I often use the following analogy when describing the evolution of the watch from a precision device to an object whose primary function is to give its wearer emotion: Previous to the Quartz Crisis, a watch’s primary purpose was to give time as accurately as possible. In this history of watchmaking, accuracy was prized above all else because it was fundamental to the global expansion of European colonies, key to the efficient and safe running of America’s railway system, and even ensured the safe return of the astronauts of Apollo 13 when all their electronic systems failed onboard their spacecraft.
The story of John Harrison and the creation of the world’s first marine chronometer — a watch so accurate that it allowed sailors to correctly ascertain longitude while at sea — is one of the most heroic fables in human history. The desire to be more accurate has been behind the most significant horological milestones, from Christiaan Huygens’ invention of the balance wheel to Breguet’s tourbillon patented in 1801, to Harrison’s creation of the remontoir d’egalité. Accordingly, watch brands would do battle even into the late 1960s at the observatory trials of Neuchâtel, besting each other by mere fractions of a second to lay claim to the title of the most accurate brand in the world.
But then the Quartz Crisis came, and the world was flooded with inexpensive hyper accurate watches with electronic oscillators that vibrated at a staggering 32.768kHz. Instantly, accuracy was totally democratized and the mechanical watch lost its primary raison d'être. Interestingly, a similar thing happened in the art world in the 19th century with the invention of the camera. Previous to the camera, the value of an artist and his work was based on how well he or she could portray reality. Of course, this could be accomplished with the extraordinary emotional expressiveness of Michelangelo and Bernini, or with the transcendent use of color as in the case of Titian, or the subtly detailed nuances of Rembrandt. In general, the lifelike replication of native reality was the yardstick by which artists were judged. But once the camera democratized reality, the
