About Meridian

Why Meridian exists

Meridian began with a frustration most watch buyers will recognise. Search for advice on your first automatic, or on whether a brand you have never heard of is worth the money, and you are met with a wall of near-identical "best of" lists. Many are rewritten from press releases. Some are ranked by commission rate. Very few are written by anyone who has actually worn the watch for more than an afternoon.

We started Meridian to be the publication we wanted to read: slower, more sceptical, and honest about the trade-offs. Every watch has them — a crystal that scratches, a case that overwhelms a slim wrist, a movement that runs fast in the cold — and a review that hides them is not much use to you.

We also believe good watch advice should be for everyone, not just collectors with five-figure budgets. Some of the most rewarding watches we have owned cost less than a weekend away, and some of the most disappointing cost a great deal more. Price tells you surprisingly little about how a watch will feel on your wrist after a month. So we cover the whole spectrum — from first automatics to aspirational Swiss pieces — and judge each one against what it costs and what it promises, not against an imaginary ideal.

Who we are

Meridian is a small, independent publication run by watch enthusiasts. We are not a brand, a retailer or a marketing agency, and we have no commercial relationship with any watch manufacturer beyond the affiliate programmes described below. Our articles are signed collectively as Meridian Editors.

Our editorial philosophy

Our approach rests on a simple idea: you should be able to trust a review without having to trust the reviewer's motives. That means three commitments we do not compromise on.

Independence. No brand or retailer can pay for a review, a higher rating, a badge or a place in our recommendations. Editorial decisions are made by our editors alone, and commercial partners never see a review before it is published.

Transparency. Every review states how the watch reached us — bought with our own money, loaned by a brand, or gifted — and what we did with it afterwards. When we change a verdict, we update the article and say so.

Time on the wrist. Whenever we review a watch, we wear it for weeks rather than hours, measure its accuracy, and live with it through ordinary days. Where we have not handled a watch ourselves, as in some buying guides, we tell you plainly.

How we make money

Meridian is free to read and carries no paid reviews or sponsored rankings. We earn money through affiliate links: when you click a link to a retailer such as Amazon, Creation Watches or Tsar Bomba and make a purchase, the retailer may pay us a small commission. You pay exactly the same price.

We know this model creates an obvious temptation — to recommend whatever pays best. We guard against it by ranking watches without reference to commission rates, by recommending watches we earn nothing from when they are the better choice, and by publishing the criticisms that might cost us a sale. You can read the full details in our Affiliate Disclosure.

If we ever fall short of these standards, we want to hear about it. Write to us — every message is read by an editor.