A Man and His Watch

“I’ve paged through stacks of books on the history of watches. . . . But I hadn’t come across a book that actually moved me until I picked up A Man and His Watch. The volume is filled with heartfelt stories.”
—T: The New York Times Style Magazine

“Awesome. . . . Contains dozens of beautifully photographed watches. The real joy, though, is found in the stories that unfold about each one.”
—GQ.com

“A grand testimony to the idea that, rather than just telling the time, a watch can serve as a marker of a particular moment or memory. . . . Sumptuously photographed.”
—MrPorter.com
 
“The perfect holiday gift . . . this elegant book is a celebration of the longstanding love affair between a man and the clock on his wrist.”
—Jetset magazine

“The watch through Matt Hranek’s lens is much more than a time-telling device; it’s a vehicle through which the men in A Man and His Watch tell their tales of achievement, love, and loss. This may be the first book to unlock not only why wristwatches remain the subject of such attention today, a generation after their purpose was lost to PCs and smartphones, but also why we began to cherish them so much in the first place.”
—Benjamin Clymer, founder and executive editor of Hodinkee
 
“Great watches not only tell time—they also tell stories. Matt Hranek has assembled a wonderful collection of stories and images representing a diverse and fascinating group of horological devotees.”
—Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City

“A wonderful meditation not just on watches, but on how men use them to better understand their fathers, their families, and ultimately their own place in the world.”
—Gary Shteyngart, author of Little Failure and Super Sad True Love Story
 
“This book, naturally, is about remarkable watches. But it’s really about why objects have meaning—who made them and why. Together it’s a collective history about what we inherit, what we pass on, and the stories we tell that become more important over time.”
—David Coggins, author of Men and Style
 
“A mechanical watch consumes no power and possesses no energy except that which you bestow upon it by winding it or simply moving. And in return it becomes your most trusted companion, allowing you to navigate the glorious pathway that is life with unfailing precision. With A Man and His Watch, Matt Hranek brings to life the ineffable bond we make with the amazing machine with a heartbeat that lives on our wrist. And I can’t think of a better person to chronicle this.”
—Wei Koh, founder of The Rake