This coffee table book presents the earliest beginnings of the celebrated names in watchmaking. Few items combine function, elegance and status like a wristwatch. A mix of precise mechanics, craftsmanship, precious materials and innovation. But the world of the watch is in a state of turmoil; so-called smart watches are becoming increasingly important. However, they will not replace classical timepieces with mechanical movements of the wrists, because the ticking of the mechanical clock is and remains the heartbeat of human culture.

Following the individual successes of The Watch Book I and The Watch Book II, these two titles are now available together in one expanded volume. Watch enthusiasts can indulge all their senses with a beautifully illustrated and well-documented chronicle of the best timepieces in the world. It takes photos of portraits of more than 40 premium watch brands and showcases their extraordinary designs and exclusive technical developments that have contributed to the history of the watch. A revealing glossary of key terms makes The Watch Book - Compendium a reference work for watch collectors.

Born in 1947, Gisbert L. Brunner has been dealing with wristwatches, pendulum clocks and other precision timepieces since 1964. In addition, during the quartz watch crisis in the 1970s, the love for mechanical timepieces increased. His passionate collecting hobby and great expertise led to first articles in GQ, ZEIT magazine and Chronos - and more than 20 books on the subject - from the early 1980s. Munich journalist and author Christian Pfeiffer-Belli is the editor-in-chief of Klassik Uhren. Founded in 1978, the magazine is published every two months as the only German-language magazine dealing only with old watches. Pfeiffer-Belli also has a very large photographic archive, from which The Watch Book I was illustrated.