A Guide to the Different Types of Luxury Watches
To anyone new to watch collecting, a timepiece may simply look like any other. A face with some hands, an additional date window, or a chronograph function for stopwatch timings maybe. That may be all that a novice sees when he looks at a watch. Deciphering the world of luxury watches can be overwhelming but the best place to start is deciding on what style of watch you prefer. You may have already dipped your toes into the world of watch collecting but you’re not quite sure what defines a pilot’s watch. Or what distinguishes, say, a GMT watch from a world time watch? This guide to different types of watches provides an insight into styles, materials and sizes, not to mention the brands that make them. We’ll also look at automatic, manual and quartz-powered timepieces. Let’s get started…
Quartz or Mechanical?
It’s a common debate. What is best, a quartz watch or an automatic? The answer lies within personal preference but there are some pros and cons to be explored if you’re unsure whether you’re making the right decision or not. Luxury watches, regardless of style, materials or functions, tend to fall into two brackets (with some exceptions to the rule). These are the quartz and mechanical categories. Mechanical watches further subdivide into manual winding or automatic. With a hand-wound watch, the wearer has to physically wind the watch by hand, preferably at the same time each day. With an automatic watch, the mainspring is wound perpetually by an oscillating weight that is governed by the motion of the wearer’s wrist. The quartz movement, however, is neither of these. It replaces the mainspring with a battery. The electrical charge passes into a crystal made from quartz, vibrating around four times more than that of a mechanical movement. As such, it is more accurate than a mechanical, but here’s where it gets tricky…
The art and beauty of a luxury watch, for many enthusiasts, lies within the beating heart of a watch. A mechanical organ that can sometimes be viewed through an exhibition glass on the back of the case. All intricate parts work in harmony with one another, creating the power supply for the watch and putting on a synchronised, visual display that makes a luxury watch more intriguing, personal and special. This is one reason why age-old Swiss watchmaking techniques are still cherished today. Lovers of an authentic, beautifully engineered mechanical watch simply can’t get enough of the craftsmanship and skill behind a mechanical timepiece, collecting several as opposed to merely becoming an owner of a simple wristwatch.
The benefit of a quartz watch is that it is more affordable than a mechanical but it isn’t rooted in rich Swiss traditions. An automatic or manual watch is. These are seen more as traditional, true timepieces and often have a higher price tag to justify the materials and the level of specialist work required to create the movement itself. Within the quartz category are Eco-Drive calibres that feature batteries that are rechargeable by light sources. This form of timekeeping became popular during the 1970s and is still used today. Spring Drive movements and Kinetic movements are other forms of timekeeping technology. Japanese brand, Seiko, introduced the Spring Drive calibres during the 1960s, combining the performance of a hybrid quartz movement with a mechanical movement. Above all, the key thing to remember is that a quartz won’t require regular servicing like a mechanical, but it also won’t last as long as an automatic or manual winding watch.
The Dress Watch
The simplest of timekeeping forms is the classic three-hander (or even a two-hander) design. It is mostly seen within the dress watch genre and can be expressed in many different ways, from classic and traditional to minimalist and contemporary. In simple terms a dress watch is something that you’ll want to wear for formal and informal occasions – basically any situation where you want to convey class, good taste and sophistication. At the same time, a dress watch is not something you want to wear during physical work or whilst engaging in sports. Longines watches are known for their elegant and timeless styles. With so many collections to choose from, watches like the Record, the Heritage and the Master are all perfect for pairing with elegant attire. Most of all, dress watches are recognised for having clean, simple dials and slim case depths, not to mention classic leather straps and slim bezels.
Watches For Travel
The two main designs for travel watches are the GMT and the world time watch. But what’s the difference? Before we get into the features of the GMT watch, let’s explain what the world time watch is. A world time watch does exactly what it says on the tin. It shows you the time around the world at a glance. It features an internal bezel that displays 24 world cities – each representing a different time zone. To use the function, you simply rotate the smooth bidirectionally rotating inner bezel to align with the city of your choice according to your current time on the bezel. This then allows you to see all the other respective cities around the world and their correlating times.
The world time watch is a pretty indispensable tool for anyone leading a fast-paced life whilst hopping from one country to another Say, for example, you needed to arrange a meeting in the office back in New York but you’re currently in Hong Kong. Then, you also need to work out what time the flight you’re about to take will touch down in Paris. On top of that, you need to arrange a call with your mum to wish her a happy birthday, but you need to figure out what time she’ll be awake. The world time watch is likely your best option for such a scenario!
A GMT watch, however, provides you with two specific times – local and home. It’s a great tool watch for those who frequently travel, whether that be for work or leisure. The GMT hand itself coordinates with a 24-hour track to provide you with time back at home, while local time is given to the main central hour and minute hands. GMT watches are super legible to provide both times at a glance. The GMT hand is often accompanied by an arrow-tipped hand and sits alongside hour markers and hands that have normally been treated with luminous material for assisted timekeeping in the dark.
Watches For Pilots
A pilot’s watch is a popular design of watch to own. Whether the watch will ever see a cockpit matters not. They are stylish and distinctive in looks. The style and design of this type of watch have been coveted for over a century and date back to around 1904 when Louis Cartier released a specific watch for his aviator friend, Alberto Santos-Dumont. The large dial featured luminous markers for legibility – a key feature that has been brought through to modern-day pilot’s watches too. The success of the pilot’s watch coincided with advancements in aviation in the early 20th century. As the science of flight turned to warfare during the 1930s and 40s, the “Flieger” watch became a popular design. It is most famously represented by the Big Pilot’s Watch design by IWC Schaffhausen, with a black dial, white numerals and a luminous triangle with two dots at 12 o’clock. Other features included a comfortable yet durable leather strap and an easy-grip crown design. Although pilot’s watches share a certain style that connects the wearer to the adventurous spirit of flying, they make for great practical tools in present-day life too.
Alongside their high-contrast hands, pilot’s watches feature many other characteristics that are primed for life in the cockpit. These include high-contrast hour markers and several features that assist a pilot with navigation and timings during flights. One iconic pilot’s watch in particular is the Breitling Navitimer. Its slide rule bezel has become a winning feature, helping a pilot carry out important air-bound calculations. Breitling, known for its quality chronographs, offers several versions of the Navitimer. The collection dates back to 1952, with some models powered by the in-house Breitling Calibre 01. The movement offers an impressive 70-hour power reserve and sits inside a unique design that can be enjoyed in different dial colours and case materials within this range.
The Chronograph
A Chronograph watch is perfect for sport. Able to measure elapsed times during sport, the complication is often seen in racing watches, like those seen in the TAG Heuer Formula 1 range. Chronograph dials are normally displayed in three-counter or two-counter layouts and are sometimes accompanied by a tachymeter scale for measuring speed based on distance. The chronograph is also one of the most celebrated complications by Breitling because the complexity of the mechanism is the work of the Breitling family.
It was showcased to its full potential when Willy Breitling launched the Premier collection, celebrating several different chronograph models that carefully blended functionality with style. The Maison released the Vitesse pocket watch in 1906 – a device capable of measuring up to 150kph. This device supposedly assisted the police with tracking speeders and issuing speed tickets. In 1915, the first wrist-worn chronograph was released. It came equipped with a push-piece at 2 o’clock. Just 8 years later Garston Breitling decided to separate the start and stop functions with an independent 4 o’clock pusher – an arrangement that is still used as the norm today.
The Calendar Watch
Of course, the dress watch is frequently seen with a date window at 3 or 6 o’clock, but a true calendar watch has more bells and whistles to its design. Some models feature a day and date window side by side at 3 o’clock, others display the day at the top of the dial, as seen in the Day-Date watch by Rolex. After its release in 1956, it was worn by numerous US presidents, thus it was nicknamed “The President”. Then, there is the triple calendar, a watch that provides the day, the date and the month in separate windows. It requires an adjustment at the end of those months that don’t comply with the default 31 days.
Edging further up the scale of complexity is the annual calendar, first manufactured by Patek Philippe. It compensates for 30 and 31-day months but not February’s 28 and 29 days according to leap years. The most sophisticated of all is the perpetual calendar, endowed with a mechanical memory that never needs adjusting. This type of calendar watch has been mastered by Jaeger-LeCoultre and Patek Philippe among many others and can also be equipped with a moon phase indicator that displays the positioning of the moon exactly how it is seen in the night sky each evening.
The Dive Watch
A dive watch is one of the most popular styles of wristwatch. Known for its robustness and reliability, nearly every key watch brand in the industry has had a go at creating a watch for diving. Most have been successful. Rolex broke boundaries in 1926 with its patented Oyster Case. It was considered the first waterproof case, featuring a caseback, bezel and winding crown all screwed down against a middle case. The Rolex Submariner used this Oyster case as its foundation and became a popular model back in 1953. Other industry legends include Omega with its vast Seamaster range and DOXA with its distinctive orange-coloured dial.
Today, dive watches are defined by their luminous hour markers and hands, their screw-down crowns and their impressive water-resistant capabilities. Dive watches also feature a unidirectional rotating bezel that can be aligned with the central minute hand on the dial for intuitive timekeeping underwater. One of the most impressive dive watches of all time has to be the Omega Planet Ocean Ultra Deep watch with its staggering 6000-meter water-resistant rating. To help assist serious deep-sea divers in their quests underwater, many dive watches today are equipped with a helium escape valve to minimise the damaging effects caused by a build-up gas in the case when saturation diving.
The Takeaway
That was our guide to the main types of luxury watches. Whether you’re in the market for a watch to assist with a specific functional purpose or just love the design of a particular style, our team of watch specialists and enthusiasts here at Charles Martin Watch Company are happy to assist you in finding your dream timepiece. For more information on any type of watch you may have read about today, call us on (01902 860002) or email us at (info@charlesmartinwatchcompany.com).