Find your type
Seven types of watch - an overview before we slow down and go deep
tl:dr - skip to the end if you want to get straight to the types of watch and some pics. But I’d recommend the 475 words of context…
When I started writing Tiny Machines, I wasn’t sure where it was going. I knew I’d stumbled into a world I’d fallen in love with and wanted to share. But it’s a world that’s opaque, sometimes viewed as expensive, elite and snobby. I wanted to open it up, share my love and hopefully get you to waste large chunks of your life like I had.
This week, something clicked. I had an idea for how to unfold things.
When I started getting into watches, I only knew what I liked. I didn’t know a lot else. It only opened up to me once I had a couple of watches.
I wanted to know a bit more about the ones I had. I wanted to explore some that I’d seen. I went on The Internet and - oh shit - that was a mistake. Just like a Wikipedia blue-link lost afternoon, I went deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.
I came across Hodinkee. I started reading Monochrome. Perhaps worst of all, I started watching Teddy Baldassarre’s videos - if anybody is responsible for the time and money I’ve spent, it’s Teddy.
Slowly I started to make sense of it all. The more I got into it, I realised I could divide up all the things I needed to know into a few categories:
Types of watches: different types of watch that have different uses
Manufacturers: the people who make them
Movements: the spring-powered engines that make them tick
How a mechanical watch works
Watchmaking techniques
If you went to school, the last two categories is where you’d start. The fundamentals of how a watch is made. WRONG! That’s not the bit you fall in love with. It’s the bit the “head” likes, but it’s not the bit the “heart” falls for. It’s like learning grammar in a French lesson, when all you want to do is learn how to chat up sexy Parisian girls/boys on your exchange trip.
If you start with the first three, you’ll meet the watches you love and the passion will grow. You’ll find your match, get the butterflies in your belly and go on dates.
Then you’ll - like me - want to know about the last two. Because you’re head over heels and ready for commitment.
So I’m going to focus Tiny Machines on the first three - types of watches, manufacturers and movements.
As I do, I’ll show focus on some “entry level” options (with sexy pictures) - where to get started if you don’t have tons of cash.
I’ll start with types - because that’s the “how the hell do I divide this madness up into something manageable?” category. Once you know your type, you can narrow down where to look.
First, let’s define the types. Then we’ll take one type each week and look at one or two affordable examples each time.
Seven types of watch
1. Dive watches
Clue’s in the name. They’re waterproof watches made for divers. They have countdown bezels (a clicky ring on the outside with minute markers that you can turn) to show how much time you’ve been underwater / how much air you’ve got in your tank. And they’re never used for diving. People buy them because they look good. They’re lucky if they get damp.
2. Dress watches
Fancy, formal watches that you’d wear out to dinner or while snaffling Ferrero Rocher at the ambassador’s reception. It’s the kind of watch your granddad would have worn, probably. A bit of class.
3. Chronographs
A watch that tells the time, but also has a stopwatch function built in. So as well as showing the current time, you can press a “stop” and “start” button to time things. It has separate dials that show how many seconds, minutes and (sometimes) hours have passed. Mechanical ones tend to be expensive because they’re complicated. But there are some secret exceptions…
4. Pilot watches
You’re a pilot or navigator in battle or flying a mission. You need to know the time for precision manoeuvres. So you have a pilot watch - super-clear and legible, so you can quickly and accurately tell the time at a glance. No nonsense.
5. Field watches
Originally, these were also military watches designed to be worn “in the field”, with the purpose of being robust and telling the time. Today, people wear them for outdoor-type activities. Or not. Just because they look cool.
6. Everyday casual watches
Not an “official” category, but people are more casual these days, innit? These are just nice, everyday watches that feel a bit relaxed.
7. Everyday beaters
Pop it on. Wash the car. Play football. Take the bins out. Change the kids’ nappies. Do some gardening. Get it dirty and rinse it off. It still works and it doesn’t matter if it gets a bit scuffed up. Again, not an “official” category, but something all watch enthusiasts talk about. Because they want to wear a watch, but don’t want to ruin their pride and joy.
Very interesting article! It seems that another way to group the watches is by the types of watch brands: main stream brands, independent brands and micro brands.