Spending money on a watch can be a daunting experience if you don’t understand what you are looking for. How much should you spend? What’s the difference between a $150 watch and a $1500 watch?
What you get for your money when buying a watch is very similar to what you get when buying a car. In general, the higher the price means the higher the quality. The mechanics, materials, comfort, precision and craftsmanship are just some of the factors that contribute to the intrinsic value, prestige, rarity and respect of your timepiece.
Many people underestimate the importance of owning a good watch, it does much more for you than just tell the time.
Quartz movement
Quartz is an electronic movement powered by battery and regulated by oscillating quartz. Although quartz movements are the most accurate, they take much less work to put together as they have very few moving parts and are therefore lower in price. Swiss quartz watches start at around $700.
Automatic movement
Automatic movements are mechanical and powered by the movement of the wearer via a counterweight inside the watch case. Automatic watches are made for every day wear and are the best value for money. Mechanical movements take great skill to make, many containing over 200 components. When shopping for a mechanical watch, look to spend upwards of $1000 and shop for Swiss brands.
Manual Winding Movement
Manual winding movements are also mechanical but need winding once a day by hand using the crown, these are ideal for watches that will only be worn occasionally such as a dresswatch. Manual wound movements are also found in a lot of high end and collectors pieces.
When you buy Swiss watches you are building a collection. When you buy cheap watches you are only ever buying replacements! Check out our watch brand selection here.
