2014 is just about over, and it has been a rather eventful year for the watch industry and aBlogtoWatch. From an editorial standpoint, we’ve seen a lot more watch lovers than ever before turn to the Internet to share their love of watches via social media like Instagram, and they have relied on time-honored blogs like aBlogtoWatch as a primary venue for learning about new watches and discussing those timepieces which they are passionate about.

2014 was also the real year the smartwatch became part of the watch industry’s conversation, and many watch people previously not interested in “wearable devices” suddenly encountered the proposition that sometime in the future they may be faced with a very real choice of how to integrate smartwatches into their lives and reconcile them with their love of mechanical watches. 2014 experienced a major refocus by Swiss watch brands back to the United States and Western European markets, with the immediate result being a surge in interest for big name watch brands like Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, etc…

So let’s take a look at those watch articles which topped the traffic lists on aBlogtoWatch in 2014 and see what people wanting to read about watches on the internet found the most interesting and worth taking a look at.

1. Apple Watch Hands-On

The first smartwatch to take the world by storm was debuted by Apple in September of 2014. While the Apple Watch won’t even be released until sometime in 2015, global interest in Apple’s smartwatch device has made it the top article on aBlogtoWatch in 2014.

2. Guides To Buying Your First Rolex Watch

This was actually a two part article, with Guide To Buying Your First Rolex Part 1 here and Guide To Buying Your First Rolex Watch Part 2 here. The message is clear that Rolex is still attracting a lot of first-time buyers, and many of those people are very interested in getting expert advice on what Rolex watch to buy.

3. 10 Things To Know About How Rolex Makes Watches

In late 2013, aBlogtoWatch visited the various manufacture locations of Rolex watches in Switzerland. What resulted was a new found respect and deep appreciation for the meticulous manner in which the world’s leading luxury watch maker designs, produces, and performs quality control for their class-leading timepieces.

4. Top 10 Watches To Survive The Zombie Apocalypse

One of the first major “list” articles on aBlogtoWatch was the top watches to help you survive on a deserted island, which was published all the way back in 2007. While there have been lots of new watches since then, the principles set forth in the article remain the same. In 2013, we did a follow-up with a list of the top 10 watches to help you survive a zombie apocalypse. As the zombie-genre is incredibly popular now, it isn’t a surprise that this piece is in the top 10 most popular on aBlogtoWatch this year.

5. Rolex Sea-Dweller 4000 Watch Hands-On

Baselworld 2014 saw the release of an updated version of the cult-favorite Rolex Sea-Dweller. Nestled in between the Rolex Submariner and the Rolex Deepsea in terms of both performance and price, the new Rolex Sea-Dweller 4000 was an exciting new watch for Rolex sport and dive watch lovers around the world.

6. Top 10 Watches Of Baselworld 2014

Baselworld is the world’s largest watch trade show and takes place in Basel, Switzerland, each year in March. aBlogtoWatch’s editorial team makes the annual pilgrimage there, which results not only in tons of new watch coverage over the year, but also our famous top 10 watches of Baselworld list which sums up our top picks.

7. Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Planetarium Watch Hands-On

Van Cleef & Arpel’s interpretation of the mechanical planetarium system devised by Christiaan van der Klaauw goes to show how important design refinement is when it comes to luxury watches. This simply beautiful, complicated, and exclusive Midnight Planetarium watch caught the attention of a lot of people for Van Cleef & Arpels in 2014.

8. Top 10 Dress Watches

Dress watches are an underdog of many watch collections unless you find yourself dressing up a lot. I am an unabashed lover of quality dress watches, despite the fact that I rarely have an opportunity to wear one, living in casual California. Nevertheless, our list of our top 10 best dress watches was a popular article this year.

9. Rolex Submariner Watch Review

Rolex was clearly the undeniable winner across the board on aBlogtoWatch in 2014, but that isn’t a surprise, given Rolex’s global popularity among mainstream consumers. Our review of the Date and “No Date” version of the Rolex Submariner provided people with a lot of good information on why these iconic sport diving watches are in such high demand. We even followed-up later with a long-term review of the Rolex Submariner 114060 watch here.

10. Casio G-Shock GW9400 Rangeman Watch Review

Fans all over the world were excited about Casio’s most impressive G-Shock to date when it comes to blending style, functionality, and price. The Rangeman is the first G-Shock model to combine all three of the triple sensor functions of the Pro Trek collection into a G-Shock and I can attest to the fact that it is an amazing watch.