Explore the technical world of watchmaking: automatic movements, complications, materials such as sapphire and titanium, and watch adjustment and maintenance. This category breaks down the mechanical and technological aspects of watches to give you a better understanding of how they work and their value.
The Myth of Permanent Water Resistance A watch is never “waterproof forever”. It is—until proven otherwise. And that proof, unfortunately, often arrives at the worst possible moment: by the pool,…
Why does a mechanical watch—sometimes adjusted with the exacting standards of a master watchmaker—lose or gain a few seconds each day? Because behind its flawless dial, a delicate score is…
Why the escapement is time’s beating heart In a mechanical watch, everything begins with a mainspring housed in the barrel. It unwinds, powers a gear train… and would, unchecked, run…
Two words, two worlds: why we still confuse chronograph and chronometer In everyday language, “chrono” covers everything. We use it to describe both an interval timer and an extremely accurate…
When a watch “lives” on the wrist A slight shiver, a secret rustle, sometimes a genuine buzz that seems to travel through the case. Anyone who wears mechanical watches has…
The Invisible Enemy of Watches: Magnetism A watch can survive rain, cold, shocks. But when it comes to magnets, its Achilles’ heel is the balance spring. Exposed to a…
A blue glint that’s anything but accidental Open the sapphire caseback of a well-bred watch and you’ll spot that discreet, almost electric shimmer: blued screws, set like inked punctuation…
It’s a silent dance you wear on your wrist. An energy born of your movements, passed from one piece of metal to the next, regulated to the hundredth of a…
The red secret at the heart of calibres They barely glint, set like cold stars beneath a movement’s bridge. You often catch them through a sapphire caseback, engraved with…
First and foremost, I’m a lover of mechanical watches—but I’m not dogmatic: I also have my own little collection of quartz watches. And when it comes to changing the battery,…
Two philosophies of time On the wrist, everything begins with a beat. The crisp, regular beat of a seconds hand snapping forward on a quartz watch. Or the hushed,…
Why manual winding still captivates In a world where everything is becoming automated, manual winding remains a profoundly human gesture. It’s the moment the mechanics wake up at your…
Recognising the real thing: a story of details In shop windows and on the wrists of heirs, the Swiss watch is a language. It speaks of precision, patience, and the…
Transparent charm: why skeleton watches fascinate To lay a movement bare is to tell the most intimate story of watchmaking. A skeleton watch is not merely a stylistic exercise: it…
Progress in watchmaking is rarely a thunderclap. It’s a breath. An improvement that seeps into workshops, slips beneath dials, and reshapes our relationship with time without fanfare. The silicon…
Flyback: the art of restarting time in a single gesture On a conventional chronograph, the rule is immutable: start, stop, then reset. The flyback chronograph—also known as “return-to-flight”—upends that…
