About WatchHand
From a calculator watch to WatchHand
My first watch was a Casio calculator watch. It came in handy during maths lessons and lasted for years, outliving several replacement straps.
After that came a couple of Storm watches, then a Tissot. I don’t remember the model, but I remember what it meant to me: my first grown-up watch. It cost about £400—a decent budget 20 years ago, and still a decent budget today.
Like plenty of people, I eventually moved to an Apple Watch. It was useful for discreetly checking notifications during meetings, and even more useful when playing or coaching sport.
But when the battery on my Apple Watch Ultra started to struggle, I decided it was time to return to a more traditional watch. I started researching my options.
That’s when things got interesting.
Plenty of choice. No easy way to make sense of it.
I’m not a watch expert. Far from it. I had a vague idea of what I liked, but the sheer amount of choice was overwhelming.
What excited me most was discovering smaller, independent brands making watches that, to my eyes, could rival—and sometimes outshine—the bigger names.
Finding them took some work. I signed up to email lists. My Facebook feed filled with watch adverts. I watched TikTok and YouTube videos day and night.
There was no shortage of information or opinions. But they were scattered across different websites and platforms. There was nowhere I could bring everything together and see my options side by side.
That’s where the idea for WatchHand came from.
A different kind of experience
My career is in product marketing and data. A big part of that has been taking complex information and presenting it in a way that helps people understand their choices.
That felt like something useful I could bring to the watch world.
The ambition for WatchHand is simple: to help you discover what’s out there, understand the differences and find a watch that suits your taste, wrist and budget.
You shouldn’t need to make researching watches a second job before you can feel confident choosing one.
Building WatchHand, one step at a time
It turns out that choosing a watch was only the start of the learning curve.
Getting a website up and running and gathering product information were the more familiar parts. Building relationships with watch brands has taken me further outside my comfort zone, and those relationships take time.
That means the comparison side of WatchHand will take time too. It’s what I’m working towards.
In the meantime, I’m sharing articles and guides to help you explore the options, get to grips with the details and discover watches you might otherwise miss.
I’m still learning as I go. WatchHand is a way to turn that learning—and my experience working with information—into something useful for your own search.
How WatchHand is funded
WatchHand uses affiliate links. If you follow one of these links and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
You buy from the brand or retailer directly, and they handle your order, delivery and returns.