Considerations

A formal watch is thin and easily worn under a tuxedo.

A dress watch looks good with a suit, can be simple and elegant or complex and sporty. This is where most of the high-end complications are.

A sport watch is usually large and complex with contrasting colors. This is the most versatile category. Can have a theme like automotive, sport, etc. For women, it can have diamonds loose on the face. Many women like to wear a man’s watch as a sport watch.

A casual watch has a simple strap and not too many features.

An art watch has something special, often diamonds, or a decorative front or back.

A vintage watch is an older watch. Some people love a particular era and don’t care about new watches.

A heritage watch has some history behind it. This could be a watch from a famous movie or actor, or a one-of-a-kind watch that has been featured in the press.

Most women wear watches from 33 to 38mm.

Men with small wrists will wear a watch from 38 to 41mm.

Men with medium-sized wrists will look for 40 to 44mm.

Large men usually start at 44mm.

This matters more than most people think. Most watches won’t fit right out of the box. You will need to adjust the number of links or get a strap that fits your wrist. If you have a clasp, that usually requires a different strap than if you don’t.

Some people wind their watch every day and never forget. Others, like me, need an automatic that winds itself. If you have a manual-wind watch with a calendar or date function, you will Always Be Winding that watch every day, to keep the date accurate.

Most people know if they prefer gold, rose gold, platinum, or white gold. Both yellow gold and white gold are very soft and easily scratched. That said, I used to skydive with my white-gold Lange and never thought anything of it, because I think a watch is meant to be worn, not preserved like a museum specimen. You can always have a watch buffed or resurfaced. Platinum is my favorite case metal, and I choose it whenever I can.

Color matters. Pick a metal that suits your coloring and style. Try a few on in a store to see what you like.

Don’t have a “type” of face. Be open to all kinds of watch faces. Some watches, like skeletons, take some getting used to before you can easily tell the time. Some watches, like some Rolexes, have exotic stones or meteorite faces. A few watches, like Franck Muller’s “Crazy Hours” series, have the numbers in the wrong places! That’s okay. In fact, people love it. But most watches with distracting faces don’t have top craftsmanship underneath. Don’t let the face drive your entire decision.

Bracelets are very practical. The smooth link bracelets from Franck Muller and Jaeger-LeCoultre are buttery soft, and you never need to replace them. A few pinch, but most are comfortable now. I especially like the Panerai bracelets, while I’ve had problems with IWC bracelets. They look very similar, but the engineering is different.

Most high-end watches come on alligator or crocodile straps, from farms in Louisiana (alligator) and Australia (crocodile). They last a long time and are very comfortable.

A buckle, also called a pin buckle or tang buckle, closes the strap with a pin through one of its holes. It’s thin and simple, and it comes on most watches.

A deployant clasp folds open so the watch slides over your hand, and then it snaps shut. You don’t bend the strap at the same hole every day, so the strap lasts longer, and because the strap never comes apart, you’re less likely to drop the watch. A deployant needs its own strap and adds a little bulk under your wrist. A high-end gold or white gold deployant often costs more than $2,000.

Most good watches these days can survive a short swim if you fall off your yacht, but some can’t. If you might get your watch wet, look for at least 50 meters. A 30-meter rating means splashes only, and a true dive watch starts at 100 meters.

Some people get a special travel case.

Once you own two watches, you need a way to keep them running. Most people mean to wind them, then leave them in a drawer. Put every watch on a winder, even hand-wound ones: the oils keep moving instead of settling, and a watch left in a drawer for two years needs servicing sooner. Stem-winders even wind a hand-wound watch once a day.

Winders sit on a dresser or go into built-in cabinetry, and some have locks. Most plug into the wall, and battery models let you travel with a few watches and keep them all wound.

Most people prefer new, but a used watch can be every bit as good for a lot less. Servicing makes a watch as good as new, and a few wearings give any watch some desirable microscratches. You pay a premium for mint, and a big discount for a watch in the shape yours will be in after a few months.

Here’s the rule: don’t service a watch until it starts to speed up or slow down. Friction usually makes a watch run fast, so a fast watch is the sign it needs a complete overhaul. Skip the two-year checkup and the cleaning. Always wait for some performance problem, and then have the entire watch serviced with new, factory parts.

The only exception to this is a special watch where parts are either very hard to get or must be made to order.

Warning: collecting watches can take up a lot of your time! Some people like to buy a new watch every year. Some want to stay with a particular brand or even a particular model. Some want the latest cool edition.

During our watch tasting, I’ll ask you about all these considerations, and we’ll put your profile together. That’s the first step in buying your first serious watch.