The events of Jim Starlin, George Perez, and Ron Lim's The Infinity Gauntlet shook up the entire Marvel Universe as Thanos snapped away half of all life in the universe in his efforts to court the living embodiment of death. Despite his attempts, Thanos was eventually thwarted and the Infinity Gauntlet fell into the hands of Adam Warlock.
After the Living Tribunal orders Warlock to separate the gems from the Gauntlet so they may never be used in conjunction again, in Jim Starlin and Angel Medina's Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1, Warlock spread the six Gems amongst a group of heroes and villains to ensure they were not brought together again.
The team consisted of Gamora, who held the Time Gem; Pip the Troll, who held the Space Gem; Drax the Destroyer, who held the Power Gem; Moondragon, who held the Mind Gem; and Thanos, who secretly held the Reality Gem; while Warlock kept the Soul Gem. These choices were deemed odd at the time, with even Adam Warlock wondering if he made the right choices or if the influence of the Infinity Gauntlet had clouded his judgment. Warlock did not initially intend for the Gems' custodians to form a team, believing the Gems would be safer if they were kept apart from each other. However, after four of the Infinity Watch members are kidnapped by Man-Beast in an attempt to destroy Warlock, the group chose to stay together as a team. Later 0n an amnesiac man, who the team names Maxam, joining the team despite protests from Gamora and a violent outburst by Maxam against Adam Warlock.
The group went on to face numerous foes who either wanted to obtain the Gems or had personal vendettas against the team members. However, despite their role as protectors of the Infinity Gems and their defense of the Gems against external threats, it was their failure to defend from internal threats that became their undoing. These failures led to Jim Starlin and Ron Lim's The Infinity War, which saw Warlock's evil persona the Magus take possession of the cosmic cubes to seek revenge against Thanos and Warlock. Following the team's role in "The Infinity War", came "The Infinity Crusade", which saw Earth's heroes and the watch fighting against Warlock's good side, the Goddess, who has collected 30 Cosmic Cubes and formed a Cosmic Egg capable of granting wishes.
Despite their romantic connection, Gamora would eventually leave the Infinity Watch after an argument with Warlock over the inclusion of Maxam on the team, leading to Maxam becoming the keeper of the Time Gem. This led to Maxam's memories returning, leading to his belief that Warlock is a danger to his homeworld. Moondragon telepathically influences Maxam into believing he had killed Warlock so he would return to his homeworld. With Gamora and Maxam no longer on the team, a being known as Rune managed to steal all the Infinity Gems and take them into the Ultraverse, leading to the eventual disbandment of Warlock's Infinity Watch.
Other groups would go on to take the name of the Infinity Watch, but Adam Warlock's team continually failed to uphold their duties as protectors of the Gems, as a War and a Crusade broke out, as well as the Gems being lost to a nobody from another universe. It seems those that questioned whether Warlock made the right choice of Guardians for the Infinity Gems, were right to be worried.