I ask because I just finished my book about it — and I want to know if the assumption behind it holds in this room. Here is the assumption: knowing when something was invented, who invented it, and what it replaced changes how you read a watch. Not as academic background. As practical context. The first automatic movement dates to 1928 - but was pioneered by Breguet, end of 1700s. The waterproof case to 1926. The date window to 1945. The spring bar — the pin that lets you swap a strap without tools — was first patented in 1929 by a guy nobody remembers. Every one of those dates is a decision someone made under pressure, with incomplete information, often against industry consensus. The watch you are wearing is the result of a few hundred of those decisions stacked on top of each other. That's what the book covers. 300+ entries, from the shadow clocks of ancient Egypt to the silicon escapement. Organised chronologically so you can follow the thread. Indexed so you can look up any name, invention, or event and find it in thirty seconds. It's all in there. As always, it's on Amazon - on print. But please, tell me what you think. Also, a side project unlocked. I'm turning the Horology History Guide into a trivia card game. One question, four possible answers. Educational and fun — the kind of thing you can play with someone who knows nothing about watches and someone who knows everything, and both will learn something. Who invented what, when, why it mattered, what it replaced, what happened next. Quick test: The lever escapement was invented in 1754. Who invented it — and why did it take 50 years before anyone used it commercially? A) George Graham — he kept it secret B) Thomas Mudge — he never bothered to promote it C) Abraham-Louis Breguet — he patented it but lost the rights D) Abraham Louis Perrelet — he sold the design to Vacheron Constantin Would you play this?

Let me tell you something that most people in the watch world don't say out loud. I have always worked in design. And I know the difference between design and decoration. The majority of watches — including many expensive ones — are decoration. A pattern on a dial. A famous name on a case. A limited edition built around a signature rather than an idea. The object underneath doesn't change. Only the surface does. You're buying the label, not the thought. Design is different. Design is when the form becomes the idea. When you can't separate what the object looks like from what it means. When removing any part of it gives you a different object — not the same object without decoration. That's a rare thing. And it matters, because the man who understands the difference buys differently, thinks differently, and carries himself differently. Here's one of the clearest examples I know. Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese architect. No formal degree. Pritzker Prize winner — that's the Nobel of architecture. His entire career has been built on one idea: reduce everything to its essential. Concrete, geometry, light. Nothing more. Critics call his work "haiku in concrete". In 2019, Bulgari gave him a watch to design. Not to decorate — to design. He created a spiral on the dial that emanates from the seconds hand, like a wave spreading across water. No indices. No numerals. No Bulgari logo. The brand removed its own name from the dial. Because the object was more important than the brand. He did it three times. Each edition developed the idea further — the crescent moon, the night sky, the ripple in ceramic. Three watches. One thought. Getting more precise each time. That is what a man with a point of view does. He doesn't repeat himself. He deepens. The watch tells you where you are in time. Not what time it is — where you are in it. That's a different question. And it takes a different kind of mind to ask it. Most men wear decoration. Some wear design. Know which one you're wearing. And know why.

This is the most underrated career path nobody Is talking about. The Swiss watch industry needs 4,000 trained watchmakers. The pipeline produces 500 per year. That gap is not closing. It is widening. I have written a detailed article about this in my Patreon, but here's the key facts. Here is what that means in practical terms. The pre-owned watch market — vintage Rolex, Patek, AP — is heading toward €79 billion by 2033. Growing at 12% per year. Every one of those watches needs service. The movements inside them are out of production. The skills to service them are disappearing as the generation that has them retires. The big brands train their own people — for their own service centers. The independent watchmaker gets nothing from that system. Which means the man who can walk into a shop, pick up a 1960s Submariner, and know exactly what to do with it is becoming genuinely rare. Rare means valuable. Rare means your own hours. Rare means no boss. A skilled independent watchmaker with vintage expertise in 2030 will be able to name his price. The clients will come to him. He will not go to them. The practical moves: If you know a young watchmaker who is serious and talented — send him business. Tell people about him. He is a scarce asset. Treat him like one. If you have people you care about, tell them this. Maybe a son who does not know what to do with his hands — watchmaking school. Three to four years. Then apprentice with the best independent you can find. By the time he is 30, he will have a skill that no AI can replicate, no factory can automate, and no market can commoditize. The brands spent twenty years engineering the shortage. The man who fills the gap owns the next decade.

I've been very busy during these days, and here it is. The conversion is complete, and finally my new book is out. It is dedicated to the vintage lovers - and outlines the key data of 75 amongst the notable watch brands that no longer exist in that form — and the stories behind why they disappeared as significant watch manufacturers. This is the second volume in the TWM Field Guides series, and it covers the brands that shaped the vintage market as we know it: American railroad watchmakers, Swiss military suppliers, forgotten French manufactures, German ateliers destroyed by war and politics. Some are well known to serious collectors. Most have been almost entirely forgotten. Two pages per brand. History, key references, and current market values — everything you need to know before you bid, buy, or walk past something you should have picked up. A few of the stories you'll find inside: The Swiss brand that invented the automatic chronograph — and disappeared six years later, its movement living on inside Heuer Monaco and Breitling Chrono-Matic dials without its name. The French factory whose workers occupied the building in 1973, seized 60,000 watches, hid them across the city, and sold them from bicycle panniers to pay their own wages. The Cleveland jeweller who built a national precision standard after a train collision killed people because a conductor's watch had stopped — and never manufactured a single movement himself. The brand whose watches were systematically converted into fake Cartiers by unscrupulous dealers — and still are. The only British watchmaker among the Dirty Dozen, whose London showroom was bombed in 1940 while the Swiss factory kept shipping. This is not a guide to authentication. It will not tell you whether the watch on the table is genuine or faked. It will tell you what the brand behind it was, why it mattered, and what it is worth today. That context is often the most valuable thing a collector can have. What's inside: — 75 brand profiles, two pages each

After careful consideration I've decided to proceed with the guide about vintage brands. The main reason why is because it was already half developed - so it just needs some formatting and rewriting - a definitely shorter work. It will present you seventy-five watch brands that meant something - and are now lost. The Lost Brands Guide covers the makers that built the foundations of modern horology — and did not survive to see it. History, movements, collectibility, and current market values for every brand. There are brands which are still active - but have been refounded or just lost the magic that they had. Here's the brand list: Abercrombie & Fitch · Accurist · Angelus · Aquastar · Arsa / Alex Reymond · Aureole · Avia · Ball · Benrus · Buler · Buren · Cauny Prima · Cortébert · Croton · Cyma · Delbana · Dodane · Elgin · Enicar · Ernest Borel · Eterna · Excelsior Park · Favre-Leuba · Gallet · Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb / GUB · Grana · Gruen · Hanhart · Harwood · Hebdomas · Helvetia · HMT · Illinois Watch Company · Ingersoll · J.W. Benson · Jean Lassale · Juvenia · Laco · Leroy · Levrette · LIP · Marvin · Mimo · Moeris · Mortima · Nicolet · Nivada Grenchen · Ollech & Wajs · Olma · Pierce · Porsche Design · Record · Revue Thommen · Ricoh · Roamer · Rotary · Ruhla · Sandoz · Sicura · Silvana · Smiths · Stowa · Tavannes · Technos · Timex · Timor · Titoni / Felca · Titus / Solvil et Titus · Tressa · Vertex · Wakmann · Waltham · West End Watch Co. · Wittnauer · Yema If you love vintage, this will be an excellent reference book to accompany you when you are treasure-seeking. More news soon!