Gregory Fletcher
Gregory visited JS Watch Company Reykjavik on Monday September 8 2025. He met our team in our small Laugavegur workshop and in our nearby design studio. We had the honor of presenting him with an Islandus Dakota timepiece. The watch celebrates the enduring story of a Douglas C 117 that came down in Iceland many years ago and the lives and memories that have remained part of this landscape ever since.
Gregory Fletcher
Gregory Fletcher is an American author, attorney, and former U.S. Navy aviator whose life intersects with a remarkable chapter of aviation history in Iceland. His connection to our Islandus Dakota watch is about memory, place, and the people who keep history alive.
His visit to Iceland
Gregory visited JS Watch Company Reykjavik on Monday September 8 2025. He met our team in our small Laugavegur workshop and in our nearby design studio. We had the honor of presenting him with an Islandus Dakota timepiece. The watch celebrates the enduring story of a Douglas C 117 that came down in Iceland 52 years ago and the lives and memories that have remained part of this landscape ever since.
During his time with us Gregory spent time with our watchmakers and designers, exploring the details that make our mechanical watches special. From movements and dials to engravings and straps, he saw how each part is assembled by hand here in Reykjavik. The visit became a conversation about craft, resilience, and why objects with a story feel alive on the wrist.
The famous wreck
On the black sands of Sólheimasandur in the south of Iceland rests the weathered fuselage of a United States Navy Douglas C 117. Decades ago, with Gregory as the pilot flying, the crew made a controlled emergency landing on the beach and everyone survived. The aircraft was later stripped and left in place. Time and Atlantic weather have turned it into a stark monument of aluminum against volcanic sand.
For many people it is the first image that comes to mind when they think about aviation in Iceland. For us it is a symbol of calm decision making, teamwork, and the fragile line between risk and safety. The Islandus Dakota pays tribute to that story. Subtle cues in the design nod to cockpit legibility, to navigation and to the feeling of steel and rivets aged by wind and salt. It is not a replica. It is a respectful reminder of human skill and grace under pressure.
A journey with Christine Negroni
While in Iceland Gregory met with Christine Negroni, a respected aviation writer and journalist. Christine is writing a book and a New York Times article that include Gregory’s story and the return to the crash site 52 years later. Together they visited the wreck location and documented the experience. The scenes and reflections from that day gave important context to why the Islandus Dakota exists and why it continues to resonate with people who value history told with care.
The Islandus Dakota connection
The Islandus Dakota is part of our mission to root every design in an Icelandic story or place. The watch Gregory received carries this spirit in its dial details, case engraving, and other quiet references to flight and navigation. It is a reminder that design can keep memory in motion.
Why Gregory is an ambassador
Ambassadors for JS Watch Company Reykjavik are chosen for what they stand for as much as what they do. Gregory’s work honors truth, patience, and the long arc of a story. He is curious, generous with his time, and deeply respectful of the people who make and maintain things with their hands. His visit showed how a watch can connect a small workshop in Reykjavik to the wild edge of the Atlantic and to a chapter of aviation that still inspires.