Shinola Clock Unveiled Outside Ford Field, Lewand Says 'We'll Take Good Care Of It'

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) What time is it? The Detroit Lions know, thanks to a handsome new installation outside Ford Field.

As the team finalized preparations for the 2014 NFL draft, Shinola installed its fifth city clock in front of Gate A at Ford Field. Earlier this year, Shinola unveiled clocks at landmarks across greater downtown Detroit—Cobo Center, Eastern Market , Midtown  and the College for Creative Studies—as a thank you to the city.

Team President Tom Lewand officially welcomed the clock Thursday morning, speaking to the gathered media, including CBS Detroit's Ashley Dunkak.

"We've had a lot of conversations with the folks from Shinola, really since they came to Detroit, just about various ways we might be able to work together," Lewand said, holding up his left hand to display a Shinola watch on his wrist. "I know I've been a customer of theirs on a couple of occasions."

He added: "The folks at Shinola ... were very kind of donate the clock, and we're fortunate to display it outside of our building, and we'll take good care of it."

As the home of the Detroit Lions and a concert and event venue, Ford Field hosts more than one million visitors each year. The cornerstone of Ford Field is the former Hudson's Warehouse Complex, which functioned as appliance storage and a work hub for the historical Hudson's Department Store. The Hudson's Department Store, formerly located on Woodward Avenue, was demolished in 1998.

It was iconic in Detroit, and Shinola hopes to become iconic, too.

The company, in a press release, said inspired by the city clocks that became popular fixtures on sidewalks of American cities in the late 1800s, their American-made city clocks are either pole or wall mounted, and created in the style of Shinola's future pocket watch design.

Shinola commissioned Electric Time Company, a more than 80-year-old specialty city clockmaker in Massachusetts, to manufacture the clocks. The double-sided clock face has a diameter of more than three feet and the pole mounted versions stand at 13 feet tall. The clocks are also accompanied with LED lights and stainless steel casing.

"We've got a lot of great assets at Ford Field, and we take care of all of them. I think that the clock will be the same way," Lewand said. "People have treated Ford Field with a lot of respect since it's been open in 2002, and it's our hope that they do the same thing with the Shinola clock. We certainly will make sure that we take care of it as we hope all of our guests do."

Shinola was conceived in 2011 with the belief "products should be built to last, and they should be built in America," a spokesperson said.

They make modern, handcrafted watches, bicycles, leather goods, and journals.

"It's a great day to be unveiling this gift from Shinola that we're honored to be a part of, we're honored to be a caretaker for one of their iconic city clocks, and what better day to unveil it than the day that we are on the clock with the NFL draft tonight? I think a combination of some really great icons in our city - obviously Shinola, a brand that has made Detroit its home and helps make Detroit proud, like I hope our franchise does, and the Lions are very focused on using the events of today to make our franchise better and to make all of our fans and Detroiters everywhere proud of our team and of our city. I think it's an opportunity for two great brands to come together."