Horology - Topics

Is a vintage watch worth buying when the service history is missing? Why does a watch lose a chunk of its value the moment you wear it? Why does an automatic watch stop overnight if you leave it on the bedside table? Why do watch adverts sell heritage instead of accuracy? What fails first in a clock that has run continuously for fifty years? How often does a mechanical watch really need servicing and what does it cost? Why do quartz watches keep better time yet feel cheaper than mechanical ones? How long does it take to train a watchmaker and who is hiring them now? Why does a watch start running fast after sitting near a laptop speaker? How can you spot a fake watch without opening the case? What does a tourbillon actually correct and does it matter on a wrist? How do independent watchmakers survive when one movement takes a year to finish? Why does water resistance often fail right after a battery change? Is a watch marked 50 m water resistant actually safe to swim in? What does an in-house movement mean and why do collectors pay extra for one? Why do some watch movements beat eight times a second instead of six? Why does a mechanical watch lose accuracy as the mainspring unwinds? Why do anglage and perlage matter on a movement nobody will ever see? How did the longitude prize turn clockmaking into a national obsession? Why has the Swiss lever escapement survived two centuries of challengers? Why did the Nivarox hairspring supply matter so much to the whole watch industry? How did hand finishing survive the quartz crisis? Which watch complications are genuinely hard to build and which are decoration? Why do watchmakers rate accuracy in positions instead of one number?