Source hierarchy
ChronoMosaic prefers primary sources first: official brand pages, press releases, manuals, technical sheets, service documents, museum records, archival catalogs, and manufacturer documentation.
When primary sources are unavailable, reputable secondary sources may be used, including recognized auction houses, established watch publications, books, and catalog references. Forum posts and marketplace listings require extra caution.
Normalization
Different sources describe the same watch attributes in different ways. ChronoMosaic normalizes those descriptions into comparable fields such as movement type, winding, case material, dial color family, complication, collection, and production status.
Normalization should preserve source meaning. If a field is uncertain, approximate, disputed, or inferred, the catalog should avoid presenting it as a verified exact value.
Conflicting sources
If two reputable sources disagree, ChronoMosaic should prefer the more direct, more recent, and more technically specific source. The conflict should be recorded rather than hidden when it affects reader interpretation.
A missing value is preferable to an unsupported value. Unknown dimensions, dates, or movement details should remain unrecorded until a credible source supports them.