Hands of Time: A Watchmaker's History

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My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Harper for an advance copy on this book about time, what we make of it, how we tell it, and what our knowledge of time tells about about us. The author did highlight some interesting overlaps between watch development and human development, but without as much detail as I would have liked. I had spent years being stressed, anxious, and exhausted, but I hadn't allowed for happiness, and now I might be out of time.

But you also have a murky underbelly of fakes and forgeries that, in my view, is no less interesting or important. Unfortunately we cannot offer a refund on custom prints unless they are faulty or we have made a mistake. As someone who has a large watch collection this captured for me a lot of what makes these devices so special, and why I refuse to migrate over to an Apple Watch. Hands of Time is an intricate and uniquely personal exploration of the history, science, philosophy, and craft of timekeeping. We couldn't afford to heat our home in the first winter and ice lined the insides of the walls…It took seven years before we were on a regular wage.As a result of reading Hands of Time, my appreciation for horology has grown immensely and I'm now back to wearing a mechanical watch on a daily basis.

Rebecca underscores how watchmakers often embed personal touches in their creations, reflecting the unique imprint she’s made on this book. The watch has sculpted the social and economic development of modern society; it is an object that, when disassembled, can give us new insights both into the motivations of inventors and craftsmen of the past, and, into the lives of the people who treasured them. The invention of timepieces was more significant for human culture than the printing press, or even the wheel. In Hands of Time watchmaker and historian Rebecca Struthers welcomes us into the hidden world of watchmaking, offering a personal history of watches that spans centuries and continents. At times it felt like the book drifted a bit into social commentary, but for the most part it seemed to stay on message, so to speak.I feel incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon it during my trip, and I take great pride in owning it.