WORLDTEMPUS - 6 October 2011
Elizabeth Doerr
Chronicle
One tends to forget that what we call “watch journalism” is a fairly new field when viewed from the general scope of publishing. Only with the continuation of the mechanical renaissance in the late 1980s did publishing information in this field become widespread. Before that time, the field was for the most part left to collectors and connoisseurs able to successfully string words together. And they mainly wrote about pocket watches and the subject of collecting. Here in Europe, one could say that this corner of the publishing world was perhaps kicked off by Christian Pfeiffer-Belli and his regular publication “Alte Uhren,” which became “Klassik Uhren” when it was taken over by Germany's Ebner Verlag. Pfeiffer-Belli also edited numerous books throughout his lifetime, books that have become cornerstones of current journalists' knowledge base in the modern era.
In the United States, Joe Thompson – now editor-in-chief of “Watch Time” – was most likely the first full-blooded journalist to take on this mystifying field. Thompson began in the late 1970s and has often discussed the past and the future of our field with me. Though I hardly feel like it – this evolving field changes every day! – I have now also become one of the older generation of watch writers.
When I began working with watches in 1991, there were really so very few of us reporting on watches as a full-time job. Outlets were few – all definitely in print – and one really had to create one's own opportunities. Special interest magazines gave way to newspaper supplements and catalogues, which are now giving way to Internet and digital media. The opportunities are endless. The question now remains: how to be heard in a new world that seems to enjoy quantity as much as quality?
Opinion makers
In a historical sense, opinion makers have emerged from various corners. Not every opinion makers is or was a writer or even employed in the field of publishing. Today's opinion makers generally publish information either in print or on the Internet. Some are professional writers, some are bloggers, and some are enthusiasts. Or they are a mix of any of these various elements.
One thing they have in common in horology is that they disseminate information about luxury wristwatches, thus influencing consumer buying. The question is: where are the opinion makers getting their information?
Most oldtimers in watch writing know that there is no better way to get a good, informative and interesting story than to go to the source: talking to the makers of mechanical watches is the best way to find out all about them. Press releases only tell one part of the story, and, most likely, not even the most interesting part.
The watch industry's press today comprises a mix of journalism, opinionating, and everything in between. It remains an electric field of information that leaves the reader to make his or her own conclusions. As it should be.
