Seeing Double
It amazes me how much I don’t know about watches, despite being surrounded by high-end timepieces. I’ve written about this industry, almost exclusively, for several years and yet I know zip, zilch, nada in comparison to brand specialists who have seemingly endless, encyclopaedic knowledge. Did you know that Casio tests the shock resistance of G-shock watches by throwing them out a window? Or that the most expensive wristwatch ever sold went for US$31 million? Or that Patek Philippe's calibres contain 1,728 parts? The pros know an obscene amount of trivia, constantly reminding me I have a long way to go before I can truly call myself a “watch expert”.
This is why, when a friend of mine who has worked for Swiss watchmakers for decades told me he’d discovered something surprising, my interest was piqued. “Check this out,” he told me over drinks, as he pulled up an auction house’s website on his phone. It
