For many, the interest in watches is as much about the pieces themselves as it is about the knowledge, history and romance which surrounds them. As the understanding grows, so does the passion. However, when first entering this world, you could be forgiven for not knowing exactly where to start your education. With much of the information dispersed among collectors and obscure forum posts, it’s also not entirely clear what the best books are to tighten your grasp on different areas of horology.

Among many of the established collectors, experts, dealers and auctioneers that we know, there does seem to be a constant, however different their tastes might be. They all seem to treasure tomes dedicated to their passion. Some may even be as hard to come across as the timepieces in their collection. Having spent more time at home recently, we’ve also taken the opportunity to read back over some of our favourite books, as well as discover new ones. This got us wondering, what have others been reading during this period?

 

Cartier watch bookshelf from Harry Fane's house shot during an interview with A Collected Man Lonodn

A bookshelf dedicated to Cartier, owned by Harry Fane. 

 

With this in mind, we asked a carefully selected group of