The question I get asked most often by friends who know nothing about watches is, “What makes a watch so expensive?” To answer this, I often compare a watch to a car. My explanation goes something like this: To engineer a car from scratch, the main cost is in the manufacturing and assembly of each part. A great mechanical watch is […]

You may notice there have been some changes around here. Today, I’m excited to announce TickTocking 2.0 (or maybe 3.0…who’s keeping track?). I started TickTocking several years ago as a blog where I could speak candidly about watches and the watch industry. At the time, I was running MB&F North America. I was not beholden to advertisers or other watch […]

This morning, Hodinkee announced that it has merged with Watchville, Kevin Rose’s app, that Kevin will now be CEO of Hodinkee, and that it has raised $3.6 million from a big time team of investors. If you follow this blog at all, you know I primarily write on watches and tech, so this post has me about as excited as […]

Aside from watches, one of my other passions is contemporary art. There is a distinct form of art that offends me, however: art that makes fun of art collectors. Regrettably, this is not very uncommon. The main message communicated is usually some form of, “By the nature of you paying exorbitant sums for this, you prove that you are yuppy […]

Last week, news broke that Audemars Piguet was parting ways with their CEO, Philippe Merk and replacing him (supposedly in interim) with François-Henry Bennahmias, formerly head of AP North America. AP is my favorite “big” brand.  In fact, the watch I wear most often is an AP.  They have great products, great history, and many great people who work there. […]

Next week in Geneva, SIHH marks the real beginning of a new year for the watch industry.  This will be my first year for a while not attending the shows.  As someone who is now on the outside looking in, I have a new perspective – and can also be more candid.  During my time in the industry, I gained […]

If you missed my post yesterday, I am leaving my position with MB&F.  First of all, I got so many amazingly nice emails and phone calls.  Thank you very much.  It is great to know that people appreciated the job I did.  Another common comment was that of surprise or shock that I would leave, and curiosity as to what […]

If you missed my post Thursday, Jack Forster is doing a series on why NOT to buy a mechanical watch.  I’m commenting here.  Today is part 2: Watch designers have painted themselves into a corner and run out of things to say. Well isn’t this a meaty topic.  I will direct the conversation by first modifying the premise: *SOME* watch […]

For those of you who do not know Jack, he is truly one of the most eloquent and deep thinking watch writers in the world.  He has just posted a new series on Revolution Online to play devil’s advocate.  Five Days, Five Reasons to NOT Buy A Mechanical Watch. I like this idea a lot.  I’m going to follow his […]

In case you missed my post this morning, please look here to find out about all the changes to the site and visit the new forums! For those of you who are not familiar, Beat Haldimann is one of the most incredible watchmakers in the world.  He is one of these guys who crafts nearly everything by hand.  His first […]