Ariel’s Thoughts: What a Watch Review Is (and What It Isn’t).

aBlogtoWatch started with the premise that I would give myself a space to publish watch reviews. Having been interested in watches for several years, I was full of strong opinions and perspectives that I wanted to share with others. I grew up reading product reviews; Before there were watch reviews and other product reviews on the internet, I avidly read magazines about cars, cameras, computers, video games, adventure gear and more. This allowed me to experience a strong culture where professional content creators photograph articles and then write reviews and recommendation articles about them. Reviewers were loyal to readers, and if the reviews weren’t helpful, people wouldn’t spend time writing about them anymore. In the USA, Consumer Reports and other publications made a name for themselves by writing reviews that consumers paid money to read. Automakers were so happy when their vehicles received good reviews that they incorporated these accolades into their marketing materials. Good customer reviews went a long way in helping buyers make good decisions in a competitive market, and also gave product manufacturers strong feedback about what was right and wrong about their designs and ideas.

I take watch and other product reviews very seriously because I believe that entire industries like watch enthusiasts rely on consumers making good decisions in order to be satisfied with their purchases. The entire aBlogtoWatch team of authors sees it as their responsibility to create transparent, fair, opinionated and detailed watch reviews. For me, a watch review is an article or other medium that first presents the details and special features of a watch and then expresses an opinion about it. While this sounds simple, I wanted to write this article because very little of the “watch review” content on the internet actually meets the definition of a “review” above. In fact, the term “watch review” (and “review” in general) has been corrupted to mean little more than some kind of content about some kind of watch.

It has long been discovered that consumers like to read product reviews before purchasing them. A study I read about watch buyers found that about 85% of watch consumers search for watch reviews and related content online before making a purchase decision. This makes sense: watches are expensive items, and “making a mistake” with a watch that doesn’t make you happy can be a costly mistake. It’s natural for people to want to read an expert opinion (or at least an informed opinion) on the subject and see what they think of the watch and how it feels. But the Internet has shown that not everyone feels a responsibility to the consumer to take the time to write honest and thorough reviews. Aware of the demand for such reviews, content creators try to grab consumers’ attention by publishing content disguised as watch reviews. But it turns out they’re not watch reviews at all.

There are also watch dealers who publish “watch reviews” of the watches they sell. Of course, you can’t give an objective opinion about the merits or value of a watch while hoping that someone will pay top dollar for it. It is a clear conflict of interest for anyone selling a watch to post a review of it. Every consumer should question this content immediately. However, these days the line between retailers and media is so blurred that I don’t think the average consumer understands what to make of the complicated content landscape. Suffice it to say that when asked whether they trust the opinion of someone trying to sell them a product, most consumers would answer unequivocally that whoever is selling the product is very biased and won’t say too many negative things about it want.

Watches are like any other product and can range from amazing to terrible in terms of quality, construction, design, appeal and overall personal value. Watch reviews should address all of this. They obviously need to include a description of the watch, but too many stop there. Additionally, many “watch reviews” do not provide original images, but instead rely on publicly available images, which almost always do not accurately represent a watch. (Usually these are highly polished marketing photos, and sometimes even rendered ones, or worse, images stolen from other content producers.) A description with photos from standard brands is content of little value, and because there are no word police on the Internet, it can Anyone can give their content whatever title they want without consequence, bypassing search and other content discovery algorithms. These are not watch reviews and your time has been wasted.

Watch reviews must also contain an opinion, and it’s best that that opinion comes from someone worth listening to. One of the most amusing things about watches is the appearance of the armchair expert. In a way, I started that way and just gained more and more experience along the way until I was a real expert. There are far too many armchair watch experts who know how to make pretty videos and care about your views. Bless them, but be wary of those who want to review watches for you despite having no real perspective or experience to share. I say this not to disparage inexperienced Watch Media colleagues – more voices create a richer media landscape – but to emphasize the importance of the responsibility that comes with advising people how to spend their money. In an age where investment advice is cheap and ubiquitous, the onus is on the consumer to heed the adage “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) at all times.

Watch reviews by the staff at aBlogtoWatch are intended to be as close as you can get to watching the watch and are written as if a friend were sharing their feelings with another friend. Friends want to explain what they are talking about, but also make it clear what they think about the topic and perhaps why. aBlogtoWatch uses the same mentality when writing all watch reviews. At aBlogtoWatch, our reviews are about a watch’s specifications, how well it performs its basic tasks, how well it serves its stated purpose, how comfortable and attractive it sits on the wrist, and, if applicable, whether the price makes sense given its personality and Design. We explain and criticize a watch at the same time and have the necessary specialist knowledge to make the reviews worthwhile for you. Additionally, we use original photos and videos to better tell the story, and while we strive to create beautiful media for our reviews, we also ensure that they accurately represent each watch. And although we have worked with brands to design some limited editions, we have not and will never sell watches on aBlogtoWatch.

What we also don’t do, and I think this is clearly worth mentioning, is checking how a watch’s movement actually behaves during the review period. Each movement architecture has both a theoretical performance and an actual performance, which can change for each specific movement. Clockworks can be adjusted and regulated to improve their accuracy and performance. However, there are also things that can negatively impact individual movements that are beyond a brand or manufacturer’s control (and some brands insist on sending in test samples with non-functioning movements). The authors at aBlogtoWatch understand how clockwork works and can fluently explain how to understand them and how they work. We will always let you know what movement it is and what performance you can expect.

Review articles and watching videos are probably what aBlogtoWatch is best known for. That’s good, because they’re still my favorite thing to do here. I like them not because they are easy and quick, but because a good watch review takes time. I wear the watches, I compare the watches, I think about the watches. I spend time photographing the watches and looking at them up close and intimately. When I write a review, I want to express my enthusiasm when it’s warranted, but also quickly point out things that I think could have been done better – or are just mistakes. I give this as friendly feedback to the watch designers and help them perfect their designs and win more attention from consumers next time. Not all watches are suitable for all people. This fact has led to a beautiful variety of designs and styles in the world of wristwatches. This also means that finding the right watch for you can feel like a long search (especially if you start collecting as a hobby). It is.

aBlogtoWatch represents the virtues of the watch collecting hobby more than loyalty to a particular brand or model. In other words, I want to encourage people to like watches, but I don’t actually care what watches they end up liking. What I can do is explain the larger context of the watch world through my writing and create watch reviews that help people understand the impact and promise of a particular watch – even if it’s not right for their wrist. There is almost nothing I or anyone else can do to stop the push for unreviewed “view reviews” content on the internet. I just hope that consumers think critically about what they see and ask themselves whether there is actually any type of “review” in a watch review article, video or other content they are viewing. Have fun collecting watches.