J.N. Shapiro’s Infinity Weave Radiant Brings Tantalum and Meteorite to the Chronograph

J.N. Shapiro has added a chronograph to the Infinity Weave family, and it arrives with the kind of material challenge that suits Joshua Shapiro’s reputation.

The Infinity Weave Series Radiant combines a 38mm tantalum case, intricate engine-turning and a choice of meteorite or blued zirconium dials.

It’s a compact, manually wound monopusher chronograph with a distinctly American point of view, shaped as much by craft as by the aerospace landscape around the brand’s Southern California workshop.

At a glance

The first chronograph in the Infinity Weave line

The Radiant follows a limited collectors’ edition created for Boston’s Escapement group, but this version pushes the idea into more ambitious territory.

The watch keeps the essence of the Infinity Weave series, namely a dial defined by microscopic guilloché, while adding a manually wound monopusher chronograph calibre.

At 38mm across and 9.6mm thick including the crystal, the tantalum case gives the watch a restrained footprint rather than the oversized presence often associated with contemporary chronographs.

Inside is the La Joux-Perret 5000-4, a manual-winding monopusher chronograph movement with a 38-hour power reserve and a 3Hz frequency.

The calibre has roots in work by Techniques Horlogères Appliquées, the movement specialist founded in 1989 by Denis Flageollet, F. P. Journe and Vianney Halter.

One of its notable technical traits is an oscillating pinion system, a compact and practical method for engaging the chronograph train while helping the chronograph seconds hand start cleanly.

Tantalum, zirconium and a space-age palette

The Radiant name nods to light, radiation and the aerospace corridor around J.N. Shapiro’s 7,000-square-foot facility in Torrance, California.

That setting matters because the watch leans into materials with strong technical associations, including tantalum, zirconium and meteorite.

Tantalum is used for the case, bringing a grey-blue lustre, substantial density and exceptional resistance to corrosion.

It is also notoriously difficult to machine, with tool wear far beyond what a workshop would encounter in stainless steel.

J.N. Shapiro makes the tantalum case in-house, and the Radiant can also be ordered with a five-link tantalum bracelet.

The dial options sharpen the character of the watch.

One version uses Gibeon meteorite with an engine-turned 30-minute totaliser and a blued zirconium chapter ring.

The other goes further into metalwork, using a fully engine-turned dial in blued zirconium with a matching minute register.

The blue colour is not paint or conventional plating.

The zirconium is heat treated to create a thin oxide layer, after which the numerals and indices are engraved into the finished surface.

That order of operations leaves very little margin for correction, especially on a dial where any visible error would be hard to disguise.

Guilloché work on unforgiving surfaces

The Infinity Weave pattern remains the visual and technical signature here.

It takes the traditional basketweave pattern and places another basketweave within it, creating a dense surface that is difficult to read without strong magnification.

The miniature baskets are interrupted cuts, so each element has to be engraved individually without disturbing the larger pattern around it.

Shapiro developed custom pattern bars for the work, which is part of why the dials feel less like decoration and more like a demonstration of control.

The meteorite version adds another layer of difficulty.

Gibeon meteorite is largely iron and nickel, and those metals don’t behave identically under a cutting tool.

The iron can be cut more readily, while harder nickel-rich areas can appear unpredictably and complicate the engraving.

Usable meteorite also has to be chosen carefully, since cracks or non-metallic inclusions can ruin the surface before the dial is even finished.

Both versions use J.N. Shapiro’s rounded hands with open tips.

The zirconium dial version has polished steel hands, while the meteorite dial version uses blued hands for a cooler tonal match.

Details & Specifications

The Radiant is likely to speak most directly to collectors who value handcraft that doesn’t announce itself immediately.

Its appeal sits in the tension between traditional engine-turning and modern hard-metal machining, all inside a case size that keeps the watch elegant rather than theatrical.