Watches buying guide

It’s important to take more into account than just looks when choosing which watch is right for you. This guide will help you to understand the wide variety of functions that are available and which style of watch is best suited to you and your lifestyle.

We sell a wide variety of watches for men, women and children - from basic timepieces to top quality designer models. Most watches come with a manufacturer's guarantee, so please do keep your receipt or delivery note safe just in case.

Watch styles

Lorus R2325DX9 Men's Digital Chronograph Sports Watch, Black/Silver

Sports watches

Designed to withstand shocks, and with various levels of water resistance, sports watches usually have a stopwatch or other time and speed measurement functions.

Raymond Weil 9460-SG-97081 Parsifal Women's Round Two-Tone Steel Bracelet Watch

Dress watches

Dress watches for men or women are stylish, simple and elegant. They feature an analogue dial in a smart case which is usually gold/silver plated or stainless steel, with a matching bracelet or leather strap. As the name suggests, they're not designed for rugged use.

Tikkers TK0013 Kids Rubber Strap Watch, Yellow

Children's watches

Often smaller and more colourful, with an easy to read analogue or digital dial which will help children who are learning to read the time.

Marc by Marc Jacobs MBM4550 Women's Round White Dial Purple Bezel Clear Acrylic Bracelet Watch

Fashion watches

More like an item of jewellery than a timepiece, fashion watches tend to follow current trends both in terms of colour and design. You may wish to own several to co-ordinate with different outfits!

Materials

Watches can be made of several different materials, so it’s important to consider what environment in which you’ll be wearing your watch. For example, a leather strap isn’t suitable for swimming or being regularly immersed in water. If you have skin allergies, it’s also important to consider whether the watch is made from a hypo-allergenic material, or is nickel-free.

Fabric: Often used for straps on novelty or fashion watches.

Plastic (resin): Great for sports watches and activities such as diving and swimming. Some fashion watches also have plastic straps.

Leather: Used for straps on all types of watches, especially dress watches.

Solid gold: Usually found on fashion and dress watches. It’s soft and easily marked but resists tarnishing. Often worn as a piece of jewellery rather than just a timepiece.

Solid silver: This is also soft, but less so than gold. It tarnishes easily so requires some maintenance and cleaning. Again, this material gives the watch a jewellery-like quality.

Plated brass or stainless steel: There are several types of plating, which are used for their looks or strength; these are gold, ion, titanium, palladium and rhodium. All resist tarnishing, and titanium is particularly good for those with sensitive skins as it doesn't usually cause allergic reactions.

Glossary

Analogue

A traditional face, marked with twelve hours, either in Arabic numerals, Roman numerals or baton markers. In fashion watches, the different marking types may be combined for a distinctive look.

Arabic numerals

Traditional numerals from 1 to 12.

ATM

Stands for ‘atmosphere’. 1 ATM is equal to 10 metres of water pressure. Therefore 2 ATM means that the watch is water resistant to 20 metres.

Baton marker

Bar shaped hour markers that take the place of Arabic numerals or Roman numerals.

Bezel

A ring around the outside of the dial. On sports watches the bezel often revolves and has markings, so it can be used to measure time or speed. It is often used by divers to measure the amount of time spent under water.

Bracelet

Most bracelets are made of metal and have links that can be removed to adjust the length.

Chronograph

A watch that has accurate timekeeping or stopwatch functions. Available in both analogue and digital formats.

Digital chronographs use a digital display for both timekeeping and stopwatch functions, either with separate displays or by switching modes on a single display.
Analogue chronographs have a standard analogue watch with permanent centre seconds and a separate digital display.

Chronometer

The similar-sounding terms chronograph and chronometer are often confused, although they mean different things. A chronograph has a stopwatch function, as explained above, while a chronometer watch has a high quality quartz movement that has been tested and certified to operate within a certain standard of accuracy by the COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres).

Crown

Also known as the winder. This is a small dial on the side of the watch which can be wound to adjust the time.

Digital

A digital watch displays the time in figures that change in steps. It gives a reading in units as small as seconds and fractions of seconds.

Dual time

Good for those who frequently travel internationally, this watch allows you to display two different time zones.

Illuminated

Some watches have a special light absorbing paint on the hour and minute hands so they can still be seen in the dark. Others are illuminated by pressing a button on the case.

Kinetic

Also known as automatic watches, these use your body movement to convert kinetic movement into electrical energy and don’t require you to change the battery. The battery will eventually run down if the watch is not worn for a long period. However, some kinetic watches have a sleep function that conserves energy when the watch is not in use, and will continue to work for up to 6 months.

LCD/LED display

LCD stands for liquid crystal display. LED stands for light emitting diode. Both of these are used to display the time on digital watches.

Links

These form part of the bracelet and can be removed in order to adjust the length to fit your wrist.

Lens

The glass covering the face of the watch. Lower price watches sometimes have plastic lenses, while higher price watches often have mineral crystal or sapphire glass. Mineral crystal is a durable, scratch resistant glass, which can be highly polished. Sapphire glass is very strong and shatter resistant, it’s less likely to get scratched or marked.

Quartz

Most modern watches operate through a Quartz crystal rather than a mechanical clockwork operation. It vibrates many thousands of times a second, making it one of the most precise forms of timekeeping.

Radio-controlled

These receive radio-controlled signals from a satellite transmitter to ensure highly accurate timekeeping. Radio- controlled watches are accurate to within one second.

Roman numerals

The ancient Roman numeric system, using letters of the alphabet to represent each number from 1 to 12.

Shock resistant

Can withstand gentle jolts sustained during sports or other leisure activities.

Splashproof

The watch can withstand occasional splashes of water but should never be fully submerged.

Strap

A strap is generally made of leather or plastic and will fasten with a buckle. Bracelet straps usually comprise links of metal or stainless steel and fasten with a clasp.

Tachymeter

Allows you to measure speed. This function is favoured by sailors and athletes.

Water resistance

This term is followed by a number and metres, eg. Water resistant 50m, indicating the depth of water your watch can withstand. This is only a guide as watches are usually tested in a laboratory and not in the sea.

Water resistant 50m	Suitable for shallow, occasional swimming
Water resistant 100m	Can be worn whilst swimming and snorkelling
Water resistant 150m	Suitable for general water use, but not scuba diving
Water resistant 200m	Suitable for recreational scuba diving