Watch types
Watch Types
Besides telling the time, watches were traditionally purpose build decided a certain way. Here we will go through the different kind of watches available and their different uses.
Dress Watches
Following the beginning of the first century, as thanks to
Prior to the early 20th century, wristwatches were reserved for women and were more like jewelry as opposed to timekeepers. Men still wore pocket watches. However, at the turn of the century – thanks to the military, men began to strap their pocket watches to their wrists on special straps, paving the way for the men’s wristwatch.
Despite the dressing rules being constantly re-written, the modern dress watch is a timepiece designed to be worn with a suit or some other formal attire, though it can also be worn with semi-formal and even business casual attire depending on the outfits. Common features of dress watches are:
– A Slim Profile – As opposed to other watches, a dress watch typical has a slimmer profile. This allows for an appropriate fit under a shirt cuff or other formal-style attire
– Smaller or Average Case Size – Most dress watches has cases smaller than 41mm size
– A minimalist watch – Dress watches tend to not have too many complications other than a date or moon complication
– Leather Strap – Dress watches are typically worn with a leather strap
– Precious Metals – The dress watch sometimes comes in precious metals like white, yellow, rose gold or even platinu
Diver watches
The definition of a Diver watch which, according to the ISO 6425 standard which defines test standards and features for watches suitable for diving with underwater breathing apparatus, is 100 m (330 ft). Watches conforming to ISO 6425 are marked with the word DIVER’S to distinguish ISO 6425 conformant diving watches although typically diver watches will exceed this threshold and while there are watches which has a few thousand meters of water resistance, typical diver watches have a 200m (660 ft) to 300m (980 ft) watches resistance. In addition to water resistant, some additional common fixtures exist due to other ISO standard 6425 requirements such as:
– One directional bezel: ISO standard 6425 requires a dive watch to have a “time-preselecting device” and a rotating bezel satisfies this requirement of measuring elapsed time under water. Most dive bezels are one directional, counterclockwise, so that the bezel cannot be accidentally knocked off position in the clockwise direction and thus understate the elapsed time (usually the total dive time) being measured.
– Seconds hand: The ISO instructs that the watch must have an indicator that shows at a glance if the watch is still running, a requirements which a seconds hand satisfies.
– Dial lume: ISO standard 6425 requires that a dial that can be read in the dark at a distance of 25 cm which results in most diver watches having lume, the simple term used to refer to the luminous phosphorescent glowing solution applied on the dials of watches, hands or bezel. In other words, the solution that allows a watch to glow in the dark.
Some additional fixtures diver watches tend to have are:
–– Steel or titanium bracelet or rubber strap
-Screw-in back case and crown to reduce the risk of moisture entering the watch
-Case and crystal thicker than in non-diving watches
Some dive bracelets and straps are equipped with an extension device that enables the watch to fit over a dive-suit sleeve. Some dive watches have a helium valve and/or a depth sensor
Aviation / Pilot Watches
Aviation watches, also known as pilot watches are watches which were originally created at the start of the 20th century for pilot who faced issues with watch technology as men still used to wear pocket watches back then. In 1904, a Brazilian pilot, Albert Santos-Dumond, asked his friend Louis Cartier to come up with a reliable way to keep time without removing his hands from the controls. As a result, Louis Cartier designed and created the Cartier Santos, what many people not only regard as the first pilot’s watch but also the first wrist watch. While the over the last century pilot watches have evolved significantly from that first pilot watch, including some initially developed for fighter pilots, there are some common themes we notice in a lot of pilot watches:
– Easy readability: A Pilot needs to be able to quickly and easily tell time at all times s a result many pilots watches have large, dark dials with contrasting numbers or indices, minimising distracting dials details (e.g.: date functions and even manufacturers’ names), although evolution of these watches and refinement of materials and finishes means additional functions and details have found their way onto dials. Pilot watches also offer luminosity to enhance readability during night flights and bad weather
– Oversized Winding Crown: Historically pilots wore gloves during flight and therefore needed a large crown they could easily manipulate without removing their gloves.
– Additional Bezel Markings: A number of pilot watches have more markings on the bezel, that can assist with calculation like fuel burn and wind correction angles
Additionally, there are a list of other potential functions (complications) that can be provided on Pilot Watches such as:
– Dual time / GMT Functions or world time: Some pilots watches also have a dual time or a GMT complication to track multiple time zones or coordinated universal time
– Chronograph: A chronograph that offer a number of other functions such as elapsed-time stopwatch function for up to 12 hours from back in the days when it was necessary to have a record of elapsed time along the chose course or a flyback functionality allowing the pilot of to quickly read the timing for two consecutive events (particularly valuable for military aviation)
– Tachimeter scale: Used for calculating speed or elapsed time into speed. Depending on the watch, the tachymeter may be engraved or printed around the watch circumference or as a spiralling scale about the centre of the watch face.
GMT Watch and World Timer
While also mentioned as a possible function in the pilot watch, the key feature of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) watches is an extra hand in additional to the hour, minute and second hands which rotates separately. This four hand rotates around the face one every 24 hours providing it’s user the additional functionality of the time in a different time zone. It provides the user the possibility to know the time in two different locations (e.g.: New York and London) at the same time.
Additionally, World Timer is a specific type of GMT Watch that not only displays a second time-zone but all the time zones around the world. With the help of a rotating disc around the dial, you can check instantaneously what time is it in every main cities all around the globe. Even if they present a quite complicated display, it is the perfect watch for people that are often traveling or that work in an international environment.
Field / Military Watch
A field / military watch was designed for soldiers to wear in WWII, even though it is recognised that military officers wore military watches even during WWI. The Cartier Tank as one such watch that was inspired by WWI.
As with all things military, the issued field watches were expected to meet specific standards, specifically to tell time accurately and to be physically durable. Some common field watch features are:
– Stainless Steel casing with an adjustable and comfortable with a Nato strap
– Large case to be able to be read clearly (though not as large as a pilot watch) and a high contrast face, usually white numerals on a black background
– A simple dial with only the 12 hour track on the dial with some such as the legendary Hamilton Khakhi including a 24 hour inner track as well
– In some cases they offered luminosity to enhance readability during the night
– Water resistant of 10m to 50m
Explorer Watches
While it could have potentially been classed as part of field watches due to its close association with their features, Explorer watches were made famous by the legendary Rolex Explorer.
Racing / Driving Watches
The Racing watch was developed between the First and Second World Wars to meet the needs of increasingly sophisticated and competitive race car drivers. In comparison to the other watch types, Racing car are less bound by uniformity and tend to be much flashier. While there are some common features on racing watches, these are two features which define a good race watch. As racing, and especially rally racing, places such importance on timekeeping, driving watches must not only be rugged, but they must includes two key functions, chronographs (especially with lap timers) and tachymeters used to make time and distance calculations. Additionally, racing watches need to be a bit on the larger side to make it easy to read the registers and keep the numbers readable