Much Appreciated

Give a man a watch today and he’ll be on time tomorrow. Probably. But teach him how to appreciate a watch and he’ll be an enthusiast for life.

You’ve heard it before but we’ll say it again: luxury watches are all about the details. Sure, the movement is mechanical, but was it done in-house? So it’s a limited edition, but how many pieces? Scored the latest grand complication with a revolutionary new escapement? Impressive, but what’s the average daily rate? Got a stunning hand-painted enamel dial? Great, but was it signed by Anita Porchet? All of this sounds suspiciously like we’re splitting hairs in a tiresome game of one-upmanship, but really— or usually—it isn’t.

Because in fine watchmaking, details matter. A lot. They tell you so much more about the timepiece and the brand and maybe even a little about the history of watchmaking. For instance, the components of watch movements are typically polished or finished with decorative patterns after they’ve been machined in order to rid them of the burrs and scratches sustained during the machining. Techniques such as Côtes de Genève, perlage, snailing, frosting and many more are now par for the course in all high-end watches.

As time progresses, particularly after the rebirth of the mechanical watch during the mid-1990s, when mechanical watches transitioned from functional timekeeper to luxury good, connoisseurs have come to admire these manufacturing processes as classical hallmarks of traditional haute horlogerie. And beautiful hand-applied movement finishing is just one of the many many details that watch connoisseurs are perpetually thankful for.