Every hobby develops its mythology: the whispered “truths” passed from collector to another, each one repeated until it sounds like gospel.Watches are no exception. For every horological fact, there’s an equally persistent myth, kept alive by marketing, nostalgia, or sheer repetition.
Let’s take a slow walk through the myths that have shaped how we see our watches, and why the truth is often far more interesting.
Myth #1: Quartz Killed the Mechanical Watch
The story goes like this: one day in the late 1970s, the quartz movement arrived like a silent assassin and wiped out mechanical watchmaking overnight. It’s dramatic. It’s also… not quite true.
Yes, the quartz revolution nearly buried Swiss manufacturing, but it didn’t kill mechanical watches; it refined them. The crisis forced brands to ask why anyone should still care about gears and springs in a digital world.
Out of that existential panic came a renaissance. Patek, Rolex, Omega: all doubled down on craftsmanship, innovation, and story.
Myth #2: Swiss Means Best
Somewhere along the line, “Swiss Made” became shorthand for “perfect.” And sure, the Swiss earned their reputation: they built empires on precision and design.But the world has changed.
Japan’s Grand Seiko can hold its own against any Geneva darling. Germany’s Glashütte makes mechanical art with Teutonic discipline. Even microbrands from Singapore, Canada, and the U.S. produce watches that punch way above their weight.
The truth? Great watchmaking isn’t a postcode; it’s a mindset. “Swiss Made” is still a powerful stamp, but it’s not the only story worth telling anymore.
Myth #3: Luxury Watches Are Investments
If you’ve ever watched an auction headline or scrolled through a watch forum, you’ve seen this one in action. “Buy the right Rolex and you’ll never lose money.”
Except that’s survivorship bias talking.
Yes, some references appreciate wildly, but most watches, like most cars, depreciate the second you wear them out of the boutique.
The market runs on rarity, timing, and hype, not guarantees.
A watch is a terrible investment if you’re chasing numbers. It’s a fantastic investment if you’re chasing satisfaction.
Buy it because you’ll wear it, not because you’ll flip it.
Myth #4: Bigger Is Better
Remember the early 2000s, when 47 mm cases were everywhere? We collectively mistook size for presence. The bigger the watch, the bolder the man.
Then one day, we woke up and realized we didn’t want to look like gangster rappers or Eastern European drug dealers.
Collectors started rediscovering the balance of 36 mm, 38 mm: the proportions that made vintage watches so wearable in the first place.
Design, not diameter, gives a watch character. The return to smaller sizes isn’t nostalgia; it’s course correction.
Myth #5: Automatic Watches Don’t Need Servicing
The beauty of an automatic is that it winds itself. The tragedy is that people think that means it takes care of itself, too.
Inside that case are dozens of parts: oils that dry out, seals that harden, gears that grind down over years of motion.
Most owners only learn this when their watch starts losing time or stops completely.
Like a car engine, it needs maintenance not because it’s fragile, but because it’s alive. A proper service every five to seven years isn’t indulgence; it’s preservation.
Myth #6: You Need to Baby Your Watch
People often treat luxury watches like Fabergé eggs: terrified to wear them in the rain or while washing hands. But most of these pieces were built to work.
That Seamaster? Designed for divers. That Explorer? Tested on mountains.
Sure, don’t wear your vintage chronograph in the shower or use a magnet as a toy. But a well-made watch should live your life with you.
The scratches, the scuffs, the stories: those are your service history.
Myth #7: Vintage Always Means Valuable
Walk through any flea market and you’ll see the same hopeful gleam: someone picking up a beat-up watch and whispering, “Maybe it’s worth something.”
Sometimes, yes, but mostly, no.
Vintage value depends on condition, provenance, originality, and demand. The same brand, same model, two serial numbers apart: one’s worth a mortgage payment, the other, a tank of gas.
What makes vintage beautiful isn’t just the price tag. It’s the journey. The patina, the wear, the lives it’s seen. Some stories are priceless, even when the watch isn’t.
Myth #8: All Luxury Watches Are Hand-Made
The image is irresistible: a lone watchmaker hunched over a bench, loupe in eye, coaxing perfection out of brass and steel.
Reality? Even the greats use machines. CNC milling, laser cutting, automated polishing, because the human hand can’t hold a tolerance of one micron.
What is human is the assembly, the adjustment, the finishing. That last 10 percent of care that turns engineering into artistry.
“Hand-made” is a phrase that flatters nostalgia. The truth is that the best watches are human-guided machines: a collaboration between precision and pride.
Myth #9: Paying More Always Gets You More Watch
Spend five thousand, get something solid. Spend fifty thousand and you expect perfection. But somewhere beyond that, price and quality stop moving in the same direction.
You start paying for scarcity, brand equity, or the fantasy of exclusivity, not necessarily better timekeeping or build.
The sweet spot in watchmaking often lives in the middle: where craftsmanship still matters and marketing hasn’t inflated the dial.
The trick is knowing when you’re buying a watch, and when you’re buying a story.
Myth #10: You Shouldn’t Modify or Customize a Watch
Traditionalists shudder at the idea. Swap a bezel, change a dial, and you’ve “ruined” it.
But here’s the thing: most of history’s great watches evolved through modification: soldiers engraving casebacks, explorers swapping straps, mechanics repainting hands.
A watch becomes yours when it carries your fingerprint. The purists might frown, but that’s fine. Time isn’t meant to be preserved in a display case; it’s meant to be lived with.
Every myth here tells us something about what we crave: certainty, prestige, immortality, identity. Watches give us the illusion of controlling time, so it’s no wonder we invent stories to make them feel even more magical.
But maybe the truth is better. Because when you strip away the myths, what’s left isn’t disappointment; it’s appreciation. The watch becomes what it was always meant to be: a small, mechanical reminder that time isn’t something to own or predict. It’s something to live.
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