But since I promised you in my last post HERE, here is some tips on choosing a watch. The content of this post is extracted (and mostly copied) from an article from OneClickz.net
So what is essential in buying a watch?
1. Price
Isn't it always? lol. You need to know your own budget/limit. Do take note on these:
For Watches cost ;$1000 and above
- mechanical watches
- precious metals (gold-plated and platinum watches), specially developed tungsten carbide or titanium
- sapphire crystals
- formal and designers watches
- Breitling, Omega, Rolex, IWC etc
- automatic quartz
- Caoutchouc, stainless steel,leather, titanium and carbon fiber
- mineral glass
- casual watches
- Orient, Botta Design
- quartz watches
- plastic and resin composites, base metals
- plastic crystal
- fashion and sport watches
- Swatch watches
Of course, without it, who are we? Just so u know the specification or criteria what we call Dress/ Classic watch or Designer watch or Sports watch
General Criteria
Dress/Classic Watches
- gold material
- plain and thin case
- a rotating bezel or any bezel with markings on it is out,
- thick markings
- hands with lots of tritium.
Designer Watches
- Designed by someone with a world-wide reputation and publicized designer’s look fairly unusual, but not always.
Sports Watches
- usually large,
- bezels with prominent markings,
- water-resistant to some degree,
- nearly always have thick, luminous hands and markings.
- inspired by the Rolex Submariner.
- inspired by the IWC Mark XV (or earlier).
3. Brands
According to this website I'm basing the post on, you are suppose to learn some facts about the watch manufacturer reputation yourself. Coz, most watch-store sales person know little or nothing. (Lol, I would probably be as ignorant too.) How to know? well, for starters, you can ask - friends and family who already has the brand would be a good start. You can also post it on forums and websites. Don't be a lazy bum. haha. Oh yeah, here are some brands,
4. Where To Buy?
Usually, the real ones (especially the high-ends, prestogious brands) are available only in authorized retailers, so online shopping might not be the best choice. BUT the internet watch catalog is a good way to choose your pick. Best way is for you to visit the retailer’s official shop for details on the watch itself and its purchasing. And to ensure you are paying the hefty sum and get the real thing, avoid internet retail sites and online stores - seriously.
5. Right Size
Larger Men: chose watches with large faces
Smaller men: Be careful that the larger watch may make them look like a little boy wearing his daddy’s watch. So choose more compact watch models
6. Water Resistance
Here's a guide for it. Decide for what purpose and how important water resistance is.
7, Watch Bracelet
Depends on what is most comfortable and preference of the wearer. However, stainless-steel will last longer then leather. Plus, it can easily be worn with a business suit and at the same time can be paired just as easily with casual wear.
8. Watch life expectancy (parts)
The life of mechanical watches can be almost infinite. So yes, I would think it would be a good choice.
Quartz watches parts often cannot be repaired, but must instead be replaced. The life of a quartz watch will be determined on whether or not the parts are available.
9. Type of maintenance the watch will require
Mechanical (manual and automatic) watches should be serviced and cleaned according to the manufacturer’s recommendations or at least every three years.
Quartz (battery operated) watches should be serviced when the battery is replaced (2-5 years, depending on the type of watch)
Lithium-iodine (LID) batteries watch have lifetime of ten years
10. What is NOT important in buying a watch
- How the watch move - unless it's $10K and above, and have unique function, the mechanism is not important.
- How the watch is made - no, none of it are hand-made. It's all manufactured in a factory. Unless they are above $20K
- Number of jewels inside - they are small synthetic ruby elements used as extremely low friction pivots for a few critical parts of a watch mechanism. It do not add value to a watch as they worth only a few pennies. The appropriate number for any watch movement depends on the exact design and functions of the movement
So there you go. Hopefully it will shed some light on your watch hunting. Me? I'm not so much of a watch person. I go for aesthetics rather than function when it comes to watches. Hey, I'm a visual person. So lay off the blame! :D
