When I was in high school — my peak “OMG my parents don’t understand me” years — my dad gave me a DVD: “The Best of Gilda Radner on SNL.” I probably rolled my eyes and went back to cutting out pictures of Britney Spears for my vision board, but I realize now that he understood me more than I did: I was a Jewish, frizzy-haired oddball who was a little bit funny and needed some positive Jewish inspiration to reach my full comedic potential.
Because of that, I have a soft spot for Gilda Radner, which I understand makes me no different than, like, 60% of Jewish women. So let me propose something: because of our very unique connection to Gilda Radner, maybe we all need Shinola’s $2,500 Gilda Radner watch.
Last month, to coincide with what would have been Radner’s 80th birthday, the legendary Detroit watchmaker Shinola launched a collection inspired by the Detroit-native comedian as part of their Great American series. (Past collections have honored Georgia O’Keefe, Maya Angelou, Muhammed Ali and… the Statue of Liberty.) The collection made its way to me via my algorithm, of course. An Instagram post of SNL’s Ashley Padilla (please watch this sketch) and Molly Shannon first caught my eye; then I noticed the big red watches they were wearing. Red, it turns out, was Gilda Radner’s favorite color — and an iconic part of her legacy.
“Red Jasper was the perfect dial choice,” reads Shinola’s copy. “No two are the same.”
Since 1995, red doors have marked the entrance to Gilda’s Club in cities across the U.S. and Canada. A nonprofit started after Radner’s tragic death from ovarian cancer — a disease that disproportionately affects Ashkenazi Jews — Gilda’s Club was the brainchild of Radner’s widow, Gene Wilder, and Joanne Bull, the psychotherapist specializing in cancer diagnoses that Radner saw during her illness. The idea was based on a community center that Wilder said brought Radner great comfort. Gilda’s Club Detroit will receive a portion of the proceeds of Shinola’s Gilda Radner collection.
There are two watches and a red travel case in the collection. I’m partial to the daintier Runabout watch ($1,995), which has a bar link bracelet and a ring of diamonds. (“Glittering with star power as magnetic as Gilda herself,” the product page says.) My husband, a watch enthusiast, said, “It’s a good watch” in a satisfied tone of voice I can’t quite capture in text but you’ll just have to trust me.
The other watch, the Runwell Automatic ($2,500), is bigger, with a leather strap. The mechanics are visible through what Shinola calls an “open heart” window — “a fitting tribute to a woman who always wore her heart on her sleeve.” This watch is modeled on Shinola’s website by Jewish comedy great Alan Zweibel, original SNL writer and Gilda Radner’s close friend and collaborator — he even wrote a book-turned-play about his beloved friend, where he depicted the two of them bonding over their Jewish families and in which he wrote the following phone exchange between himself and Radner:
“I have cancer.”
“Gilda…?”
“I have ovarian cancer, Zweibel, and I need you to help me get through this part of my life.”
“…I will.”
“You promise?”
“I promise. What should I do first?”
“Make me laugh.”
I’ll admit it: When I first saw Shinola’s Gilda Radner watch, I was a little skeptical. But now I’m all in — that is, I would be in, if I were the kind of person who spent money on watches.
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