Whimsy, frivolity, playfulness: these are not adjectives one often hears used to describe haute horlogerie. And yet these words accurately describe many watches or clocks built over the centuries. Take a journey with Joshua Munchow to discover his favorite modern whimsical masterpieces.
In the real world, some complications are pretty useless. And that’s not saying they aren’t cool. Here Joshua Munchow runs through his top 5 most useless complications and why they are simultaneously useless and cool.
The Swiss press is reporting that the tug of war between Swatch Group and Comco is now back on the table – and could result in dire consequences for the entire industry as soon as 2020, when ETA may stop delivering movements to outside brands. Get the story here.
Chris Malburg set out to buy his wife a watch. After many happy years of marriage to a lovely woman it was time. He knows enough about her and her tastes to take the leap. Or does he? If you’re a female reader you probably already know this ends badly. If you’re a guy, keep reading. Showing up is 80 percent, and you just showed up.
Have you ever wondered how Titleist gets its logo on bumpy round golf balls? Well this is your lucky day as Joshua Munchow discusses the secret of one very specialized printing process that goes on in the world and how it has its roots in watchmaking. In fact, you still see the results of this process nearly every time you look at your watch dial.
GaryG loves independent watchmaking and independent watchmakers; one of his great joys as a collector is having the feeling that, in a small way, he is supporting their efforts. So he put some thought into why independent watchmakers struggle in a business sense and how they can remain relevant in changing market situations.
Back in 2018, Ian Skellern published a provocative article taking issue with the current state of online watch journalism. Specifically, he criticized what in his view is the low quality and repetitive nature of what we see online. But are things really uniform and uniformly bad or are there distinct types of online sources and content? GaryG wonders how we think about the different business models and value propositions of watch sites, and what it tells us about how the future may unfold.
Based on the most popular releases of 2017, it is possible that the almighty tourbillon may about to be usurped by something new and rather old at the same time: the chronograph. In this installment of Joshua Munchow’s “Here’s Why” series, he explores why the chronograph is the new tourbillon.
Ask any watchmaker about the Rolex 31 family of calibers and the story will be the same: it has stood the test of time. Ashton Tracy hasn’t met a single watchmaker who doesn’t love working on these workhorse Rolex movements. They are easy to service, keep great time, and stand up to abuse. Put simply: they work. So how does it stand up to new big brother, Caliber 3235? Find out right here!
The retrograde indication is one of Joshua Munchow’s favorite “Because We Can” (BWC) complications. Gears are an amazing invention and have allowed watchmakers to make incredible creations. Simple gear systems leave a multitude of openings for creativity. He looks at some great examples of them here.