When choosing a new or pre owned / used watch there is a lot more to consider than just the aesthetic appearance. The movement, type of glass lens, water resistance, strap material, size, whether to buy new or pre owned and other factors should be taken into consideration. Obviously the primary factor is the look or style of watch, but it is worth taking into account how your needs may effect the type of watch you may select. Please use the page in watch terminology to also help your choice.
The first factor is to choose either a quartz or mechanical / automatic movement. A quartz watch is battery powered, which means although the battery may need replacing every few years, the watch should require very little further maintainance. Quartz watches tend to keep very accurate time, the movements are more resistant to shock on the whole, and are better suited to some sports such as golf where the watch will take a lot of punishment. Quartz watches tend to be priced more cheaply and offer excellent value and great reliability and accuracy. Automatic or mechanical watches rely on a complicated mechanical movement to power the watch, and as such are less accurate on the whole. They are more susceptible to shock, magnetic fields and other such problems. However the mechanical movement is the pinnacle of the watch makers skill, and offers a real sense of owning a piece of classic engineering. Having to wind a watch manually every day tends to give a greater sense of ownership. Mechanical watches will tend to need servicing every so often so again there is much more involved in the ownership. Dates on mechanical watches should not be changed between 10pm and 2am, care must be taken when removing the crown and accuracy of plus or minus 20 seconds per day is not considered unusual with mechanical or automatic watches.
Another factor aside from the type of movement is where the movement is produced. Swiss movements tend to command a higher price, and the same (although often modified) movements are found in many brands of Swiss watches. Japanese and Chinese movements are the other most popular, these are usually found on watches of lower price, but are generally very well engineered and offer a great way to own a mechanical watch at a cheaper price than the Swiss powered equivalent.
The strap material should also be considered. If the wearer tends to use the watch for swimming, or other sports, a silicon rubber strap or steel bracelet may be a better choice. Most leather straps will tend to rot or have a very short life if subjected to sweat or water for long periods. Straps or bracelets can be replaced or changed very easily however, and alternative straps of great quality can be found at a very reasonable price, for more information on changing straps or options please contact us.
The option of sapphire, plexi or mineral glass also plays a part. Sapphire is the most scratch resistant and is very robust, hardened mineral, although offering very good protection is less scratch resistant, but certain shapes of lens are more suitable to mineral glass and some older or vintage style watches use mineral or plexi glass to keep the watch faithful to the originals.
After deciding on a watch, please check for availability. If the watch can be added to the basket then it is either in stock or very easily available, if it cannot be added then the watch will have to be ordered in, so please email or call to check availability.
We can accept International orders, but please email us first for confirmation as we can only ship certain brands to certain countries due to distribution territories.
If you have any queries or require any futher information please contact us at any time.