Choosing a watch can be mind-boggling.
They all have their unique selling points and if you aren't sure what
they do in the first place, no amount of labelling will help you. What can be done about this? Where do we start?
How about my ultimate rule for starting your watch collection…
Buy a watch because you love it
This may sound like the most obvious thing to say, but I think this is
the cornerstone of any collection, certainly from my point of view.
I do not subscribe to the notion that you should own a particular brand
of type of watch before you can be considered a proper collector.
You should collect from the heart rather than be a completist or
purchase items just because they convey a level of prestige or glamour
on the wearer.
You can love a watch for lots of reasons, how it looks, how it works,
the complications (more on that later) or even the watches' individual
stories. Find something to love about it and it will be a treasured part of your collection rather than an overlooked one.
Love of a watch will take you so far, but a basic knowledge in some of
the key areas that make up a watch and the options they offer to you,
will provide an excellent starting point for future purchases. With this is mind let us delve into deeper into some of these options and see where it takes us.
Choices In FUNCTION, Elements, Design & Style
Some key things to consider when buying a watch:
Quartz or MECHANICAL
One of the more fundamental choices when purchasing a watch, this
determines what drives the heart of your timepiece and there can be
strong views on which is best.
I
have very briefly summarised the two styles of watch movement as I am
trying to avoid this section being overly technical, I have provided
links for further reading.
A quartz-powered watch uses quartz crystal pulsating at a precise
frequency to give very accurate timing (typically only +/- 15 seconds a
month). They are battery-powered and use electronics to control and drive the movement of the watch.
Quartz watches can also feature rechargeable batteries powered by a
solar cell (eg Citizen Eco-Drive) or recharged by your own arm movement
(eg Seiko Kinetic) often running for many years without requiring any
maintenance ( Read more on quartz movements ).
A mechanical watch features a collection of moving parts all working
together to keep time, they are powered by a main spring, this is the
watches power reserve, its mechanical battery.
To power the watch the spring must be wound, this can be done one of
two ways, by manually turning the crown or automatically by a weighted
rotor that uses your movement to wind the spring.
Mechanical watches are less accurate than quartz counterparts but
modern timepieces suffer to a lesser extent, with some of the best
modern watches only deviating by +/-5 seconds a day ( Read more on mechanical movements ).
One consideration is power reserves: where a quartz watch can be left
for a considerable time off the wrist, most mechanical watches only have
reserve of 48 hours.
Once this is up, the watch will need to be reset and rewound before use
(Winders are available to keep watches running when off the wrist but
this is an additional expense).
The choice on this matter again is down to the owner.
Purists may only consider mechanical watches a true collectable
timepiece and owners who strive for accuracy may look down their noses
at the inaccuracy of mechanical watches. The choice is yours.
Watch Crystal
There are three main types of watch crystal, acrylic, mineral crystal and sapphire. Acrylic (plastic) is not uncommon on vintage watches and is frequently used on cheap watches.
Unless you are buying vintage watches or cheap sports watches I would
suggest avoiding this kind of watch crystal as it scratches easily.
Mineral crystal is found in almost every watch that is considered entry
level, (under £400 in the UK) there are some exceptions but it is a
very common crystal in this price bracket.
Mineral crystal is much better at resisting scratches than plastic and
is very impact resistant, a well looked after watch with this crystal is
unlikely to have many scratches.
Sapphire crystal is exceptionally scratch resistant (but not impossible
to scratch) and it is not uncommon to see a well worn watch whose case
is heavily scratched but with a pristine sapphire face.
Sapphire is not without its drawbacks, it is less impact resistant than
mineral (but this can be overcome by producing a thicker glass) and it
is priced at a premium so expect to pay more for a watch with a sapphire
face.
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