50 Things We’ve All Done As Watch Nuts
Ever since I got into watches, eleven years ago, I repeatedly caught myself doing things I never imagined anyone – let alone myself – would be up to. Not only taking constant photos of my wrist, but doing so at the most inappropriate
Asbestos, Lead, Radium: Interview with Jonathan Toumi, Diagnostics Expert at the Heart of the Watch Industry
I met Jonathan Toumi six years ago, after what my kids had picked up in the garden thinking it was an interesting rock turned out to be a chunk of asbestos-cement. I subsequently developed a phobia of asbestos and other hidden enemies of
Breaking Up With A Watch: Really, It’s Not You, It’s Me
Comparing a relationship with a watch to a relationship with a human is completely insane from a normal person’s perspective. But, if you’re one of us, you know what I’m talking about. There’s a thing or two in common between falling in love
Relationship Status with my Swatch x Blancpain Green Abyss: It’s Complicated
When the first variants of the Swatch x Blancpain collaboration were released, I waited in line to get one. I stood for hours outside in the very early morning, with my foldable chair and thermos. Not so much for the watch itself—this wasn’t
Amid Second Hand Drills and DVDs, My Little Secret for Watch Deals in Bienne
I wrote last month about the pleasure of purchasing affordable watches in Bienne. Some of you have since asked for my go-to places. While there are a few, none come close in their abundance of choice – and frequency of my visits –
The Best Watch Museums in Switzerland
As Watches & Wonders kicks off on Tuesday, professionals and enthusiasts from around the world will converge around the industry’s latest novelties. Living in a city where thousands of folks depend on the global watch market to make ends meet, I certainly respect
WristTrack, the App for Watch Nerds You Didn’t Know You Needed
As someone who works in “tech” and is obsessed with watches, the Instagram Story Robert-Jan Broer posted about the WristTrack app last month immediately caught my attention. The notion that other people are both down the watch rabbit hole and geeky enough to
A Peek Inside A Twisted Collector’s Mind (Mine)
Every collector has their quirks. I have many. More than most? I’ll let you decide. For one, I don’t like to call myself a collector. I typically consider myself a “user”, and refer to my accumulation of watches not as my collection but
From Swatch Intern to Chief Design Officer at On: Interview with Thilo Alex Brunner
When I first came across On shoes, over a decade ago, I was living in Senegal and visiting the Silicon Valley for work. I was immediately struck by the unique futuristic yet comforting looks. I certainly did not expect that, half a dozen
Branding Bienne: Interview with the City’s Vice-Chancellor Julien Steiner
As the city’s Vice-Chancellor, Julien Steiner has among his prerogatives Bienne’s image as a place to live. Considering how radically the perception of Bienne has evolved over the years, and the role of watchmaking in the city’s reputation, there was a lot to
