How to choose a watch

Ali Degirmen Profile Picture Ali Degirmen
21-05-2019
How to choose a watch

A wristwatch is a visual and functional object that can give you many emotional feelings at the same time. A watch is not something that only shows time and date. It's an accessory who lives with you longer than any clothing. So you need to choose a watch to match your lifestyle, your dress. 

 

Men's wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or other type of bracelet.

 

You will first need to choose what kind of watch you want to buy then you can choose design depends on your wearing (casual, business casual, dress, sport, etc..)

 

What are the main types of watches?

 

 There are 2 main types of watches in technology-based. 

 

1. Analog Watches

 

Analog watches have displays with a miniature clock-face with 12 hours, an hour hand, and a minute hand. Some analog watches also have a second hand that shows seconds. 

 

Analog watches show time as traditional numbers or Roman numerals. 

 

They are still the most commonly used type of watches with different style and technologies.

 

- Automatic and Mechanic Analog Watches

mechanical watch

 

All luxury watches are mostly in that category. They are small engineered machines with small mechanical parts and power reserve is also a mechanic. It is driven by a spring (called a mainspring). You can wind or get a self-wind also called automatic technology that means it charges with your kinetic movement.

 

- Quartz Analog Watches

kinetik perpetual watch

 

If you want an accurate timing no other technologies can beat with quartz technology. Comparing mechanical watches they are also cheap. They need electricity to pass from quartz crystal and use that atom vibration to calculate time. Average accuracy is -10/+20seconds per month. 

Based on power reserve they are some different type of quartz watches

 

Solar Powered Quartz Watches

They use solar energy to charge the battery, even it's solar battery has a lifetime. 10-20 years on average. Citizen and Seiko produce a really markable product in that category

 

Kinetic Powered Quartz Watches

They use the kinetic energy of your arm to charge the battery, even it's kinetic battery has a lifetime, 10-20 years on average.

 

Battery Changing Quartz Watches

Classic Quartz watches. They don't have the chargeable battery you need to change it every 5years on average. Some models have 10years capacity.

 

2. Digital Watches and Smart Watches

digital watch

Digital Watch is a watch in which the hours, minutes, and sometimes seconds are indicated by digits, rather than by hands on a dial. A smartwatch is a portable device that has a digital screen and designed to be worn on the wrist, just like a traditional watch. Smartwatches can also have touchscreens, support apps, and often record heart rate and other vital signs.

 

How to select a watch matching with your clothes and your style?

 

 

If you have chosen which type of watches you would like to have on your wrist, it's time to choose a visual style based on your lifestyle. Here is some type of watches depends on your dress or your lifestyle.

 

1. Dress Watches

dress watch

A dress watch is the most elegant of watches. If you have a sharp dress you definitely need to complete your style with that kind of watch. They’re works of art and they deserve the same attention. It has only one purpose and that’s to tell time (calendar can be an option). You don't need different options to show like chronograph, alarm, tachometer, etc. 

 

Straps may be made of leather or metal sometimes in combination. Sapphire is a must for the face material that is 2-3 times harder than mineral glass. 

 

2. Casual Watches

casual watch

It's also called the weekend watches. You can combine with almost anything such as business casual, sport style. They are intended to be worn with jeans and a t-shirt or a night out. They might have a calendar, chronometer, alarm, tachometer indicators.

 

Straps may be made of leather, plastic, rubber, cloth, or metal, sometimes in combination. Crystal can be sapphire or mineral glass.

 

3. Sport Watches

sport watch

They are durable watches with a sportive look and has some useful options. All Chrono, pilot, diver or field watches can be in that category with different. Water resistant is average 100m. 

 

Straps may be made of leather, plastic, rubber, cloth, or metal, sometimes in combination. Crystal is mostly mineral.

 

What size watch should I wear? 

watch sizes

 

The main dimension would be the case size diameter. Measure your wrist size. If it's below 7inches you can choose 38mm 40mm 42mm sized watches if your wrist size is above 7inches 46-48mm will be the best looking size for you. Dress watches can be smaller, Sport watches can be a little larger. 

 

Conclusion

 

A good watch can uplift men's emotions. It's maybe the only accessory to wear for men. You should choose the best watch or watches to match your style and needs. A good looking shiny watch will also attract everyone in the room. 

 

 

Small Watch Terms Dictionary

 

Luminescence: Glow given off by watch numerals, indices, and hands that have been coated with a photoluminescent material to able to see in the dark.

 

Perpetual Calendar: If you have that option in your watch. You don't need to update the day or month number every month. A calendar complication that adjusts the watch’s calendar for the varying length of months as well as leap years

 

Sapphire Crystal

Sapphire crystals are 2-3 times harder than mineral glass and virtually scratch-proof. They are more brittle so are more likely to crack or shatter than mineral. Replacement cost is substantially higher than for mineral crystals.

 

Tachometer

A tachometer also referred to as a tachymetre, is a graduation on the dial of a chronograph which enables one to determine average speeds or hourly production on the basis of an observation period of under sixty seconds.

 

Water Resistance

The ability of a watch to withstand (resist) splashes of water on the timepiece. This will indicate the depth that a watch can be worn underwater.

 

Mainspring: A torsion spring that becomes tightened when a watch is wound, thus storing the energy of a watch. The force of the spring unwinding powers the watch. The mainspring is housed inside a small drum called a “barrel.”

 

Power Reserve: The length of time that a mechanical watch can run once it’s fully wound. Most entry-level watches have a power reserve of about 40 hours, though many higher-end watches can run for several days at a time. Sometimes watches will feature a power reserve gauge indicating how fully wound the watch is.

 

Quartz: A quartz watch is a battery-powered watch. The battery sends an electric signal via a microchip circuit to a small quartz crystal that then vibrates at a precise rate. Those vibrations regulate a stepper motor that moves the watch hands. Quartz watches are considerably more accurate, more reliable and cheaper than their mechanical counterparts, though mechanical watch diehards don’t find them as appealing because of their simpler internal components.

 

Indices: The markings on the dial of a watch used to represent the hours in place of numerals. In higher-end watches, these are usually “applied,” or attached to the dial, rather than printed on.

 

Chronometer: A watch that has been independently tested by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) in Switzerland (or any other official governing body in other countries). In the case of the former, watches are tested over the course several days in six different positions at three different temperatures, while remaining accurate to within -4/+6 seconds per day for mechanical watches and ±0.07 per day for quartz watches. (Learn more about chronometers here.)

 

Crystal

A transparent cover that protects the watch dial. Crystals are made of glass, plastic or synthetic sapphire. Non-reflective coatings on some crystals prevent glare. (See also: Mineral Crystals, Plastic Crystals, Sapphire Crystals)

 

 

 

 

Ali Degirmen Profile Picture Ali Degirmen
Engineer, Solo web developer