Mar 16, 2026
Four Times I Was Wrong About Watch Collecting
Try to think of an objective fact about watches. If you’re anything like me, it’s a task that sounds simple at first, but quickly turns into a surprisingly difficult thought experiment. After some head scratching, my attempt at this exercise ended with a relatively short list, made up mostly of historical facts and a small number of all-encompassing physical descriptions: Watches were invented in the 16th century. They tell time, generally, and are powered by some sort of movement- quartz, mechanical, electric, tuning fork, or otherwise. They are round, or not. And have three hands, or more… and sometimes none at all. As it turns out, objective facts about watches are in short supply, which by default makes mastering the subjective a primary element of watch collecting. Luckily for me and all the other self-proclaimed voices of authority spamming the forums alongside me, becoming an expert boils down to the ability to pick (usually meticulously researched) standpoints where the stakes are low and our personal beliefs are inherently never wrong. In the very first article I wrote for Worn & Wound back in 2023, I stated that forming opinions was one of my favorite things about the hobby. In the time since I picked the premise of individual stances as my first published words on this site, I’ve formed countless of them, and still find tremendous joy in doing so. Watches are round…or not Some of my early opinions (such as a logoed counterbalance on the second hand...
Time+Tide
