Provenance, Provenance, Provenance

I could have named this thread ”Always Expect the Unexpected” or “In Horology Strange Things Happen.” But remembering the buying property adage “Location, Location, Location,” I decided that in horology it’s “Provenance, Provenance, Provenance.” But where is this leading? A few months ago while in Switzerland, I took time (as always) to visit my mentor and horologist Mme Cinette [...]

Truth in Advertising

I just came back from a trip to Switzerland, the undisputed heart of watch design and making. It amazes me that companies with the standing of Hermes believe they must distort the truth of horology. While looking through a magazine in the airport lounge, I saw a lovely timepiece. Immediately, I was impressed and delighted to see modern designs using [...]

The Quest Never Ends!

I have heard people say many times that “they read the book, saw the movie, bought the T-shirt,” but never in the context of horology. Now it seems that phrase becomes appropriate to my collecting. In my quest to understand who made and wore the first wristwatches and the beginning of the automatic, my respect [...]

Restoration or Transformation—Please Don’t Pass Me By

You all know my views on “restoration!” I am fully “right wing.”  Always, always try to leave a timepiece visually as is, or how it left the factory with any natural deterioration.  That is part of the provenance of a timepiece or indeed any antique. Restoration should only save a piece—never modify or improve it—to what [...]

The Beginning of Time

Have you ever noticed how time seems to drag out when you are bored or unhappy but speed up when you’re having fun? Yet time is constant! Feeling hungry or tired is just not an accurate enough way to measure time. So, because the human body is an inaccurate clock, man has been building timepieces from [...]

Today’s Gem: A Piece of History

I have been waiting for this rare piece to arrive. It is probably the earliest American wristwatch in my collection and among the eldest timepieces in American wristwatch history. Until a few days ago, I was pretty sure that the earliest men’s wristwatches were made in 1916, but thanks to Stan Anthony Czubernat, we now [...]

Kicker For Adam Harris

A Tale of Two Crowns

After 5 months of working at the NAWCC Museum, I am fairly confident in expressing who manufactured a given wristwatch and when the first ones materialized, both in Europe and America. The transition from pocket watch to wristwatch was neither quick nor simple. We see here a 1918 Elgin with offset crown at 1 o’clock [...]

Do You Believe in Reincarnation? Vintage Watch Designs Live Again

Watch enthusiasts crave the new—new materials, new complications, fresh designs. But they also love the old watch designs. What’s behind that allure held by vintage watches? Is it a greater feeling of authenticity to know your watch is “the real thing”—the notion that classic watches are more original than recent ones? The romance of wearing a [...]

The Highlander and His Watch

Well, folks, I have been back home one week, and now the time has come for another article on horology. During my last days at the NAWCC, I took time to wander around many of the old antique shops, looking not to purchase anything, but then I came across the item below and realized it [...]