Yahoo Lifestyle 5 Books Every Watch Obsessive Should Have on Their Shelf
Watch books are often large-format coffee-table books filled with amazing photographs that, while wonderful, don’t always provide a great deal of detailed information about watches. If you’re craving something a little deeper—on history, on mechanics, on culture, and especially on specific brands—these books will certainly enrich your horological library. From legendary watchmakers to studied historians and even a descendent of Louis Cartier, these authors lean to the academic side of watches.
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‘The Watch Book Rolex’ by Gisbert L. Brunner (2023)
Leave it to a renowned German watch expert and historian to create the Rolex must-read. Brunner has penned over 20 books about watchmaking, but this is easily the most coveted. Love Rolex or hate it, if you’re going to be well-versed in all things horological, you can’t ignore the Crown. In this third revised edition, Brunner takes the reader through the history of its design and technical feats, from its first wristwatch to decade-spanning hero models such as the Submariner and the Daytona to newly released pieces as of just last year. It’s everything you need to know about Rolex—and so much more.
‘Watchmaking’ by George Daniels (1981)
Written by one of the greatest watchmakers of the modern era, George Daniels’s tome is essential reading for horolophiles. The late Daniels was among only a few masters who could still make a watch entirely by hand—an extraordinary feat and a nearly lost art today. Consider this the definitive in-depth tutorial on how a timepiece ticks, via a step-by-step guide on the making of a mechanical watch, straight from the one of the most brilliant minds in the industry. If you’re looking to wax poetic about an escapement’s inner workings, this is the book for you. (And stay tuned for English & American Watches,
a 1967 volume by Daniels, which will be re-released in November.)
‘The Cartiers’ by Francesca Cartier Brickell (2019)
After a chance discovery of old letters stored in a dusty cellar and a decade of research to fill in the gaps, Francesca Cartier Brickell brings to life her family’s journey to becoming France’s—arguably the world’s—most recognized jewelry and watchmaking empire. The great-great-great granddaughter of Louis François Cartier, who founded the maison in 1884, Brickell offers a fascinating tale of near mythic proportions. The volume details not only the history of the iconic brand as told by those who created it but also their very human relationships, hurdles, and triumphs. Amid a sea of Cartier tomes, this is, without a doubt, the most riveting.
‘The Watch, Thoroughly Revised’ by Gene Stone and Stephen Pulvirent (2018)
Originally published in 2006 by Gene Stone, who has. authored books on everything from the plant-based diet to animal rights, The Watch veers outside his regular lane(s) of expertise to explore the 50 brands every watch enthusiast should know. It includes informative tips on buying, collecting, maintaining, and even wearing a watch, as well as a handy glossary of must-know terms. For this beloved 2018 edition, Stone brought in Stephen Pulvirent, then an editor at online watch publication Hodinkee, to update the tome’s coverage of brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega, and TAG Heuer.
‘Patek Philippe: The Authorized Biography’ by Nicholas Foulkes (2016)
This cult classic on the most revered brand in watchmaking has itself become something to hand down to the next generation. With the green light from Patek—which, in the watch world, is akin to getting the Pope’s blessing—horological historian Nicholas Foulkes dives deep into the history of the brand, with unprecedented access to modern-day owners the Stern family as well as company staff and previously unseen archival documents. It’s worth the journey if you have more than a cursory interest in one of the greatest watchmaking houses of all time—or if you want to get bumped up a dealer’s wait list by impressing them with your knowledge.
‘A. Lange & Söhne: Great Timepieces From Saxony’ by Reinhard Meis (2012)
To know Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Cartier is de rigueur in serious watch circles. But if you want to prove you’ve gone beyond the usual suspects, start reading up on A. Lange & Söhne, maker of the finest and most complicated timepieces in Germany. What better way to learn about this quiet watchmaking giant than from Reinhard Meis, who was a technical consultant and product designer for a decade during the brand’s revival in the early ’90s? (Founded in 1845, it closed following WWII, when the Soviet Union occupied East Germany.) Last revised over a decade ago, this remains the gold standard in the brand’s academia
