Watch statistics & facts: What you need to know about watches!

Watches: they have been an important part of our daily routine for centuries. They are useful tools that make our lives easier. They are special and striking in many ways. Some timepieces are huge, others very small. In this Watch News you can test your knowledge about watches. You will read what the most popular watch brand is, which watch Willem Alexander wears but also why collectors spend a lot of money on some watches! In this story we answer your questions about watches through interesting statistics and facts.

All watch statistics and watch facts

1. 1 in 2 women can no longer live without a smartwatch (source: OTTO)
2. Regardless of the style of watch, people who wear watches are seen as dependable and reliable. (source: Swissfinetiming.com)
3. Everything is getting more expensive, even fake watches! (source: Business Insider)
4. The most expensive watch in the world is the Graff Diamonds Hallucination, it cost 'only' 55 million dollars (source: WatchXL)
   
   
   
   
5. Men typically buy more watches than women (Source: Belfasttelegraph.com)
6. In 2021, an average of €523 was spent on a watch in the Netherlands (Source: Emerce)
7. Most expensive and complicated watches were created for men (Source: crownandcalier.com) 
8. Apple Watch is now worn on 100 Million wrists. (Source: Aboveavalon.com)
9. Study shows that people who wear watches are superior humans (Source: National Library of Medicine)
10. Despite mobile devices with built in clocks, the number of watch owners has remained static (Source: National Library of Medicine)
11. The top 5 watch brands worn by the Dutch are: Apple, Seiko, Casio, Samsung, Fitbit (Source: Emerce)
12. The most popular watch brand among ordinary watches is Rolex and second is Seiko (Source: Gearpatrol.com)
13. The best Rolex you can buy in 2023 is the Rolex Air-King (Source: Esquire.com)
14. Rolex is a good investment so long you are willing to hold onto the watch for more then a few months (Source: Wristenthusiast.com)
15. Watches usually make good long term investments. (Source: VinoVest)
16.  It’s usually difficult to trade lesser-known watches on the secondary market. (Source: VinoVest)
17. A sought-after, limited edition timepiece is usually in high demand on the secondary market. (Source: VinoVest)
18. Famous watch brands that usually perform as investment well include Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Omega. (Source: VinoVest)
19. Some watches are classified as “complicated” because they contain unusual features. (Source: VinoVest)
    
    
    
20. The most commonly used movement in watches is a quartz movement. (Source: AMJWatchservices)
21. The first real watches date back to the 16th century and were made in Italy.(Source: AMJWatchservices)
22. The first automatic watches were made in the 17th century. (Source: AMJWatchservices)
23. Mechanical movements are more difficult to make than quartz movements. (Source: AMJWWatchservices)
24. An automatic watch can self-wind when moved.
25. Most fake watches are made in Asia. (Source: www.chronocentric.com)
26. People with a fake watch actually have no excuse why they bought a fake watch. (Source: www.chronocentric.com)
27. The quartz movement is one of the simplest and most reliable movements used in watches. (Source: AMJWWatchservices)
28. Japanese brands in particular were quick to use quartz movements (Source: AMJWWatchservices)
29. Swiss watches were often equipped with mechanical movements. (Source: AMJWWatchservices)
30. Quartz movements have almost no moving parts, which means that quartz movements last much longer. (Source: AMJWWatchservices)
31. Quartz movements are often found in cheaper watches because they are easier to produce.
32. Mechanical movements actually had to be oiled every month. (Source: AMJWWatchservices)
33. Due to the nature of the assembly, the price of Japanese movements is often cheaper than Swiss ones, but this in no way indicates a lower quality. (Source: Watcho)
34. Japanese timepieces are usually made in an automated robot line, so the margin of error is very small. (Source: Watcho)
35. The German Peter Henlein from Nuremberg made the first portable clock with a spring mechanism between 1504 and 1508. (Source: Wikipedia)
36. The first wristwatch was invented in 1810 by Breguet following an order placed on June 8 of that year by Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples. (Source: Brequet)
37. The first wristwatch was a woman's jewellery. (Source: Wikipedia)
38. During the First World War, officers in the army discovered that a wrist watch is much more useful than a pocket watch. (Source: Wikipedia)
39. The German Peter Henlein from Nuremberg made the first portable clock with a spring mechanism between 1504 and 1508. (Source: Wikipedia)
40. The first watches were worn on the belt or around the neck with a chain. (Source: Wikipedia)
41. The first watches were not for the common man because they were made by hand and were therefore very expensive. (Source: Wikipedia)
42. If a mechanical watch offers more functions than just time indication, such a watch is called a 'complicated' watch. (Source: Wikipedia)
43. Mechanical watches are generally analog watches, the time is indicated with hands. (Source: Wikipedia)
    
    
    
    
44. A quartz watch is an electronic watch that uses a quartz crystal to measure time. (Source: Wikipedia)
45. Most quartz crystals for watches have a frequency of 32 768 Hz. (Source: Wikipedia)
46. The Seiko 35 SQ Astron was the first quartz watch in production in 1969. (Source: Wikipedia)
47. The most famous watches on light energy are the Eco-Drive watches introduced by Citizen in 1995. (Source: Wikipedia)
48. Quartz watches are available in both analog (with hands) and digital (with numbers). (Source: Wikipedia)
49. Radio controlled watches are timepieces that are controlled by the atomic clock. (Source: WatchXL)
    
    
    
50. Radio controlled watches are very accurate, the summer time is also set automatically. (Source: Wikipedia)
51. Many people see mechanical watches as a status symbol due to the technology and craftsmanship. (Source: Wikipedia)
52. Waterproof to 3 ATM / 30 meters (water resistant / water sealed) means that the watch is resistant to rain and splash water. (Source: WatchXL)
53. Waterproof to 5 ATM / 50 meters (waterproof) means that you can shower or swim with the watch, provided there are no major temperature differences. However, the product is unsuitable for snorkeling and diving with compressed air. (Source: WatchXL)
54. 10 ATM / 100 meters (waterproof): This means that the watch is suitable for most types of water sports, such as swimming, sailing and snorkeling in shallow water. However, it is not suitable for tower jumping or scuba diving. However, care must be taken for large temperature differences. (Source: WatchXL)
55. Temperature differences can cause leaks in so-called waterproof watches. (Source: Wikipedia)
56. In 2013 a watch from around 1300 was found in Zutphen, The Netherlands. It was one of the oldest watches in Northern Europe.
57. A quadrans is a portable instrument from the Middle Ages used to measure time and determine latitudes. Source: Wikipedia)
58. Digital LED watches were very expensive and out of reach for the general consumer until 1975, when Texas Instruments began mass-producing LED watches in a plastic case. (Source: Wikipedia)
59. A watch with LED display has a Liquid Crystal Display that uses polarized light and is therefore difficult to read with polarized sunglasses. (Source: Wikipedia)
60. The convention is to put the watch on the wrist as your non-dominant hand. (Source: Masterclass.com)
61. Casio made a watch with a radio in 1987, the Casio TM-100 Transmitter watch. (Source: Webarchive )
62. At the January 1976 Chicago Consumer Electronics Show, Texas Instruments shocked its competition by introducing the first $20 watch line. (Source: Smithsonian)
63. The 'king' of all watches is most likely a Rolex. (Source: nationaljeweler.com)
64. The largest watch (diameter) in the world is the completely unknown Musk MR2919. This model measures 90 millimeters and weighs almost three quarters of a kilo! (Source: Ablogtowatch)
65. The smallest watch in the world is the Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 101 with a length of 14 millimeters, 4.8 millimeters wide and 3.4 millimeters thick. (Source: Jeager- Lecoultre)
66. Sapphire glass is better than mineral glass. (Source: WatchXL )
67. Patek Philippe is one of the best watch brands. 
68. Watches and aviation have an intertwined history. (Source: Thepointsguy.com)
69. The most famous watch used in space travel is the Omega Speedmaster Professional. 
70. Mercury 7/Gemini/Apollo astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, wore a standard Heuer stopwatch, reference 2915A.
71. One of the first watches in space is believed to be the Shturmanski, made by the First Moscow Watch Factory that was also worn by Yuri Gagarain, the first astronaut. 
72. The Bulova Moon Watch is one of the first watches to go to the moon. (Source: Bulova.com)
73. The Omega Speedmaster was the first watch to go to the moon. (Source: Omega watches)
74. The Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari is the world's thinnest mechanical watch with a thickness of 1.75 mm. 
75. For the money of the thinnest watch in the world you can buy 4 Ferraris.
76. The Kittyhawk watch is one of the most bizarre watches in the world. (Source:MBandf.com)
77. Drake has an erotic watch worth $750,000. (Source: Tatlerasia.com)
78. The most bizarre watch is a smartwatch filled with an electrically conductive single-celled organism known as 'slime mold'. The watch only works if the organism is healthy, requiring the user to provide it with food and care. (Source: Futurism.com)
79. The Rolex of Ronaldo's 13-year-old son, Ronaldo Jr., costs 477,756 euros. (Source: Superwatchman)
80. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has a white gold Rolex Day-Date worth around thirty thousand euros.
81. King Mohammed of Morocco has a diamond Patek Philippe worth more than one million euros on his wrist.
82. Princess Charlène of Monaco wore a Richard Mille watch worth one million euros at the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. (Source: Superwatchman)
83. Jackie Kennedy, Michelle Obama and the brand new First Lady Jill Biden wear a Cartier Tank. (Source: Hodinkee)
84. The Cartier Tank was originally designed for French soldiers during the First World War. 
85. Meghan Markle gifted herself the Cartier Tank Francaise. 
86. Meghan Markle wears Princess Diana’s Cartier watch in new Netflix series. (Source: Somethingaboutrocks.com)
87. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has a Cartier Ballon Bleu worth around six thousand euros. (Source: Prestigeonline.com)
88. Tom Cruise wore a CWC Stopwatch in Mission Impossible - Fallout (2018). (Source: Watchid)
89. Jake Gyllenhaal wore an MTM Black Vulture in Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (2023). (Source: Watchid)
90. In the movie 'Interstellar' you can see 2 watches: Murph (Jessica Chastain) has a Hamilton Khaki Automatic 'Murph watch' and Matthew McConaughey wears a Hamilton Khaki Pilot Day Date.</li >
91. Keanu Reeves wears a Carl F. Bucherer Manero AutoDate in 'John Wick'. (Source: Watchid)
92. Jerry Seinfeld wears  a Breitling watch in 'Seinfeld'. (Watchid)

That'ss it! Use these statistics and facts to show your friends, family and acquaintances how much knowledge you have. Do you know an interesting watch fact that we don't know? Feel free to let us know (with source reference), and we will add it to our watch statistics & watch facts!