I was shopping for a watch and decided to write this down. My previous wrist watch, a Russian-made Slava stopped working after being dropped onto sidewalk. Monetarily, it wasn't worth fixing.
There are three kinds of watches: the regular mechanical kind, analogue quartz, and digital (with LCD displays).
What is likely to be the best watch at any price is much more shock-proof than Swiss watches with shock absorbers (because it has no moving parts at all), has all the features of a Grand Complications watch and more (much better than chronometric precision, chronograph, alarm, perpetual calendar, world time, etc.), and is water-proof to 200m. It also costs $50-80. For $80 you get the solar-powered model that's likely to last 10 years or so. It is called Casio G-Shock, uses digital display and is ugly as a soaring Valkyrie.
The best-looking watches are flimsy, ridiculously imprecise, require constant babysitting (service every 2-5 years, some need 15 seconds of your attention every day) and cost as much as a luxury car. They're made by Patek Philippe.
If you find it convenient to use a digital watch without hands and if you are OK with how digital watches look, you should get a Casio G-Shock and stop reading.
Most innovations in mechanical watch-making come from Switzerland. Their manufacturing processes are perfected to the point where lemons are unlikely. However, most Swiss watch brands simply put their labels on movements and cases made by someone else. Watches completely made by the same company are called manufactory and are valued most. There are less than a dozen companies that produce them. Of these, Patek Philippe is generally recognized as number one, while Zenith possibly offers very good value for a mechanical watch (in their Chronomaster). Rolex is not manufactory. They invented the oyster water-resistant design, but they don't make their own movements.
Russian-made mechanical watches are abundant, cheap, and often replicate German or Swiss designs. They are generally significantly lower quality than the originals. Their quality also varies greatly from shipment to shipment and within. If you are intent on getting a Poljot replica of the Fortis Flieger watch (probably the most popular Russian watch in the West at this time), don't count on it lasting as long as the original. Given that the simple Flieger (with date and day of the week only) is only slightly more expensive than a fancy replica (with chronograph and alarm), I'd get the original and have a better watch for about the same money---and feel better, too.
The Japanese make mechanical watches, too. As far as I know, Seiko and Citizen have not invented anything related to a mechanical watch. Orient (they only make inexpensive mechanical watches) have come up with a way to make power reserve display cheap, but that's about it. The best watches are only marketed in Japan and cost as much or more than comparable Swiss watches (Grand Seiko in stainless steel, not even water-resistant, with agreeable but bland look, hand-wound, retails for $3000). I am sure the execution is as good as Swiss or comparable, but if you're after quality timekeeping only, you wouldn't be looking at a mechanical watch.
The quartz watch was invented in Japan. After much resistance, one can get outrageously priced Swiss quartz watches, but why? Seiko and Citizen make better pieces and continue to innovate. They also price their watches more sensibly. Regrettably, Japanese watches marketed in North America are not as good-looking as watches the Japanese companies sell at home or even in Europe.
Seiko is the Japanese watch-maker number one. Citizen is number two. Forget about the rest.
Much anxiety is felt by aficionados of mechanical watches about battery changes. No-one likes to change batteries. Even people who buy digital LCD watches throw them away when the battery dies, but high-quality analogue quartz watches deserve better treatment. Seiko makes Kinetic watches in which power is generated by the movement of the wrist (same mechanism as in automatic mechanical watches) and stored in a capacitor with no chemical processes taking place inside. They also make solar-powered watches with rechargeable batteries. Citizen makes Eco-Drive watches with solar panels and lithium ion polymer batteries. Solar panels have an unpredictable life, but are unlikely to last more than 10 years. Lithium rechargeable batteries are notorious for their aging properties (deterioration of capacity over time whether the battery is used or not). I would not count on a battery like that to last more than three years and it's highly unlikely that it'll go over ten years. The repairs when solar panel or the rechargeable battery fails will cost much more than a simple battery change. Given that smaller non-rechargeable ten-year batteries are available, I see no reason to get watches with rechargeable batteries. Incidentally, mechanical watches typically need to be serviced at least every five years. Since capacitors have no chemical processes going in them, one might expect them to last longer, but alas, the original Seiko Kinetic watches had capacitors that liked to fail after three years while the new ones are projected to last over eight years. That, and they have an extra millimeter of thickness for the rotor. For now, stay away from a quartz watch that doesn't use primary (non-rechargeable) batteries; if you don't like changing batteries, get a watch with five- or ten-year battery.
This leaves you with stainless steel and titanium. Titanium is lighter and is scratched more easily. Stainless steel usually contains nickel (sometimes will be nickel-plated), is more shiny, and is heavier. Titanium is also stronger, but for the application of protection of a watch movement it doesn't matter: if the watch suffers an impact, gears will become dislodged long before either titanium or steel case collapses. Titanium has a nice warm color that I personally find quite attractive compared to shiny stainless steel.
If you like titanium, but are worried about scratches, Citizen makes watches from glass-coated titanium. They will, however, be very shiny.
| Kind of Watch | Price | Ruggedness | Precision | Aesthetics | Service Frequency | Service Cost |
| Digital LCD | Low | High-Ultimate | High | Repugnant-Distasteful | 2-10 years | Low |
| Analogue Quartz | Medium | Medium-High | High | Tolerable-Good | 2-10 years | Low |
| Mechanical | High | Low-Medium | Low | OK-Beautiful | 2-5 years | High |
In other words, with mechanical watches you pay dearly for looks.
However, if you want to buy a watch that's only marketed in Japan, Higuchi, Inc. should certainly be considered.
