Editorial standards

These are the rules the site itself enforces, not aspirations. Several of them fail the build rather than reach a reader.

Sourcing

• Every article lists its sources.
• A figure quoted from a maker is attributed to that maker.
• We separate what a source states, what we observed, and what we think.

Experience we do not have

An article written from press material never claims first-hand experience. A piece may only use language like “we handled it” when the encounter is documented, and the build rejects a hands-on piece with no recorded evidence.

Specifications

Specifications, prices and comparisons are rendered from one record per watch. A build-time drift check reads every figure in the public text and flags any number-and-unit pair the record does not carry, so a spec drifting from its source is caught rather than published unnoticed.

Images

Every image we publish is one of three kinds, and we say which: our own photography; imagery under a written licence; or material a brand distributed to the press, which we use on our own editorial judgement with the distribution recorded. That last kind is an editorial decision on our side, not a written permission from the brand, and we do not describe it as one. Each image carries its credit, and campaign artwork is labelled as artwork rather than photography. An image whose provenance is not recorded cannot be published.

Independence

Commercial work is labelled. Brands do not approve our copy, and access or payment does not buy a verdict.