The year in review
Fifty years ago, a mechanical watch was a necessity and the industry was booming – thanks in part to associations with motorsport, adventure, aviation and space flight that captured the public imagination. But disaster lay around the corner, in the form of the battery-powered quartz watch. Launched in 1969, it would drive down prices and force hundreds of Swiss companies to close. These days, we take the existence of mechanical watches – importantly, now “luxury watches” – for granted once more, but it is sometimes surprising that they are here at all.
Seen in that light, the state of the industry today is cause for celebration. Recent years have been turbulent, but it feels like watch fans have never had it so good. This year, there have been signs that the industry is growing once more, and when it comes to the watches themselves, 2018’s offering has been more diverse than previous years.
As the world around us has seemed to get a little darker, the luxuries with which we distract ourselves have got a little brighter. Watchmakers continue
