Watches are becoming a popular craze throughout all corners of the world, and a community of collectors and enthusiasts are following. As pieces release from watchmakers, they are never forgotten as an old model, but instead documented and celebrated as staples throughout time. It has been with the help of dedicated authors that turn a passion for timepieces into series of informative books. We have compiled a list of the top watch inspired coffee table books that are available through Amazon.
Retro Watches: The Modern Collectors’ Guide
$17.19
Retro Watches is a collector’s guide for those who want to make a statement with the watch they wear, but who are looking for something a little different. It collects the most intriguing, visually striking, and out-there watch designs from little-known but influential watch brands, along with overlooked but brilliant pieces from the major players. Over one hundred watch models are featured, specially photographed for the book and accompanied by accessible, informative texts discussing the watch’s design, history, and intriguing features, as well as info panels detailing rarity, value, and other key attributes. Additional breakout spreads dive into the cultural and fashion history of watch design and the many innovations of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.
A Man & His Watch
$22.99
Matthew Hranek, a watch collector and NYC men’s style fixture, has traveled the world conducting firsthand interviews and diving into exclusive collections to gather the never-before-told stories of 76 watches, completed with stunning original photography of every single piece. Through these intimate accounts and Hranek’s storytelling, the watches become more than just timepieces and status symbols; they represent historical moments, pioneering achievements, heirlooms, family mementos, gifts of affection, and lifelong friendships.
Wristwatch Annual 2020: The Catalog of Producers, Prices, Models, and Specifications
$23.73
With Wristwatch Annual, collectors have at hand a wealth of information on the latest offerings from today’s most important watch producers, from Swiss mainstays like Rolex and Patek Philippe to the maverick independent brands springing up across Europe and the U.S. The book is arranged alphabetically by producer, and the movement, functions, case, band, price, and variations of each pictured watch are fully described.
The Watch: A Twentieth Century Style History
$39.91
Offering the perfect blend of high-quality imagery and impeccable research, this magnificent book takes readers through the 20th century to show how the watch, in all its forms, evolved. It charts the early rise of the wristwatch, shows how the cataclysmic events of the 1929 Wall Street Crash unexpectedly led to a golden age of watch production, and demonstrates how the electronic watch, which almost destroyed the traditional industry, led to a mechanical watch renaissance in the last two decades of the 20th century.
Rare Watches: Explore The World’s Most Exquisite Timepieces
$50
Rare Watches features more than fifty of the most unusual watches in the world, including incredible one-off models and collector’s editions. From watches that have set new records in auction houses, to feats of modern technology and engineering, via iconic models worn by figures such as Elvis and James Bond, this book appeals to professionals, collectors and amateurs alike. The photography in this book was organized in collaboration with Christie’s auction house, displaying some of the rarest, most expensive and desirable watches ever.
The Wristwatch Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Mechanical Wristwatches
$63.84
The Wristwatch Handbook is separated into two sections. The first section provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the mechanical movement. Its chapters explore power, transmission, distribution and regulation illustrating the basic concepts before considering the innovation and complexity that takes place further toward the cutting edge. Section two allows the reader to take this understanding and apply it to the vast range of complications (functions) that exist in modern horology.
The Watch Book (Lifestyle)
$64.86
In The Watch Book, readers can feast their eyes and minds on a magnificently-illustrated and well-documented chronicle of the world’s best timepieces. First, we’re treated to a brief discussion of the meaning of time and its measurement by ticking sets of gears and hands. Next we delve into more than 18 premium manufacturers, including Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Cartier. These biographies of the most important names in top-end timekeeping trace the progressive development from their earliest days right up to the latest innovations and current models.
Vintage Rolex: The Largest Collection In The World
$75
Published to celebrate The Vintage Watch Company’s 25th anniversary in 2020, the Vintage Rolex book contains a unique pictorial collection of vintage Rolex watches that have passed through the shop during the past 25 years. From early Rolex pocket watches to the world’s first wristwatches, elegant in their simplicity yet revolutionary in their impact, to the very first Submariners, iconic Daytonas, and jewel-encrusted Crown collections, the mesmerizing archive of vintage timepieces charts the extraordinary rise of an extraordinary brand.
Watches: A Guide By Hodinkee
$99
Celebrating the decade milestone since Hodinkee’s founding, this book captures the storied expertise of the world’s leading experts on time. With chapters breaking down chronographs, dive watches, high design, and horological icons, this book is a connoisseur’s compendium for the timepiece veterans and novices alike.
Audemars Piguet 20th Century Complicated Wristwatches
$189
A book dedicated entirely to the history of the manufacturers complicated wristwatches, following 4 years of Archival research and writing on the part of the Heritage Department. From the world’s first minute repeating wristwatch crafted in 1892 until the revival of complications in the late 1970s, Audemars Piguet produced a grand total of only 550 complicated wristwatches, of which no two are identical: 35 minute repeaters, 188 calendar wristwatches, 307 chronograph wristwatches and 20 double complication wristwatches featuring both calendar and chronograph.
Moonwatch Only: The Ultimate Omega Speedmaster Guide
$208.79
The OMEGA Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch is one of them. Initially designed for automobile racing teams and engineers, the Omega Speedmaster embarked on a very different trajectory when NASA chose it to accompany astronauts heading for the Moon in 1965. Its involvement in the space adventure has propelled the Moonwatch to the top of the list of celebrated timepieces. After years of research and observation, the authors present a complete panorama of the Moonwatch in a systematic work that is both technical and attractive, making it the inescapable reference book for this legendary watch.
Drive Time: Watches Inspired by Automobiles, Motorcycles, and Racing
$575
This lavish volume is a fascinating exploration of the interplay between two kinds of beautifully made machines. A detailed look at the development and history of timepieces influenced by automotive design, made in direct partnership with automotive firms or historically important presences in the world of motorsports. A comprehensive index features more than ninety automobile-inspired watches of the early and mid-twentieth century, such as the Rolex Daytona and TAG Heuer Carrera and Monaco, up through current timepieces such as those found in the Chopard Mille Miglia, Breitling by Bentley, Porsche Design, Hublot Ferrari, Jaeger-LeCoultre Aston Martin, and IWC Mercedes-Benz AMG collections.
The Impossible Collection of Watches (Ultimate)
$1,095
In this stunning new addition to the Assouline series, British historian Nicholas Foulkes has selected the 100 breakthrough timepieces of the twentieth century. Featuring illustrious names such as Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Tag Heuer, this collection includes the 1915 Omega Lawrence of Arabia aviator chronograph, the 1962 Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaut, and the 1985 Ulysse Nardin Astrolabium. Beautiful timepieces invite us to join a story, and these examples unfold the narrative of one of the most dynamic periods in human history.