WATCHES AND CULTURE BY FHH

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WATCHES AND CULTURE BY FHH -

360° APPROACH

INTRODUCTION

Watches and Culture is an editorial platform powered by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), a non profit organisation based in Geneva dedicated to preserving, promoting and transmitting watchmaking culture. For the past four years, we have been in charge of the project end to end, shaping its voice, formats and visual direction. Starting from zero, we launched the Instagram account and grew it into a fast expanding community, now approaching 50,000 followers.

THE CONCEPT

Our approach is built on storytelling and specificity. We connect horology to design, craft, history and the people behind the objects, with a clear goal, make watch culture feel accessible, sharp and genuinely interesting, without watering it down. We focus on details that reveal a wider world, a mechanism, a material, a silhouette, a forgotten reference, an archive image, a craft gesture. The result is content that sits between education and entertainment, designed to spark curiosity and reward attention.

EDITORIAL FORMAT

Watches and Culture is structured around recurring formats, each with its own role. “Quirky Backstory” and “A Focus On” explore singular watches, technical features and unexpected design narratives. “Glossary” breaks down the vocabulary of watchmaking in a simple and memorable way. “Professions” highlights métiers and the craftspeople who shape the industry. The serie “SCANS” turns archival scans into contemporary stories, bridging heritage and modern eyes. Finally, the “A Talk With” series allow our community to meet new faces of the watch industry. Click the images to see what a full post looks like.

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↑ A FOCUS ON ↑

↑ GLOSSARY ↑

↑ PROFESSIONS ↑

↑ SCANS ↑

↑ A TALK WITH ↑

+46K FOLLOWERS

+200’000 LIKES

+730 PUBLICATIONS

+900 WATCHES

RESEARCH AND SOURCES

We build every post from solid research and verified references, often working directly from archival material, specialist libraries and institutional resources. This method allows us to go beyond the obvious and uncover stories that feel fresh, precise and visually compelling.

SOCIAL AND VISUAL DIRECTION

The account is designed for clarity and rhythm. We develop consistent visual principles and a strong editorial tone so the feed feels curated, not just posted. Alongside the editorial formats, we have produced more than ten lifestyle shoots specifically for Instagram, creating original imagery that keeps the content dynamic, cohesive and instantly recognisable. Each story is crafted to work immediately in-feed, while still holding enough depth to be revisited, shared and saved.

↑ FEED OVERVIEW ↑

FIND THE PHOTOSHOOTS WE IMAGINED BELOW

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GLOSSARY – OIGNON (WATCH) (/wa.tʃ ˈɔɲ.ɔ̃/)
Big, round, and proudly bulbous: the oignon watch is a French style from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, named after its onion-like case shape. Most were made in chased brass (sometimes silver,

SCANS - OROLOGERIA BY @panerai
Some watch brands have a timeline. Panerai has a whole ecosystem. Orologeria (published in Italy in July 2015, by Marsilio) is one of those rare books that doesn’t just “tell the story”, it builds it t

THE QUIRKY BACKSTORY OF @rolex’S STELLA DIALS
Rolex isn’t exactly famous for bold colours. Which is precisely why these dials feel so fascinating today.
In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, a handful of Day-Date watches left Geneva

GLOSSARY – NATURAL PEARL (/ˈnætʃ(ə)rəl pɜːrl/)
Also known as an oriental pearl, a natural pearl is born by chance. An oyster, freshwater mussel, or other mollusc creates it as a reaction to a tiny intruder trapped inside its shell. Nature

A FOCUS ON THE MARCO MAVILLA OVAL ONE
At first glance, Marco Mavilla’s Oval One looks like pure jewellery: an oversized oval case, fully pavé-set, no hands, no markers, no “dial” in the traditional sense. And yet… it t

THE QUIRKY BACKSTORY OF THE @ulyssenardinofficial SAN MARCO
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Ulysse Nardin did something very un-“Swiss” with the San Marco collection: it treated the dial like a miniature painting, not just a time display. M

SCANS - POETRY OF TIME by @vancleefarpels
Published by Éditions Cercle d’Art (Paris) in 2009, The Poetry of Time explores Van Cleef & Arpels watchmaking through the lens of jewellery design: Art Deco bracelet watches, secret watches,

A TALK WITH @olliecrocs
Ollie Cox is a London-based style and watch writer, known for connecting fashion to wider cultural moments. We invited him to A Talk With to share five key moments that shaped his inspirations and journey in watchmaking:
 1. I

GLOSSARY – NEPHRITE (/ˈnɛf.raɪt/)
Nephrite is jade’s quieter sibling: part of the jade family, slightly softer than jadeite, and often marked by natural veining that makes every stone feel unique. For watchmaking and jewelry, it’s a

A FOCUS ON THE @chopard TREE WATCH
Circa 2000, Chopard slipped a little piece of woodland onto the wrist: a one-of-one watch from a small series where every example was unique. The “case” isn’t really a case so much as a miniature t

THE QUIRKY BACKSTORY OF @gucci TIMEPIECES
Gucci is Florentine at heart, but its watches have always had a Swiss pulse. When the quartz era turned wristwatches into everyday accessories, Gucci didn’t try to out-compete tool watches on specs. Ins

GLOSSARY – MYSTERIOUS (/mɪˈstɪə.ri.əs/)
The “Mysterious” system is one of watchmaking’s best illusions: hands that seem to float, moved by transparent crystal discs with serrated edges. Patented by Armand Schwob et Frèr

A FOCUS ON THE @vacheronconstantin LES HISTORIQUES JALOUSIE
With Les Historiques Jalousie ref. 91002, Vacheron Constantin turns reading the time into a choice. Inspired by early 20th-century secret watches, its dial sits behind a pink-gold “jal

THE QUIRKY BACKSTORY OF THE @glashuetteoriginal COLLABORATION WITH @meissen_porcelain
Before “craft collaborations” became a buzzword, two Saxon towns had already written a pretty perfect script.
On one side: MEISSEN, founded in 1710 und

GLOSSARY – MINUTE REPEATER (/ˈmɪnɪt rɪˈpiːtər/)
Hours first, then quarters, then minutes: two tiny hammers strike two different gongs to chime the time on demand. And fun twist: once the modern matchstick arrived in 1845, these pieces suddenly

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ALL OF US! 🎉
Christmas 2025 is here, and we just wanted to say thank you for following along this year, for the archives, the weird stories, and the watches that made you stop scrolling.
Now we’ll let you get back to the i

A TALK WITH @the.sixth.sense
Based in the Philippines, Dominique Canlas is drawn to objects with character, where wear becomes a signature. From a playful 1980s Tokio Kumagai that first sparked his curiosity, he shares a curator’s “sixth

THE QUIRKY BACKSTORY OF LECOULTRE IN THE USA
For much of the 20th century, Jaeger-LeCoultre quietly lived a double life.
In Europe, the full name appeared on dials. In the United States, the same manufacture often signed its watches simply LeCoultre.

GLOSSARY – LUGS (/lʌɡz/)
Often overlooked, lugs quietly shape how a watch wears, balances, and connects to the wrist. Straight, curved, twisted or hidden, they can completely change the character of a case, even when the diameter stays the same

PROJECTS AND ACTIVATIONS

Watches and Culture also extends beyond the screen through live moments built to strengthen community. Through the “A Talk With” Series, we produced public, in-person events in London and New York, bringing watch enthusiasts together around panelists who share their personal journeys in horology.

We also brought the project into major industry settings such as Inhorgenta, where we helped inject a fresher, social-first energy into the fair. Through Watches and Culture, we invited influencers, contributed to an on-site panel, produced video content, and helped amplify the event with contemporary storytelling that connects institutional credibility with new audience curiosity.

↑ A TALK WITH NEW YORK VIDEO RECAP ↑

↑ BEST-OF INHORGENTA VIDEO ↑

FULL INHORGENTA VIDEO BELOW

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