As read by you, here are the top 10 most viewed articles of all time on Quill & Pad. There are likely to be a few surprises.
On January 1, 2019 Quill & Pad celebrates its five-year anniversary. And in honor of this milestone, we take a look at some of the great stories and photos from the last 1,825 days that have helped make this publication a fun, informative, and visually interesting one.
In no particular order . . . drum roll please . . . here are the ten all-time most-viewed stories we have posted in the last five years.
6 Ways To Spot A Fake Watch, Even If You Don’t Know How To Spot A Fake Watch
What Makes Me Tick is our resident opinionator. But more than that, it is WMMT’s slightly snobbish, relatively French, yet sort of English dry sense of humor that brings most of us to tears with laughter as we read his accounts.

Genuine fake watches
In this post, WMMT embarks upon a hilarious listicle of sage advice for the beginning watch enthusiast. Some of the advice is, of course, just common sense. Some clearly tongue-in-cheek. All of it is, however, correct and should be adhered to at any stage of watch collecting.
So to help to make sure that you are not taken in, click on 6 Ways To Spot A Fake Watch, Even If You Don’t Know How To Spot A Fake Watch and have fun while you learn how to protect yourself.
5 Unexpected Ways You Might Damage A Mechanical Watch
It’s not always easy to find practical information on how to take care of your watch when reading special interest publications or even just googling.

Ouchhh! This Rolex Submariner has seen better times
It’s a good thing John Keil is so well-versed in retail matters. Here he explains five obvious or not-so-obvious ways to damage your watch in his usual tongue-in-cheek manner.
This is worth a read no matter how advanced your WIS level is! Don’t miss 5 Unexpected Ways You Might Damage A Mechanical Watch.
The 8 Most Accurate Moon Phase Wristwatches Today
This article written by resident nerd writer Joshua Munchow takes a look at calculating the moon phase complication and lists off the accuracy of the top eight most precise mechanical examples on the market as of July 2015.

Sauterelle à Lune Perpétuelle by Andreas Strehler
Check out this fascinating post with some little-known facts at The 8 Most Accurate Moon Phase Wristwatches Today. You may want to do it again even if you’ve already read it.
Great Rolex Experiment With The GMT Master II Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Crown
GaryG, our resident enthusiast collector, had thus far managed to avoid having a Rolex model in his collection (which he explained in Why I’ve Never Owned A Rolex – And Why I Might Yet).

Mainstream value: the author’s Rolex GMT-Master II BLNR “Batman”
But then he unexpectedly bought a Rolex GMT-Master II. Why? What changed?
You can find out at Great Rolex Experiment With The GMT Master II Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Crown.
The Seiko SII NE88 Automatic Chronograph Movement: A Change In The Wind?

Seiko’s SII NE88 movement
In The Seiko SII NE88 Automatic Chronograph Movement: A Change In The Wind? Joshua Munchow explores a bit of history of the automatic chronograph movement and describes in some detail the standout features of the 2014-introduced Seiko SII NE88 chronograph movement, which various brands now use as the motor for their own timepieces.
Why I Bought It: Jaeger-LeCoultre Tribute To Reverso 1931
Once again GaryG takes us inside his collection to provide background information on why he made the choice to purchase the Jaeger-LeCoultre Tribute to Reverso 1931.

GaryG’s Jaeger-LeCoultre Tribute to Reverso 1931 U.S. limited production 2012
And, as usual, his wise words are accompanied by truly breathtaking photos. See for yourself at Why I Bought It: Jaeger-LeCoultre Tribute To Reverso 1931.
5 Tool Watches I’d Buy If I Didn’t Want to Spring For A Rolex Submariner
John Keil thinks that the Rolex Submariner is by leaps and bounds the most iconic dive watch to have ever existed. Probably the most iconic watch of any style to have ever existed, for that matter. Many of his friends ask, “What’s the best Rolex to buy?”

Oris Divers Sixty-Five
However, if your budget doesn’t stretch to Rolex, he suggests good alternatives in 5 Tool Watches I’d Buy If I Didn’t Want to Spring For A Rolex Submariner, where you can learn what brand-new (not pre-owned) functional dive watches John would recommend a to a friend who was looking to spend within a certain price range or he would buy himself.
Why I Bought It: Vianney Halter Deep Space Tourbillon
This article written and photographed by our resident collector GaryG is a particularly beautiful post thanks to the insider information imparted and the wonderful photography of one of GaryG’s magnificent acquisitions.

Deep Space Tourbillon by Vianney Halter
Even if you’ve already read Why I Bought It: Vianney Halter Deep Space Tourbillon before, it’s well worth going back to it just for those spectacular photos.
Navigating The Grey Market: A Retail Expert Explains The Whys And Wherefores
In Navigating The Grey Market: A Retail Expert Explains The Whys And Wherefores, John Keil offers a broad description of the grey market, how and why it exists, and what (if anything) could be done for a brand to eliminate – or at least minimize – its presence.
And John makes clear from the start that this is not a rebuke of online stores, grey market dealers, or the many people working on that side of the industry. Many are highly reputable; some are not. Learn how to distinguish between them in this post.
Why Philippe Dufour Matters. And It’s Not A Secret
Ian and I are big proponents of independent watchmaking, and we have been for our entire careers. In fact, the desire to continue writing about the watch industry’s mavericks is one of the big reasons we founded Quill & Pad.

A “family” of Philippe Dufour timepieces
Therefore, we find it particularly gratifying to know that our readers feel the same way.
And in particular to know that you continue to look for information on the one man that might well be considered the grandfather of independent watchmaking: Philippe Dufour. Don’t miss Why Philippe Dufour Matters. And It’s Not A Secret.
You may also enjoy:
Top 10 Most Popular Posts Of 2018 On Quill & Pad
Our Top 10 Most Popular Posts Of 2017 . . . And, Again, They Weren’t All About Rolex!
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!