When it comes to watches and watchmaking, springing ahead and falling behind is harder than it looks. Daylight Saving Time is as we all know, the practice of setting clocks one hour ahead in the spring, and setting them back an hour in the fall. The rationale for the practice is that as days get...

Beyond the conventional twelve hours and two hands, are whole new wristwatch worlds. Pick any watch at random and chances are, it will have hour and minute hands, and twelve markers for the twelve hours. The circular nature of time displays goes all the way back to sundials and such displays are a natural result...

Not all that glitters is gold – sometimes it’s a high-tech ceramic. Modern watchmakers have a huge variety of case materials to choose from – it almost seems as if anything rigid enough to stick a movement into has been used for a watch case at this point. This was not always true, of course....

Millions of watches go through airport security every year. Just how safe are mechanical watches going through checkpoints? Going through an airport security scanner is one of the most common experiences in the world, and yet, it is surprisingly difficult to find any sort of definitive answer as to whether or not modern scanning technology...

Exploring the artistry and innovation behind annual calendars, and why they deserve more recognition in the realm of haute horlogerie. “The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn’t any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it’s right. If it disturbs you it’s wrong until either the machine or your...

After decades of dangerous and partial solutions, the future of lume has never been brighter. Luminous materials on watch dials are so ubiquitous today that it’s easy to forget how challenging it was to come up with materials that were safe, efficient and durable. Without modern luminous materials it’s safe to say that the sports...

Magnetic fields can stop a watch dead in its tracks. Here’s how the watch industry fought back – and won. The effects of magnetic fields on mechanical watches can range from subtle and insidious, to immediate and catastrophic. A strong enough magnetic field can stop a movement outright, or instantly cause it to begin keeping...

If this doesn’t make you feel grateful for modern flight instruments nothing will. There are complications that make life easier, and then there are complications that make you work. Some complications take more getting used to than others – the ins and outs of the Gregorian calendar aren’t particularly anything you need to know if...

There are several well known international standards in watchmaking, but METAS Master Chronometer standards might be the most strict ever. The evolution of watchmaking standards has been a very long and very slow process, which has been unfolding for as long as watchmaking has existed. This is a long time. The first spring-powered clocks were...

How Yellow Gold Watches Made A Comeback At the end of 2023, the New York Times ran a story by veteran watch journalist Roberta Naas on the yellow gold trend in fine watchmaking. This trend has a number of poster children, including new releases over the last couple of years from Rolex, Tudor, Bulgari, Audemars...

The dress watch will always be with us – but will we always think of it as a dress watch? One of the things about writing about watches (this is probably true of almost any specific subject, including cars, stamps, wine, and for all I know, 16th century Bavarian lutes) is that certain subjects reliably...

Beauty is more than skin deep, but it’s not a bad place to start. It is a truism in the watch business that to sell a watch, all you have to do is sell the dial and while it’s a truism, not a truth, there is like most truisms, some truth to it. The dial...

Beat the heat with the best straps for summer’s sweaty woes. I am a sweaty man. This is probably not the way my wife would like me to begin an article but as I always say, you must be self aware. When the temp rises, my wrists swell, my palms get sweaty and for someone...

One of Journe’s most sophisticated complications is also one of his most enigmatic. The Centigraphe Souverain was not Journe’s first chronograph – that honor goes to the Octa Chronographe, which Journe introduced in 2001, and which was discontinued in 2007. The Octa Chronographe was in itself a remarkable achievement – the movement, automatic caliber 1300,...

How De Bethune makes a star out of an unsung hero of watchmaking. The antishock system is something most watch enthusiasts can go a lifetime without thinking about even once, but without it, modern wristwatches couldn’t exist (or at the very least, they’d be in for a service a lot more often). The purpose of...

A look at why the remontoir and tourbillon are an ultra-rare match made in heaven. Welcome to the second installment in our technical series on F.P. Journe’s complications. Our first installment was a detailed analysis of the principles behind the Chronomètre à Résonance – in particular, how it works, why it works, and the problems...

The De Bethune balances are cool as hell to look at, but behind the sci-fi aesthetics are basic laws of nature. De Bethune watches are easy to fall in love with just on the aesthetics alone – the company’s design language is as different from that of any other brand as you could possibly imagine...

You don’t need to know them all, but whether you are a seasoned watch collector or new to the game — these are the reference numbers all enthusiasts should know. I remember my first day of work at The 1916 Company/The 1916 Company the way one remembers their first day of college. I am not...