Football refereeing is one of the most physically demanding jobs in sport, and nobody talks about it. An elite referee covers 10 to 13 kilometres per match, running at varying intensities across 90 minutes plus stoppage time and potential extra periods. The physical demands during a match are comparable to those of an outfield player. … Read more
Swatch is the reason you can buy a Swiss-made watch today. That sentence is worth sitting with for a moment before looking at any specific model. In 1970, Switzerland produced 84 million watches and employed ninety thousand people in the industry. By 1983, those numbers had collapsed. Japanese manufacturers had introduced quartz movements that were … Read more
The watch world has a strange relationship with prestige. A watch made in a factory employing five thousand people, advertised in luxury magazines, and sold through department stores at a significant markup, arrives on your wrist with a brand story built over decades. A watch assembled by a team of eight people in a warehouse, … Read more
There is a specific moment most titanium watch owners describe. They put the watch on for the first time, close the clasp, and look at their wrist, feeling nothing. Not nothing wrong — nothing at all. The watch is there, and it is not there simultaneously. That sensation is what titanium does that no other … Read more
The wristwatch exists because of war. Before the First World War, men wore pocket watches. Officers synchronising attacks across multiple units found pocket watches impractical in a trench under fire. Strapping the watch to the wrist solved that problem. The need for precise, instantly readable timekeeping in demanding physical conditions shaped the fundamental design of … Read more
Some watches are built to look good in a boardroom. These are not those watches. A rugged watch is built to keep working when everything else has given up. Rain, mud, heat, cold, rocks, sweat — none of that should stop it. Whether you are hiking a mountain trail, doing construction work, serving in the … Read more
Buying a smartwatch for a parent is one of the most thoughtful and specific things you can do. A parent in their fifties who runs three times a week needs something completely different from one in their seventies who has never worn anything on their wrist other than a dress watch. Both call themselves parents. … Read more
There is a moment in watchmaking history that changed everything. On December 25, 1969, Seiko released the Astron — the world’s first quartz wristwatch. The movement’s accuracy was within 0.2 seconds per day, roughly 500 times more precise than the best mechanical watches available. Swiss manufacturers, who had built their entire industry on mechanical precision, … Read more
With so much to prepare for, the enthusiastic minds of adolescents need to provide youngsters with an adequate education, and teaching is seldom an easy profession. In addition to working a full day at educational institutions, which often lasts up to eight hours, teachers also have extracurricular responsibilities such as planning lessons, gathering materials for … Read more
A chronograph is not complicated. Two pushers on the side of the case. Press the top one to start the timer. Press it again to stop. Press the bottom one to reset the hands to zero. The display on the dial shows elapsed time. That is the entire mechanism, and versions of it have been … Read more