From springs and wheels to batteries and screens, leather straps to split-second chronographs, there’s far more to the humble men’s watch than what makes it tick.
Gather round, gentlemen. You’re about to become a wristwatch expert
1. WHY WEAR A WATCH?
Ok, your smartphone works pretty well as a timekeeper. But unlike a smartphone, a watch for men doesn’t distract you with Facebook updates from your friends and Tinder alerts from would-be swipes.
A men’s watch is more than a measure of minutes and hours. A man who wears a watch is not just a man making an effort to be on-time, but a man making an effort to look good .
Besides… when it comes to ‘bling’, men don’t get a lot to play with.
Choosing the watch to suit you requires careful consideration of factors such as budget, style, and function. What do you need your watch to do? Where will you take it? What look are you after? Start thinking!
From high-end watches to super trendy ones , there’s a style for every man and every soon-to-be epic story.
2. TYPES OF WATCH MOVEMENTS
A watch movement is, quite literally, what makes it tick. It’s the ‘engine’ and the part that powers the movement of the hands around the watch face and makes the complications work.
You could be forgiven for thinking that your choice of watches for men comes down to looks alone – and for some, it might. For others, the way it works is more interesting and important.
Watch movements fall into 3 categories:
- Mechanical – The original wind-me-up watch. Powered by tiny gears and wheels.
- Automatic – The automatic version of a manual mechanical watch. Self-winding.
- Quartz – The modern watch. No winding required – battery operated.
THE MECHANICAL WATCH
One for the traditional man. A mechanical watch is your original, old-fashioned, hand-wound watch. Unlike a quartz watch, which is battery-powered, a mechanical watch is driven by a vast network of intricate workings and expert craftsmanship.
Like the spring-powered clocks of the 17th century, a mechanical watch relies on the manual winding of its mainspring. The spring then powers a complex series of gears that activate a weighted wheel (aka the balance wheel).
The balance wheel oscillates backward and forward at a constant rate. When released by a mechanism called an escapement, the wheels move forward a tiny amount with each swing of the balance wheel. This is the ‘tick’, and it’s what moves the watch’s hands forward.
Of course, this incredible design means the mechanical watch requires daily winding. To wind it, you’ll have to take it off and unscrew the crown, then turn the crown clockwise until you feel resistance.
The winder (you) has to rely on feeling the resistance on the winding stem to know when the mainspring is full. It is possible to break the watch if you plow on and over-wind it… so don’t do it while enthralled in the latest Netflix offering.
Setting the time involves pulling out the crown as far as it will go from the watch base. This causes the second-hand to stop, so you can accurately set the time.
The engine of a mechanical watch can include around 200 tiny moving parts. The only drawback is that the variables involved in this vast array of bits and pieces mean the mechanical watch can never be 100% accurate. They keep time within a certain tolerance – the maximum amount of seconds per day the watch gains or loses.
To earn the COSC chronometer certification , the movement must operate within -4 to +6 seconds.
It’s widely agreed that the best watches with mechanical movements are Swiss watches, closely followed by Japanese.
Advantages of a Mechanical Watch
- Exclusive. The crème de la crème of watch craftsmanship. Owning one is an appreciation for the intricate workings of all those gears and springs.
- Efficient. No battery required.
- Unique. Vintage is hot property, and most collectable watches are mechanical.
- Impressive. Some mechanical watches have a clear window on the back, allowing you to see their meticulous workings in action.
Disadvantages of a Mechanical Watch
- High-maintenance. You have to wind it. You’ll also have to take it for servicing every five or so years. This can be a fairly pricey investment.
- Not so accurate. Even with regular winding, a mechanical watch loses a few seconds every day.
- Sensitive. The tiny gears and wheels inside a mechanical watch are quite sensitive to the elements, so this isn’t the sort of watch you’ll take surfing.
- Expensive. The price tag on a men’s mechanical watch is significantly higher than quartz.
THE AUTOMATIC WATCH
Like the mechanical watch, an automatic watch is powered by a mainspring. However, this mainspring is wound automatically by the kinetic energy of the wearer’s wrist – the natural motion of your arm. It’s also sometimes called a kinetic watch.
It’s technically ‘self-winding’. A tiny pivoting weight called a rotor swings as your arm moves, winding the mainspring while you’re wearing the watch on your wrist.
When you take your automatic watch off your wrist, it’ll continue running for around 48 hours by itself. After that, it goes into “power reserve” mode. To get it functioning normally again, you’ll need to set the time and wind it manually. Like the manual mechanical watch, this involves turning the crown clockwise a few times, then set the time by pulling the winding stem out one notch.
Those of you who might shy away from a manual watch for fear of over-winding it will delight in an automatic watch. Automatics have this handy little feature that disengages the winding mechanism – a kind of ‘slipping clutch’. No matter how many times you wind it, it can’t be over-wound. Older manual mechanical watches, on the other hand, don’t always have this mechanism.
If you need to store your automatic watch for an extended amount of time or have more than one automatic watch, seriously consider getting a watch winder. It’ll wind the watch for you when you’re not wearing it.
Advantages of an Automatic Watch
- Best of both. Automatic watches are just as intricate as their mechanical predecessors – but unlike a manual mechanical watch, they self-wind.
- Efficient. No battery and no winding either (unless you take
- (Mostly) Easy maintenance. Ideal if you’re going to wear your watch every day.
Disadvantages of an Automatic Watch
- Some winding required. If you stop wearing the watch, it’ll stop winding itself and lose time. It’ll then need to be wound manually by turning the crown.
- Some maintenance. Servicing is usually required every five or so years.
THE QUARTZ WATCH
Here’s the watch that changed watch history. Quartz watches made their debut in the 1960s in Japan. By the 1980s it had eclipsed traditional mechanical watches. The battery-powered quartz watch is basically a tiny computer which relies on electric pulses – rather than manual winding – to keep time.
It’s named for the piece of quartz crystal within the electronic motor. This crystal is a conductor, regulating the current between the battery and the electric circuit.
Unlike a mechanical watch, a quartz watch can be either digital or analog. A digital quartz watch displays the time numerically on an LCD screen, while an analog watch features traditional hands.
Because a quartz watch is powered by a battery, its second-hand moves in individual ‘ticks’. This differs from the smooth, wheel-powered movement of a mechanical watch.
Advantages of a Quartz Watch
- Affordable. Quartz watches are much cheaper to make and maintain than mechanical or automatic ones.
- Easy to use. Nothing to wind and nothing to service. Just a battery change when needed.
- Precise. The electronics of a quartz makes it the most accurate time-keeper of all watch movements. Most high-quality quartz watches lose only about 1-2 seconds per month.
- Durable and low-maintenance. Battery power rather than lots of moving parts means the quartz watch is easier to look after than a mechanical or automatic watch and requires less servicing.
Disadvantages of a Quartz Watch
- A bit average. Quartz watches lack the intricacies of a mechanical watch.
- Parts required. Batteries don’t last forever.
3. WATCH CASES: WHAT MATTERS?
The brand and style of a man’s watch have a lot to do with what it is made out of. Luxury watches can be made from high-end precious metals (gold, white gold, rose gold) to silver-plated alloys. Other metals such as stainless steel, tungsten, and titanium watches have also made their way into the luxury wristwatch scene.
Dive watches and sports watches need to be corrosion-resistant, so they’ll often be made of stainless steel or titanium.
GOLD WATCHES
Beautiful, traditional and sure to get noticed, gold watches for men are more than a time-keeper. They’re statements. But gold ain’t cheap. It’s pretty and valuable, but it’s also prone to scratches and tarnishing. Not the piece you’ll take skiing.
SILVER WATCHES
Silver watches for men are a rarity. Possibly because silver tarnishes easily and most steel can pass for silver without the price tag. Silver is also softer and scratches and dents easily. Silver-plated stainless steel is more common and durable for top-quality watches for men.
STAINLESS STEEL WATCHES
Lightweight, resistant to corrosion and highly durable, stainless steel is one of the least expensive metals available. While it’s often used for sports watches or ‘cheaper’ models, stainless steel is just as likely to be used in luxury and designer watches. You’ll find both gold-tone and silver-tone stainless steel watches for guys at Trendhim.
TITANIUM WATCHES
Half the weight of steel and twice as durable. Titanium’s main drawback is its price.
CERAMIC WATCHES
Ceramic is technically any non-metal material that’s solid and inorganic. Composed of zirconium oxide, ceramic watches are as stylish as they are durable. Besides being hypoallergenic, ceramic watches are scratch-resistant, can handle years of wear and tear and won’t fade in the sun.
4. WATCH GLASS
The crystal – the glass that covers and protects the watch dial or face – is just as important as the case material. From plastic to sapphire crystal glass, each comes with its own unique properties and price tag. Check out the pros and cons of each watch glass type below.
WHAT IS MINERAL GLASS, ACRYLIC AND SAPPHIRE GLASS IN WATCHES? IS ONE MORE DURABLE AND SCRATCH RESISTANT?
Mineral Watch Crystal
Mineral glass is one of the most common types of glass used for watch crystals. It’s more scratch-resistant than acrylic and more affordable than sapphire. There’s nothing wrong with mineral glass, and you’ll find it on a variety of watches – so don’t let the fact that it’s the ‘typical watch glass’ fool you into thinking that it is subpar.
- Offers more scratch resistance than acrylic
- Less reflective than sapphire crystal
- Less scratch-resistant than sapphire
- Difficult to polish and can chip or break under impact
Acrylic Watch Crystal
Acrylic watch glass isn’t really glass at all. It’s plastic and also known under the name plexiglass. It’s not a very strong material, but it’s widely used because of its affordability and the fact that it can be easily contoured for design. Acrylic can be polished to remove light scratches, and it won’t shatter like sapphire glass… but watch out for deep scratches.
- Very affordable
- Highly susceptible to scratches
- Strong impact resistance due to its flexibility
- You may feel the dial looks cloudy through acrylic
Sapphire Crystal Glass
When we talk about a watch with a sapphire crystal, we’re talking about a quality timepiece. With the exception of materials such as diamonds or tungsten carbide, sapphire glass is one of the hardest materials on earth. This material is ultra scratch-resistant but can shatter under extremely heavy impact. The biggest advantage of watches with sapphire glass is that they are very difficult to scratch.
- Hardest watch crystal available
- Extremely difficult to scratch
- Clear view of the dial – not cloudy like acrylic
- Without an anti-reflective coating, it can be too reflective for some people
- Can shatter under very heavy impact
DOUBLE DOMED OR SINGLE DOMED SAPPHIRE GLASS – WHICH IS BETTER?
Once you’ve decided on a watch with sapphire glass, the next step is choosing between single or double domed.
A crystal with a single dome is flat on the bottom and domed on the top. You may find that a single dome distorts the view of the watch face because it creates a lens by which you have to see through to tell the time.
A double dome is round on the outside and round on the inside (hence the name ‘double dome’). With a double-domed sapphire crystal, you’ll experience very little to no distortion on the dial.
Other Watch Glass Options:
- Sapphire Mineral Watch Glass – This type of watch crystal is made by coating mineral glass with a thin layer of sapphire glass. There are huge differences between this and actual sapphire glass. Always check the product description to know the exact material and check with customer support if you’re in doubt.
- Resin Watch Glass – Some watches are advertised as having resin glass. This type of watch crystal has properties similar to acrylic and is an affordable option for watch crystals.
