Celeste Wong – Founder & Watchmaker

  Celeste Wong is the founder, artist, and watchmaker behind Celeste Watch Company inSpringfield, Oregon. Honored as Business Person of the Year in 2022 by the Springfield
 Chamber of Commerce, Celeste brings a rare combination of technical mastery and
artistic vision to every timepiece she creates. A former biomedical engineer with a
passion for craftsmanship, she has built her brand from the ground up transforming a lifelong dream into a thriving destination in Oregon’s historic downtown.

A few things that set Celeste apart:
  *Self-taught watchmaker and dial artist, known for handcrafting bespoke
timepieces that fuse engineering precision with artistic storytelling.
 * Acclaimed engineer and author, with 20+ publications and prestigious
awards including the Norm Augustine Award from the National Academy of
Engineering.
 * Advocate for STEM and education, honored nationally for her work in
promoting engineering careers and inspiring the next generation.
 * 30+ years as a serial entrepreneur, personally overseeing every detail of
design, creation, and customer experience.
*Celeste continues to innovate, connect, and create watches that are as meaningful as
they are beautiful.

 The Birth of a Company: Everything’s Going To Be Alright

         The process of making my first watch was slow and sometimes painful. Starting in 2013, I began taking apart old watches, making my own dials and putting themback together. After some success, my celebration was in full swing when I completed my first inlay dial. I wore it proudly and showed all my family and friends. But during
a rainstorm, in a moment that changed everything, Ilooked down at my handcrafted creation only to discoverthat my watch was no longer ticking. Weather conditions had swelled the wood and were preventing the hour hand from moving. And so began my next level of training: I had to learn how to stabilize the wood on the dial, ensure the wood and shell were the same thickness, make a precision inlay, design a watch case, reliably build watches, and craft beautiful leather bands. The learning curve was steep.

I had personally discovered at least fifty ways how not to
make a watch dial.

My very first Nostalgia watch

In 2015, I was ready. My debut watch was
this blue abalone shell inlaid in cherry wood.
I wanted a watch that was going to connect me to the ocean and help me feel closer to my
memories of playing on the beach, surfing,and being a carefree kid in Hawaii. I called
it Nostalgia because the shell symbolized theocean and the wood symbolized the trees
here in Oregon. The design had a calmingeffect, while also merging where I have
been to where I am. I felt like I could look atthat watch and know that no matter what,
everything was going to be alright.

During the first few years of runningCeleste Watch Company, I made my
own watch bands. I wanted vegetabletannedleather bands that were
healthier for the skin. I wanted themto feel amazing and provide a sense of luxury. I learned how to cut, clean,
condition, sew, and burnish. From start to finish, each band took around three hours.

Creating such an unusual piece, I knew I needed feedback so I applied to be a vendor at the
Eugene Saturday Market. I was so nervous my first day! I set up my booth and only had one
table. I’d worked all week to make four watches and was beyond excited to get comments about
this idea for a watch that was probably unlike anything most people had seen.

2015 ~ One of my first Saturdays selling at the Eugene Saturday Market

. My booth 8’ x 8’ with only four watches. I felt I could do gymnastics in the back and I worried that no onewould be interested. But to my relief, the watches were well received and I sold two that veweekend. I was so buoyed by the response that I went home and made another four the followingweek. The next Saturday I was immensely proud to have six watches on the table.Nostalgia was a good design to present to the public. Talking to people about making the watch itself,I was often asked to identify the abalone shape. To me, it was an abstract wave, another symbol ofthe ocean, but not everyone saw it that way. So I’d ask people what they thought and was delightedby the different visions people had—cats, octopus, quails, dolphins, a dancing hippo, and more. Thisimpromptu “Rorschach test” gave me a way to play with my customers and build connections thatmotivated and inspired me to add more shell colors and expand the wood choices. The watch couldbe anything to the wearer—whatever was most meaningful to them. Being organic, each piece of shell had a different mottled nature that made each watch unique.A cat in one watch could become adancing lady in another.The Nostalgia design was clean and simple without numbers on the dial.Several people told me it was difficult to tell time without numbers, soeventually I designed a watch with dial dots called Radiance. In many differentcolors, this starburst allows light to radiate from behind the mother of pearl. I felt euphoric with two designs on the table.