wATCH bUYING GUIDE
AGE OF WATCHES GUIDE TO BUYING WATCHES
There have never been more options available than today for anyone looking to purchase a watch. While this is good in a way, as a buyer can find almost any watch conceivable, it definitely makes the choice of which watch to buy a lot harder and time consuming. Our purpose is to provide you with an overview of the watch market and help guide you into the different options you should be considering.
Choosing a watch brand – Watch Market
Before going into the specific watch brands, we can categories most watch brands in three categories:
- Luxury watch brands – these are the traditional historical watch brands have specialised in creating watch for many years and in some cases centuries. These watchmakers aim to showcase their credentials though the quality of the watches and complications they perform. These are the watches highly sought after by the watch aficionados, collectors and individuals who appreciate their history and heritage and premium quality watchmaking.
- Fashion brands – these are watches produced by the famous fashion brands and tend to focus most on the aesthetics of the watch rather than the movement or complications within it. The watch price of these watches tend to be significant lower that the luxury watch brands but still tend to benefit from the reputation of the fashion brand itself
- Microbrands – These tend to be small-scale brands which focus on producing watches with specs comparable to the luxury watch brands but at a lower price. This reduced pricing is usually possible due to using online platforms to sell and the reduction on spend on marketing. More and more microbrands are created daily using online platforms such as indegogo and kickstarter which offer reduced prices during each watch model launch.
Of course, a lot of this will be guided by your budget as the pricing can differ a significantly, especially within the luxury watch segment. More about each of these categories will be covered on our website in the near future with the Luxury watch brands special coming soon.
Watch Market - Segment
Background on the different industry segments
Watch Market - Ownership
Provide an overview of the largest watch groups
Watch Types
Historically watches were produced with a certain purpose in mind, whether these is for wearing casually at home, for gala dinners or for diving. While almost every watch will be different, there are a number of similarities between the different types. Understanding and knowing the type of watch you are looking for can greatly help when choosing a watch. We will be adding a section on all the watch types in the very near future.
Watch Materials and Watch Movements
A lot of watch materials, like stainless steel, is common of most watches and there are certain expectations one should have from any watch, irrespective of the price but as you start going up the price ladder in the luxury watch section, more expensive materials are used (eg: gold) more and more details are added which would not have been expected in the lower priced watches. It is also important to be weary of some watches produced in China will seem to be full of top specs on paper but in reality the quality is poor. We will be uploading an area explaining all the different materials (excluding movements as this requires a whole article in itself) in the very near future.
Watch movements are the heart of the watch and the quality of the movement is by far the most important element in the price of the most watch. Over the last three centuries, watchmakers have pride themselves on the quality of movements they have produced and this is still true today. An article explain the different movement options and how in affects their price, both whether they are quartz or mechanical will be covered shortly.
Watch Materials
Breaks down the different watch materials used and what to expect for each price range
Watch Movements (incl Watch Functions)
Details of ready made movement versus in-house movement, their functions and different complications