I trawled libraries and bookstores and found many books that, if judged by their cover, appeared to offer what I was planning to produce. But in every case I was able to conclude that each book was not exactly what I had in mind. Some turned out to be historical narratives of horology, others gave detailed accounts but they were limited to a single brand, a small group of brands, or a kind of watch. Some appeared more expansive at first glance, but on closer inspection their word count turned out to be diluted by multiple languages or they were little more than an amalgamation of brand-issued vital statistics. These are invariably great books in their own right, and they deserve their place on your bookshelf, but I wanted to write something else.

There was nothing out there that took the reader through an exhaustive tour of the generic concept of the mechanical watch, across the spectrum of mechanisms and complications leaving no stone unturned. There was nothing that did that while providing the reader with a massive range of watches, or that did so without compromising on the content – content designed to educate, explain, occasionally jest, but never condescend, bore, or overwhelm. And so I wrote it.

I wrote The Wristwatch Handbook so it could be read in layers. First, I assumed that you might want to familiarise yourself with the book by browsing through all of the images. As a result I devoted about 15% of the total word count to the captions. The captions do not simply repeat the main text, instead they will often reveal an additional fact, give an aside about another component or design element, or explain what that pusher at 10 o’clock does. Eventually you will be ready to read the book cover-to-cover, or at least chapter-by-chapter. This is where the theory is fleshed out, the principles are explained and the key components are brought forward. There is enough information in The Wristwatch Handbook to provide those who read it with a rock-solid foundation in technical know-how, a glimpse of a universe of brands, and ideally a more refined sense of what they like or even what they want to get next.

This is what makes the book unique and what makes me truly proud to have written it.

Why did I write it?

In the simplest of terms, I love watches, I know how they work, and I take every opportunity I have to share my passion and knowledge with other enthusiasts.

My own personal journey of watch enthusiasm started before aBlogtoWatch, before aBlogtoRead, before blogs. It reaches way back to a light blue 1980’s Casio (its mysterious disappearance is still a source of light residual pain to me), but in terms of serious knowledge-seeking it has been a decade-long road. It started in my early career, which entailed a very high volume of international travel and as a consequence I found myself buying watch magazines at every airport and visiting the boutiques in every major city. I would read these magazines cover-to-cover on long haul flights and plot my routes to the boutiques from the office or my hotel so I could steal a few moments of an evening or during a weekend stay.

My journey has taken me to some great places and I am honoured to have met some amazing people in the industry, people who have been vital to the success of the book. They are too numerous to single-out, and that’s what the acknowledgement section of the book is for, but to summarize, I count among them CEOs of brands, dealers, marketers, auction specialists, journalists, collectors, and fellow enthusiasts. I have also met watchmakers, from those repairing and servicing many of the timepieces featured in the book to those designing and building them in the first instance. I was particularly fortunate to have been able to discuss and hypothesise as well as share earlier drafts of the manuscript with some of these extremely intelligent people and the book is immeasurably better for their involvement.

I sincerely hope that you enjoy The Wristwatch Handbook. If you have half the fun reading the book as I have had writing it, you will not be disappointed. The Wristwatch Handbook is published by ACC Art Books Ltd and retails for $85. It is available online and from all good bookstores. For more information on the book, please visit. thewristwatchhandbook.com

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