Comprehensive Watch Buyers Guide

Watch Buyers Guide – The Watch Source

Welcome to The Watch Source’s guide to buying a luxury watch. In these guides we have condensed many years of our expert advice and product knowledge to help you find the watch that you desire. Some of the things that we will cover are: what distinguishes watches at different prices, the differences between an automatic and a quartz movement, the materials used to make them, who makes them, and how these will affect their resale value in the future.

High End Luxury – From £8000+ Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Manual Wind 38mm 81575/v02r-9275

Budget

The greatest factor affecting what is available for you to buy, is your budget. A watch crafted from solid gold and imbedded with diamonds from a prestigious brand, will cost significantly more than a watch designed as an entry to the luxury watch world…

Brands

Different brands are renowned for different reasons. Many have a history of watch making going back well over a century, which only adds to the value of a watch in the eyes of a collector. The Big Three – Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin are highly esteemed because of there rich heritage…

Case Materials

Much of the character of a watch is wrapped up in the choice of materials used to make them. Some have practical reasons for being used, others are purely used for aesthetics. The materials predominantly used to make the casings of watches are:

Stainless Steel – Tough, durable and resistant to everyday wear…

Movement

The main choice of movements are either Quartz or Automatic. A Quartz movement is predominantly found in ladies watches due to size constraints, in the more affordable mens watches, and watches where accuracy is of high importance. It works by passing an electrical current through a quartz crystal that oscillates at a known frequency, and which can then be used to measure time…

Size

Another thing to consider is the size of the watch in relation to you. Get a watch that matches your wrist proportions, otherwise it risks looking out of place. Case diameters up to 31mm are considered standard for ladies watches. Whereas 31mm to 39mm are what we call ‘midsize’ watches and are the sizes that women go for when looking for a larger watch, and men who have smaller wrists chose…

Water Resistance

How waterproof does your watch need to be? Do you need piece of mind that your watch won’t be defeated by a little splash of water or do you require a tool watch to go deep sea diving with.

Water resistiveness of a watch is measured by the pressure the exterior can endure, without compromising the seals to let water in. You must bear in mind that the watches are tested in a laboratory, with new seals, in an optimal state, in static water…

Strap Type

Originally straps where added to pocket watches during WWI; so, soldiers could quickly and easily get the time, whilst being shot at by their enemies, without the hassle of fumbling inside pockets for the time. Since then watch straps have come a long way and the materials used to make them have vastly widened…

Dial

Protected under the crystal of a watch is the dial. First to choose is the shape that you prefer: round, rectangular or oval.

Then there are the markers used to measure the passage of time. They are usually either: arabic numbers, roman numerals, indices or a mixture of them…

Crystal Type

The watch crystal is the part of the watch that protects the dial from damage. It can be made from either an acrylic plexiglass (like the original Omega Speedmaster that traveled to the moon and back), mineral glass (that is commonly found on most cheap watches), or a sapphire crystal (which is used nearly exclusively in luxury watches)…