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Guides to choosing, sizing and looking after a watch, and stories about watch design, everyday ownership and the Isle of Man ideas that shape Vannin.
A plain, sourced guide to what a field watch is, where it came from, what defines one and how to choose, with the places where sources disagree flagged.
18 September 2026 · 15 min read
How to measure your wrist for a watch, a size chart in which every number names its source, and what case size and lug-to-lug mean, with 34 to 38 mm watches for small wrists.
24 September 2026 · 14 min readIs a 38 mm watch too small or too big? A 38.0 mm case with a 46.0 mm lug-to-lug worked through wrists of 5.5 to 8 inches, with what published guides say, where they disagree and the share of a US Army survey each rule covers.
9 November 2026 · 14 min read
What “unisex” means on a watch, what sizes six sellers attach to it, why 38 mm keeps appearing, and how to choose by measurement when you do not want to shop by label.
9 November 2026 · 13 min read
What a seller’s men’s range covers, what five published guides pair with 6.5, 7 and 7.5 inch wrists, where they disagree, and the average wrist in a US Army survey of 4,082 men.
9 November 2026 · 12 min read
Sellers’ women’s ranges run from about 26 to 36 mm, and the top is disputed. The wrist charts that disagree, the average wrist in a US Army survey, and what to check when you choose from the men’s shelf.
9 November 2026 · 13 min read
The average wrist is 17.6 cm (6.9 in) for men and 15.5 cm (6.1 in) for women in the US Army’s ANSUR II survey, with percentiles, shares by half-inch band and what published sizing guides say.
9 November 2026 · 8 min read
A watch lug is where the strap attaches, and three numbers describe it: lug width, lug-to-lug and case diameter. Here is what each one means, how to measure it and which tends to decide fit.
21 September 2026 · 13 min read
Sapphire crystal vs mineral glass on a watch: what each is, how hard they are according to different sources, what chips, what polishes, and what double-domed means.
27 September 2026 · 12 min read10 bar water resistance, also written 100 m or 10 ATM, is a pressure rating from a controlled test, not a depth. Here is what the ratings mean, what makers say each one suits, and what wears them down.
30 September 2026 · 12 min read
What Miyota’s own spec sheet says about the 9039, what hacking and hand-winding mean in plain words, and how the published figures compare with the 9015 and the Seiko NH38.
9 October 2026 · 11 min readHow to wind an automatic watch, how many turns makers give, whether you can overwind one, and how often you need to. Checked against the makers’ own manuals, which disagree more than most guides admit.
3 October 2026 · 13 min read
Quartz vs automatic watches compared on accuracy, battery life, servicing, price and daily wear, using figures from named makers and the COSC chronometer testing body. Neither type wins overall.
6 October 2026 · 14 min read
How to look after an automatic watch day to day, and how often the makers say to service one. Care, storage, magnets and water, drawn from each maker’s own pages, which do not always agree.
20 October 2026 · 14 min read
A 20 mm watch strap is 20 mm wide where it meets the lugs. Here is what that means, which materials and types come in the size, and how NATO and Zulu straps differ, with each source named.
18 October 2026 · 14 min readMost people wear a watch on the non-dominant wrist, but no rule says you must. Here is what named watch publishers and makers say about crowns, destro watches, automatics, fit, smartwatches and cuffs, and where they disagree.
15 October 2026 · 12 min readA plain, sourced definition of a microbrand watch, with the places where publishers disagree flagged, plus how microbrands are made and what to check before you buy.
13 October 2026 · 11 min readGoogle’s Trends newsletter names the ten most searched microbrands in the United States in 2026. Here they are in Google’s order, with what each maker says about itself and what its cheapest watch costs.
29 October 2026 · 13 min readGoogle Trends says US searches for wristwatches are at a record in 2026, up +90% on 2025. Here is what that does and does not tell us, with each list from Google’s newsletter set beside what the makers’ own pages say.
30 October 2026 · 14 min readThirteen field watches in three budgets, with sizes, movements and prices read from the makers' own pages on 24 October 2026, one caveat each and the figures a maker does not publish marked as such.
24 October 2026 · 14 min readEleven automatic watches at or under £500 or $500 on at least one maker's own site, compared by movement, crystal, case size and price, with "Not published" wherever a maker is silent.
22 October 2026 · 15 min readA map of British watchmaking: the kinds of maker, a 31-row directory of what each maker says about where it is based and where it makes its watches, and what the sector’s own figures say.
3 November 2026 · 14 min readA plain-spoken guide to active British microbrand watches: current prices, movements, styles and trade-offs, plus one Manx newcomer designed on the Isle of Man.
21 September 2026 · 14 min read
What the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers says about British Watchmakers’ Day 2027, what its page does not yet say about tickets, venue and exhibitors, and what happened in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
3 November 2026 · 10 min read
A careful history of John Harwood, George Daniels and Roger W. Smith, and the separate story of watchmaking on the Isle of Man today.
21 September 2026 · 14 min read
