It never used to be like this: if you wanted a watch, you’d simply buy a watch. But now, after the advent of cheap, battery-powered quartz watches in the 1970s – a period not-so-fondly known as the Quartz Crisis – you have to go to your local jewellers and purchase a “luxury Swiss-made mechanical timepiece”.

The effect of East Asian exports on the traditional industry proved devastating, and the only way Switzerland could turn its fortunes around was by rebranding its stock in trade. Instead of making “watches”, the Swiss were now hand-crafting precious heirlooms with a soul and a ticking heartbeat. The perfect antidote to our breathless, ever-obsolete digital age.

Which, of course, is everything we love about extraordinary watches (but clearly didn’t appreciate enough 50 years ago). There’s an unfortunate flipside however, in that anything attached to various c-words such as “connoisseur”, “collectable” or “cult”, breeds a community of fandom that thrives on story-telling – a “grand narrative” as postmodernist Mr Jean-François Lyotard would have it, with misinformation written through it like a stick of Brighton rock. And, much like cars or fashion, the wonderful world of watches also has its share of cynical detractors, alienated by a culture they don’t understand and eager to cast aspersions.

Whether you are having doubts, or simply wish to be reassured, here are seven myths about luxury watchmaking, and why every one of them deserves to be debunked.

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There’s no way around it: for something rendered superfluous by the smartphone in your pocket, and that takes up almost negligible real estate on your arm, a Swiss watch is pricey. You might already be in the habit of spending what seems a lot on your clothing, but at least that Brunello Cucinelli jumper keeps you warm, right?

Short of referring you to our recent animation on why watches cost so much, there are hundreds of reasons behind the high price tags, from the unique, endangered skills required to hand-make a mechanical movement, to the elaborate R&D and machinery, plus Switzerland’s astronomic cost of living. But ultimately, the cost is made worth it by two things: watches are an investment and will last longer than anything else in your closet, and they make for gloriously sentimental heirlooms. As long as you get it serviced every four or five years, the cost-per-wear of your Swiss watch is on an eternal downwards trajectory, from generation to generation. How many jumpers do that?

No, they don’t. But only if you’re comparing a mechanical watch to a quartz-regulated one, in which you’re talking a loss or gain of around 15 seconds a year at the behest of a crystal vibrating at 32,768Hz, compared to the 15 a day managed by your wind-up’s 4Hz oscillating balance spring.

But it’s really not that bad in the grand scheme and perfectly serviceable for quotidian punctuality and a triumph of micro-engineering, given all the knocks, shakes, tremors and gesticulations your wrist inflicts on such a delicately poised constellation of components. The fact Parmigiani Fleurier’s test facility has a robot that replicates brushing your teeth just goes to show the challenge every fine watchmaker must overcome, and invariably does.

Elaborating on myth 01., all Swiss watches are created expensively, but some Swiss watches are relatively affordable. We’re still hovering around that four-figure plimsoll line, but the likes of Junghans, Oris and TAG Heuer all produce rock-solid everyday wearers, complete with sapphire-crystal domes, precision Swiss mechanics and water-resistant steel cases, all mounted on silkily machined bracelets, calfskin or high-tech rubber. Always under warranty, always fixable, as “Swiss” and “Made” as any highfalutin Vacheron Constantin or Piaget.

Admittedly a rather archaic myth, this one, but the jewel factor does still creep into many brands’ literature as a gleaming feather in their cap. They’re synthetically fabricated these days, and rubies do play a crucial role in alleviating the friction of pivot points, but it’s no longer a sign of quality or preciousness – that’s been overtaken in this day and age by the anachronistic miracle of their surrounding mechanics.

According to a government tenet, to print “Swiss Made” on your dial means you must have sourced at least 60 per cent of your watch’s inherent value from Switzerland throughout the production process. Many think it should be more, and in most cases it is, but even if the odd crystal, dial, leather strap or screw comes from East Asia, it’s likely that that’s down to better value, not lower quality – and the saving is invariably passed on to you.

Smartwatches are becoming a potential threat to Switzerland’s entry level – arguably justified in the case of Apple’s watch given the quality of build. But a few upgrades (in parallel to upgrading your mothership smartphone) is all it will take to re-convert recent defectors back to a lifetime’s “proper” watch. What’s more, the devastation wreaked by the Quartz Crisis means Switzerland is in no mood to be caught napping again. Brands including Montblanc and TAG Heuer have already positioned themselves at the sharp end of smartwatch tech, with their own innovations.

Quartz-crystal-regulated technology has always been anathema to spring-and-cogs snobs. Not surprising when you consider that it almost killed off the traditional Swiss watch industry. But collars do seem to be loosening at last. For a start, quartz is the only genuine horological advancement of the 20th century, as anything else has just updated 18th-century mechanical principles. Plus, when you consider that horology is the pursuit of “keeping time”, quartz does it best in miniature form. What’s more, with the rise of the connected smartwatch, seen by some as a potential “second quartz crisis” (see myth 06.) the watch with a crystal heart is now enjoying something of a repatriation – a retro cool factor even, 50 years on from Seiko unveiling its Astron on Christmas Day in 1969. Pop the caseback of a quartz watch and you’re confronted by something a spanner-wielding Han Solo would recognise from the bowels of the Millennium Falcon.