
Turkbas’s background in advertising instilled a love of storytelling that continues to shape his work with watches. He recently tracked down none other than Bruce Bildsten, one of the writers behind Porsche’s legendary Fallon McElligott ads of the 1980s. Together, they’ve created a new series of Sheffield ads—with bold headlines, big product shots and plenty of wry humor—for Panorama, the Porsche Club of America magazine.
Sheffield Watches
But praise for Sheffield Watches is undoubtedly not limited to the car community. Well-known watch expert and content creator Teddy Baldassarre recently named Sheffield as one of the “best watches” of the micro-brand watch show District Time 2025. And Jay’s just getting started. “I’d love to do a bronze watch someday,” he muses. There’s a Swiss-Movement model in the works as well, and he’s even been tempted to do sunglasses. “But my wife tells me just to keep focused on the watches. Of course, I do think there are things that people will buy that are adjacent to the watches… like straps.”
The scenic route
With Sheffield Watches, Jay Turkbas has captured the spirit of the analog era and made it relevant (and accessible) again. Sheffield watches are kind of like air-cooled Porsches for the wrist, so it’s no surprise that many enthusiasts own both. But whether it’s a nod from Seinfeld, a collaboration with Leno or a parent giving a Sheffield watch to their child, it all comes back to one thing: the journey.
Sheffield Watches: sheffieldwatches.com
About the author
Ryan Bahrke
Contributing Writer, Autoblog