Holy Shift

Is It Time to Rethink Watch Royalty?

Just two weeks in, and I already have good news and bad news. First, good news: Watch Word now has 32 subscribers (that's double our first issue—thanks, early tickers!). The bad news? I still can’t afford a Patek. But hey, thanks to you all, at least my inbox feels like a million bucks.

You'll find horological heresy in this issue (new holy trinity, anyone?), a stolen royal watch, and a crash course in chronographs.

Thanks for sticking around. Let’s tick together.

Fatih

🕒 The Movement*

* The numbers above represent trends in the secondhand watch market. The "Price" column shows the average secondhand price for the top 30 watches—source: Watch Charts.

⏱️ First Tick

METAL-LICIOUS
Alpina is dropping its first-ever watch made entirely of titanium, a 39mm Alpiner Extreme Automatic.

LUMINORIFY
With significant improvements, the Panerai Luminor Marina is back!

DIVE BUDDY
Seiko just dropped the new Prospex 1968 Heritage Diver’s GMT to celebrate its 60th Anniversary Edition.

SAME OLD, NEW BOLD
UG’s Noramis Date Sport and Chronograph Sport get a new look with a familiar dial color and a new bracelet.

⌚ Beyond the Dial

Watch Gods, Holy Shift

Watch geeks know the drill: Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin form the horological holy trinity—brands synonymous with craftsmanship, history, and (let's face it) crazy money. But lately, the sacred trio feels a bit… out of touch.

Prices keep climbing skyward, waiting lists stretch into eternity, and unless you're Bezos-rich, good luck finding a Nautilus at retail. Maybe it's time to rethink sainthood and crown a new, friendlier trinity—my candidates: Germany's Nomos, Japan's Grand Seiko, and Switzerland's Tudor.

They're beautiful, accessible, impeccably engineered—and the best part? You won't need a second mortgage or celebrity status to wear one. It's heresy, sure, but maybe it's time we rethink watch royalty. Even the watch gods had to start somewhere.

🕰️ Back in Time

Marie Antoinette never saw the world's most complicated watch, even though it was made for her. It had 823 moving parts, gold in place of brass, sapphires, rubies, and a thermometer, and was anonymously commissioned by the French queen in 1783—without any price limit or time constraint.

When it was finally finished in 1827, both the queen and Breguet were gone. But the story didn't end there: almost 20 years after it was stolen in a sensational heist from a Jerusalem museum, the watch resurfaced mysteriously—just before a replica took center stage. Talk about timing!

📖 Horolography

Fancy word, simple meaning: it's basically a stopwatch built into your watch. It was invented in 1821 for timing horse races, but now they're mostly replaced by digital timers (F1 doesn't exactly use Omega Speedmasters). Even so, they're still cool—perfect for timing pasta, parking meters, or just impressing people who ask, "What do those buttons do?"

⏰ The Final Tick

Last time, I asked you guys to spread the word—and boy, you delivered. From 14 to 32 subscribers, Watch Word just took a giant leap (okay, maybe a medium leap). Can we double it again? Honestly, it’s up to you.

If you enjoyed this issue (or just want to make someone's day—like mine), forward it to them. And please, keep the feedback coming. Your thoughts literally help shape the next tick.

Here’s to growing one subscriber—and one watch geek—at a time. Thank you, seriously.

With gratitude,

Fatih Taskiran
Founder & Chief Daydreamer at The Core