Apple Watch not charging on dock

Hi there, apple community. I have an Apple Watch Gen 1 (the first one, not Series 1) and I've noticed that it will not charge on the dock I bought for it, my iPhone, and AirPods. Note that i'm using the original charging cable that came with my watch; the dock essentially just holds the watch and charger up at an angle. I have just come to the realization, after that, that the problem isn't the dock at all; it's the angle that the apple watch happens to be sitting at while resting on the dock. I discovered this by putting the apple watch on the charger on the dock, then tilting the entire dock either forward or backward ever so slightly. The Apple watch would then begin charging. I then proceeded to remove the charger from the dock and hold the apple watch in my hand, then connect the charger while manually holding the watch at the same angle the dock holds it at. The Apple watch did not charge. Then I tilted the watch a couple millimeters in one direction or the other and it began charging as well. I am almost wondering if Apple implemented this as a sneaky marketing technique, so as to inhibit use of other apple watch charging stands aside from the ones they sell themselves. (the dock I have is not sold by Apple.) Could that be the case in my situation, or is there just a very unlucky minor problem with my watch?