Watch Buying Guide
Selecting a watch that will be used and enjoyed for many years to come can be a fun, easy process, with a little bit of knowledge. A watch is a reflection of your personality and lifestyle, just like the clothes you wear or the car you drive.
The watch you select should be appropriate for the activities for which you intend to use the watch. If your primary purpose is athletic, you may consider watches that are shockproof. If you will be using the watch for work and play, do you need water resistance and if so, to what degree? If you will be using the watch for swimming and diving, you may want to consider a watch that has a screw-down crown and a plastic strap.
The watch you select should be appropriate for the activities for which you intend to use the watch. If your primary purpose is athletic, you may consider watches that are shockproof. If you will be using the watch for work and play, do you need water resistance and if so, to what degree? If you will be using the watch for swimming and diving, you may want to consider a watch that has a screw-down crown and a plastic strap.
Before buying a watch, some or all of the following should be considered.
Main Watch Types
There are two main types of watch namely quartz and mechanical.
Quartz Watch
Quartz Watch
Quartz watches are the most commonly used watches. They are more accurate, faster and more stable. On average quartz watches only lose 10 seconds of accuracy per month. They also never need winding.
Quartz watches require occasional battery changing (2 - 3 years on average). Some limited cleaning is required depending on the watch's value.
Power Source
Electricity that is stored in a battery
Time Source
The oscillation of a small piece of quartz that vibrates at a speed in excess of 32,000 per second insures accurate timekeeping.
Display
Quartz watches frequently use an analog face (meaning a dial and rotating hands). However, some have digital displays using LCDs (liquid crystal displays). Other types have both an analog and digital readout. These multi-display watches are called 'anadigi'. Because of the digital display, quartz watches can also feature: depth sensors, Global Positioning System (GPS), altimeters, calculators, electronic phone books, compasses, or other additions.
Quartz Watch
Mechanical Watch
Mechanical watches are examples of traditional craftsmanship and demonstrate the prestige and cost of the labour required to build a complex and valuable timepiece.
They are typically incorrect from actual time by as much as several minutes in a given month. Mechanical watch gears sometimes require cleaning and maintenance of the gears every 3 - 5 years.
Power Source
The 'mainspring' - a spring that generates energy as it unwinds.
Time Source
Mechanical watches employ an oscillator. In most cases, a wheel called a 'balance wheel' on a rod. The wheel vibrates more than 28,000 per hour.
Mechanical Watch
Watch Features
A watch can have a number of features, including the following:
A watch can have a number of features, including the following:
Automatic and Quartz Movements
The movement is the inner workings or assembly of the watch that make up the main timekeeping mechanism. Most watches have either a quartz movement or an automatic movement. The type of movement you choose depends mostly on one's taste. Automatic movements are a tribute to the watchmaker's art and monitor the passage of time by a series of gear mechanisms. Most automatic movements (self-winding) are wound by the movement of the wrist. (No, you don't have to shake it to work! The normal, everyday movement of the watch charges the winding reserve.) When this type of watch is removed from your wrist, the movement winds down in 10 to 72 hours, depending on the size of its winding reserve. Quartz movements are powered by a battery and do not stop working once removed from the wrist. The battery in a quartz watch generally needs to be replaced every 1.5 years.
Calendar
The face of the watch displays the date, day of the week ("day date" watches), and month ("full calendar" watches).
Case Materials
The material from which your watch case is made often determines the durability and cost of the watch.
The most popular metal used in watches is stainless steel. This metal is very durable, resists rusting and discoloration and is reasonably priced.
Aluminium
Known for its durability and resistance to tarnish, rust, and corrosion.
Brass
A durable and corrosion resistant material, usually chromium plated to resist tarnish
Carbon Fibre
A dark coloured (dark grey or black) and tough material used both for watch casing and dials.
Plastic/Rubber
Frequently used in sports watches, plastic or rubber is lightweight, sturdy and colourful.
Precious Metal
These include 9k gold, 14k gold, 18k gold, sterling silver or platinum.
Titanium
A strong, white metal that has benefited from recent trends in sports watches that require sturdier materials. Titanium is 30% stronger than steel, is corrosion resistant and very light. However, unless treated with a protective shield, it can scratch easily.
Chronograph
A stopwatch or meter that measures time elapsed. Chronographs can also come in a 'split second' format to measure two time segments simultaneously or consecutively.
Display
Automatics are equipped with a rotor that swings in response to wearer motion. The swinging winds the mainspring and runs the watch. Automatic watches frequently have transparent features so the rotor spinning is visible. They require no winding if worn for more than 12 hours per day (resulting in motion to keep the mechanism running). However, if watches are left unworn for more than a few days, they will stop and require winding.
Moon Phase
Display indicating the phase of the moon through an image on a rotating disk
Repeater
When a wearer presses a button, watches with a repeater announce the time through a series of chimes.
Scratch Resistance
The crystal is the clear covering over the face and hands of the watch. The material used in making the crystal determines its scratch resistance.
These types of crystals are generally used in watches:
These types of crystals are generally used in watches:
An acrylic plastic crystal is the least scratch-resistant, although shallow scratches can be polished out.
A mineral crystal is made up of several mineral elements that are manufactured and treated by heat procedures to create a hardness that helps in resisting scratches.
A sapphire crystal is the most durable and scratch-resistant crystal. It’s approximately 3 times harder than a mineral crystal and 20 times harder than acrylic plastic crystals.
We recommend that, at a minimum, the watch should have a mineral crystal.
Self Winding
Watches that are also known as a 'hand-wound' or 'wind-up' watch, requires daily winding to tighten the spring.
Shock Proof
Most watches are sturdy enough to protect against normal everyday wear and tear, including light bumps. If you’re going to be engaging in intensive athletic activity, you may want a watch that is also shockproof. G-Shock by Casio makes an extensive line of shockproof watches. They are available here at the Diamond.com web site.
Straps
The choice is really a matter of personal taste. Strap watches may have bands made from a variety of materials, including leathers, exotic skins and synthetics. In general, it’s best to avoid fine leathers if you will expose the watch to water or perspiration from physical activity. Rubber straps are a little more durable against water and perspiration. Do keep in mind, that if you do not like a certain strap on a watch, it’s relatively inexpensive and easy to replace the band with one of many varieties, textures and colours. Diamond.com carries a variety of strap and bracelet watches in all different price ranges. Just search for 'strap' or 'bracelet' and you’ll find many watches to choose from.
Tachymeter
A scale located around the rim of the dial that, when used along with the chronograph, allows measurement of average speed through the calculation of time and a pre-measured distance.
Telemeter Scale
A scale that measures the distance between the watch wearer and an object that generates a visible signal and a loud noise (such as a fired cannon or electrical storm).
Tourbillon
A small but very costly mechanism within a mechanical watch that helps eliminate potential time errors.
Water Resistance
There are a variety of ways to make a watch water resistant. All such watches use rubber gaskets or "O" rings to seal the case back. A watch with a back that screws onto the case provides a higher degree of water resistance. Some crowns (the "winding stem") actually screw into the case to further increase water resistance.
A watch marked as water resistant without a depth indication is designed to withstand accidental splashes of water only. Do not submerge such a watch. Increasingly higher acceptable depths, usually indicated in meters, indicate higher levels of water resistance. Usually described on the dial or back of the case, a watch's water resistance is measured in feet, meters or atmospheres (ATM). Water resistance levels are as follows:
The Seiko Corporation of America suggests the following usage recommendations.
The Seiko Corporation of America suggests the following usage recommendations.
Water-resistant to 30 meters (100 feet). Will withstand splashes of water or rain but should not be worn while swimming or diving.
Water-tested to 50 meters (165 feet). Suitable for showering or swimming in shallow water.
Water-tested to 100 meters (330 feet). Suitable for swimming and snorkelling.
Water-tested to 150 meters (500 feet). Suitable for snorkelling.
Water-tested to 200 meters (660 feet). Suitable for skin diving.
Diver's 150 meters (500 feet). Meets ISO standards and is suitable for scuba diving.
Diver's 200 meters (660 feet). Meets ISO standards and is suitable for scuba diving.
Please note that we do not recommend swimming or diving with your watch unless it has a screw-down crown (also known as ‘screw-lock’ or ‘screw-in’ crown) and is water-resistant to at least 100 meters.
World Time
A feature that indicates time in all time zones around the world simultaneously. The dials or face display the names of cities around the world in each time zone and can be adjusted to read the time in that zone.
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