Posted by Lee Sullivan on 25/10/2022

Winter is well and truly coming, which can only mean one thing: the clocks are going back.

They’re going back by an hour at 02:00 on 29th October and this is sometimes considered the ‘good one’, as you’ll have one hour more in bed.

But why do we change the clocks at all? Is it for a scientific reason, possibly to do with the positioning of the Sun in summer and winter?

To put it bluntly, no. The idea was first entertained because some people thought that by sleeping through daylight in the summer, the day was being wasted.

The idea really took off when a builder called William Willett (who just so happens to be the great-great-grandfather of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin) campaigned in Britain to change the clocks. It’s thought he was annoyed that his golfing would be interrupted by the sun going down, so he wanted to change the law to make sure there would be more light in the evening.

One of Coldplay’s most recognisable songs is called ‘Clocks’. Perhaps now we know why.

He campaigned for the clocks to change until he died of influenza in March 1915, but it wasn’t his love of golf that persuaded Parliament. In the spring of 1916, during World War One, the German army turned the clocks forward as a way of conserving energy. Many (but not all) European governments followed suit shortly afterwards – including the UK.

P.S. Don’t forget once you’ve altered the time on your watch to screw down your crown securely to lock the crown when it is not being operated in order to prevent any operational errors and to improve its water resistant performance.