Clocks go back: Britons google watches more than ovens

Research: what do you have to change yourself?

Clocks go back: Britons search nearly 184,000 times in October for how to set their watch - more than twice as often as for the oven

Casio and Bosch top the list, while smartwatches take care of themselves

London, 19 October 2026 - Phones and laptops update themselves, but the watch on your wrist often doesn't. Britons searched around 184,000 times last October for how to set the time on a watch, more than twice as often as for the oven (around 78,000). That is the finding of research by watch marketplace Wristler into Google searches. At 2am on Sunday 25 October the clocks go back an hour.

Casio and Bosch top the list

Digital watches with buttons and ovens with their own clock prompt the most searches. A much-searched brand is above all a widely owned brand. The Bosch oven search is 3.6 times as common in the clock-change months as in a normal month.

The most-searched brands in October (each brand's top query):

• Casio watch: 3,600
• Bosch oven: 3,600
• G-Shock watch: 1,900
• Neff oven: 1,600
• Panasonic microwave: 1,600

Your smartwatch has it covered

Searches for changing the time on an Apple Watch stay flat all year, with no rise around the clock change, because the watch takes its time from the phone.

A fine watch? Forward, not back

Luxury watches such as Rolex are searched too (around 1,000 times in October), but those searches barely rise around the clock change: it's the digital watches that spike. Still, there is something worth knowing. "On a mechanical watch, it's best to move the time forward rather than back. A movement is designed to run in one direction, and while modern movements cope with it fine, winding forward is simply the careful choice. Also take care if your watch shows the date or day: don't change the time between roughly 7pm and 6am, because in that window the date mechanism is engaged and you could put it under unnecessary strain," said Timo Klinge, CEO of Wristler.

See the full research at: wristler.eu/insights/research-clock-change

ENDS

Notes to editors

About the research

Wristler analysed search volumes from Google Keyword Planner in the UK from September 2025 to August 2026, for searches about setting the time on devices. Figures are Google's rounded estimates. Searches show demand for information, not behaviour. Totals are deduplicated: the same search in a different word order counts once. The figures describe searches around the clock changes of the past year, not the upcoming change. Method and data are available on request.

About Wristler

Wristler (wristler.eu) is a European online marketplace for luxury watches. Press contact: Timo Klinge, CEO, timo@wristler.eu, +31 6 36 02 61 41

Images: Wristler, free to use with credit.