Mania and Method: When Watchmaking Lost Its Restraint

An excerpt from Against the Grain: A Cultural History of Independent Watchmaking

The first years of the twenty-first century transformed the mechanical-watch revival into something more volatile. Exports climbed, complications multiplied, cases grew, and new markets appeared capable of absorbing almost anything the Swiss industry could produce. By the middle of the decade, success was beginning to acquire its own momentum—and its ow…