365 days later : Timepiece Chronicle One Year On
One year ago today I wrote the first article for Timepiece Chronicle called "Declaration of Intent" where in around two hundred words I set out a rough direction for the site and what I hoped to accomplish with it. Those two hundred or so words were incredibly difficult to write with the following articles barely topping five hundred words even though I knew that I had hundreds more on the tip of my tongue. Not that the quality of a writer should be measured on their brevity or verbosity but it's very gratifying to look back and see how much my ability has developed over the last 365. Looking back at the declaration I can say I believe to have stayed true to my intentions and I hope as this site continues to grow that I'll always challenge myself in sticking with my principles even if easier paths present themselves.
"I will be completely dedicated to the discussion, the admiration and criticism of timepieces when posting on this site and I will always strive to give you my opinion in an open and honest manner with accurate and concise information. If I feel that any circumstances could unduly affect my writing I will always make it known at the beginning of the article"
As I announced last week I am now a featured writer over at 8past10.com and the majority of my articles will be focused on opinion and market reactions compared to the in-depth historical pieces and reviews I do here on Timepiece Chronicle. It is a huge honor to have my name featured just a few short pixels away from the likes of Kristian Haagen and 8past10 is a great opportunity for me to broaden my watch horizons and increase my writing ability.
At the beginning of 2016 there will be two major watch industry events taking place in Switzerland, SIHH and Baselworld. I won't be able to attend either however this left me in a quandary as I'm still adamant about not regurgitating press releases to create content yet I still want to discuss the watches coming out of these events. What I've decided on is that as long as I feel I can provide something in addition to what is in the press release then I will write an article. For example my Globemaster article contained information on the new METAS certification and the history of the Globemaster name as well as information about the watch from the press release. This slower more deliberate style of covering the releases will mean that I only post one article every other day rather than ten a day and it means there will be a lot of watches that I don't cover but the ones I do will get my full attention and hopefully you, the reader, will be more informed because of this decision.
What are the plans for the next 365 days of Timepiece Chronicle? Now that I'm able to dedicate more time to this endeavor I've settled into a groove of at least two articles a week (Wednesday & Friday consistently) with This Week in Time being published on Saturdays. I believe this structure allows for a good balance between content that is consistent and content that has quality. If there is industry news that I have an opinion on, like the recent TAG Heuer Connected Watch, I might write an additional piece and publish it on a Monday. Depending on my whereabouts in March I might have some special onsite visits in the mix that I believe everyone will enjoy.
I'd like to thank everyone who visits the site and reads, comments, likes, retweets everything I've written over the last year and I'd like to thank my wife for being incredibly supportive in my decision to go at this full time. I appreciate all the feedback that people give so please email me at info@timepiecechronicle if you have suggestions, thoughts or simply just want to chat about watches.
