Watch Guide
Buying advice, collector knowledge and practical guidance on luxury watches — from authenticity checks to tax, insurance and care. Independent, practical, no jargon.
Buying advice
From a first purchase to tax and insurance — what matters before you pay. 18 articles
Selling Your Watch: What to Look Out For — the Guide
Selling a luxury watch without regrets: realistic pricing, proper preparation, secure settlement — and the typical mistakes that cost sellers money.
6 min readBuying a Pre-Owned Luxury Watch: the Checklist
Buying a pre-owned luxury watch without nasty surprises: authenticity, condition, papers and the secure purchase route — the complete checklist.
6 min readVerifying a Watch’s Authenticity: How to Spot Fakes
Counterfeit luxury watches keep getting better. These characteristics still give fakes away — from engravings and the movement to document checks.
6 min readBuying Your First Luxury Watch: the Beginner’s Guide
Which brand, what budget, new or pre-owned? The guide to your first luxury watch — including the five most common beginner mistakes and how to avoid them.
6 min readBuying Vintage Watches: Opportunities and Risks
Vintage watches are the royal road to a piece with character — and a field full of pitfalls. What redials and service hands mean when buying.
5 min readWhich Watch Size Suits Me? The Size Guide
Case diameter, lug-to-lug, strap width: which watch size fits which wrist — and why diameter alone tells you little.
5 min readLimited Editions: Actually More Valuable — or Just Rarer?
Limited sounds like appreciation. When limited editions are genuinely sought after, when the limitation is marketing — and how to tell the difference.
7 min readGrey Market or Authorised Dealer: Where Should You Buy?
Authorised dealer, grey market or pre-owned: what the three routes really differ in — warranty, price, availability and risk — and when each one makes sense.
8 min readWatch Buying Scams: Nine Patterns to Know
Prepayment, fake escrow, stolen photos, the handover swap: the nine most common watch-buying scams — with the countermeasures that actually work.
6 min readVAT on Watches: the Margin Scheme Explained
Why some watch invoices show no VAT, what margin scheme taxation on second-hand goods means, and how to compare offers fairly.
6 min readInsuring a Luxury Watch: the Gaps in Contents Cover
Why home contents insurance often covers luxury watches only partly, what the valuables limit means — and what to document beforehand.
7 min readChrono24 Alternative: What Matters in a Watch Marketplace
Looking for a Chrono24 alternative? Six criteria that separate good watch marketplaces from risky ones — fees, escrow, dealer checks and buyer protection.
7 min readBuying a Luxury Watch Online: How a Safe Purchase Works
Buying a luxury watch online, step by step: reading the listing, asking the right questions, negotiating, paying safely and inspecting the watch on arrival.
6 min readSelling Watches Online as a Dealer: More Reach, Less Effort
A guide for watch dealers: which online marketplace pays off, how listings sell, how to keep inventory in sync — and what buyers look for.
6 min readRolex Submariner vs Tudor Black Bay: an Honest Comparison
Submariner or Black Bay? Shared roots, differences in movement, case, bezel, water resistance and value retention — and who each one suits.
7 min readRolex or Omega: Which Brand Suits You?
Rolex or Omega? History, technology, precision, availability and value retention compared — plus the head-to-head model duels from Submariner to Speedmaster.
6 min readSpeedmaster or Daytona: the Chronograph Comparison
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch or Rolex Daytona? History, movement, case, everyday practicality and market of the two most famous chronographs compared.
7 min readRoyal Oak or Nautilus: Comparing the Steel Icons
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak or Patek Philippe Nautilus? Design, wearing feel, references, movements and market of the two Genta icons compared head to head.
Collecting & market
Value, provenance and the details collectors judge a watch by. 13 articles
Which Rolex as an Investment? Models, Criteria and Risks
Rolex as an investment: which models have historically held their value, which criteria determine worth — and the risks you should understand first.
6 min readFrankenwatches: Spotting a Watch of Mixed Parts
Original parts, wrong watch: frankenwatches are assembled from genuine components of different watches — which makes them hard to detect.
5 min readTropical Dials and Patina: When Ageing Increases Value
Brown-faded dials fetch top prices, blotchy ones reduce value. What separates patina from damage — and why collectors rave about “tropical dials”.
5 min readIn-House or Standard Movement: the Difference
Manufacture calibres count as a badge of nobility, sourced movements as mass production. Why that division is too simple — and when the premium pays.
6 min readBuilding a Watch Collection: System over Impulse
From the first piece to a curated collection: how to define roles, avoid duplicates, rotate wisely — and why selling is part of collecting.
5 min readUnderstanding Chronographs: Function and Operation
Stop function, totalisers, tachymeter: how a chronograph works, what matters when buying — and why this complication has produced so many icons.
7 min readPatek Philippe: Twelve Surprising Facts
From the invention of the winding crown to archives kept since 1839: twelve facts about Patek Philippe — and what they mean when buying pre-owned.
6 min readReference and Serial Numbers: Identifying Model and Year
Where reference and serial numbers sit, how they differ, why online production-year tables are only estimates — and which route is actually reliable.
6 min readSwiss Made, T Swiss T: The Codes on the Dial
Which dial markings are legally protected, what a chronometer has to achieve — and what the abbreviations reveal about age.
7 min readBuying a Rolex Submariner: References, Differences, Advice
Buying a Rolex Submariner: the key references from 5513 to 126610LN, the differences between Date and No-Date — and what to check before you buy.
6 min readBuying an Omega Speedmaster: the Moonwatch Buying Guide
Buying an Omega Speedmaster Professional: calibres 321, 861, 1861 and 3861 compared, Hesalite or sapphire — and what to check when buying the Moonwatch.
7 min readGérald Genta: the Designer Behind the Royal Oak and Nautilus
Gérald Genta invented the steel luxury sports watch: Royal Oak, Nautilus, Ingenieur and more. Who he was, what defines his designs and how to recognise them.
7 min readRolex Nicknames Explained: Pepsi, Batman, Hulk & Co.
Pepsi, Batman, Hulk, Kermit, Wimbledon, Paul Newman: which Rolex hides behind which nickname — with reference numbers to look them up.
Knowledge & care
How a watch works, what harms it and how it survives for decades. 10 articles
Automatic or Quartz: Which Movement Suits You?
Automatic, hand-wound or quartz? The differences in accuracy, maintenance, value development and everyday practicality — clearly explained.
5 min readWater Resistance: What the bar Ratings Really Mean
“Water resistant to 30 metres” does not mean diving to 30 metres. What the bar and metre ratings mean — and how to keep a watch tight.
5 min readCaring for and Storing Your Watch: the Basics
Cleaning, magnetic fields, storage, strap care: the key habits that keep mechanical watches in top form for decades.
5 min readServicing Mechanical Watches: Intervals and Costs
When does a mechanical watch need a service, what happens during one — and how do you know it is time? The sober service guide without scaremongering.
5 min readGMT and World Time: Watches for Two Time Zones
Second time zone, 24-hour hand, world-time ring: how GMT watches and worldtimers work, how they differ — and which construction suits whom.
4 min readWatch Winders: Sensible or Superfluous?
Does a watch winder keep the movement healthy — or just wear it out? When a winder is genuinely worth it, when it does harm, and what to look for when buying.
5 min readWatch Running Fast? How to Spot and Fix Magnetism
A watch that suddenly gains minutes a day is almost always magnetised. What causes it, how the compass test works — and why the fix is trivial.
5 min readThe Danger Zone: Never Set the Date at Night
Between roughly 9 pm and 3 am the date mechanism is engaged — quick-setting then risks damaged teeth. The golden rule in four steps.
6 min readRadium, Tritium, Super-LumiNova: Lume Explained
Three eras of luminous material, the codes printed on the dial, why old watches no longer glow — and how risky a radium watch actually is in daily life.
6 min readWatch Has Stopped: Diagnosis in Five Steps
Unwound, magnetised or overdue for a service? The most common reasons a watch stops — in the order you should check them.