Watch Buying Guide

With over a century’s worth of watch knowledge and experience serving millions of customers nationwide, the experts at Tourneau understand the decision-making process of purchasing a watch.

Below are some recommended factors to consider when looking for the right watch:

Recommended factors

Every watch brand has a distinct look and feel—with a personality and theme of its own. A brand is more than just a name; it’s an experience that evokes various emotions and communicates one’s status, lifestyle, and personal taste.

You should first ask yourself what you are looking for in a watch. For strictly practical purposes, consider more reasonably-priced, high quality brands that may be without all the bells and whistles. For a long-term investment watch that you are looking to eventually re-sell, look at brands that have increased in value over time and are projected to continue to do so. For a family heirloom to be passed down for generations to come, you will want something classic and timeless, a brand known for exquisite design and craftsmanship.

Shop By Brands

Varying in size, shape, and material, the watch case consists of a watch’s middle, bezel, and back parts. From small to oversized, from round to square, and from ceramic to platinum, the choices are extensive. Our Tourneau specialists suggest trying on as many watches as possible to determine which style looks and feels best on your wrist.

In its purest form, a watch tells its wearer what time it is. Anything more, and that watch has a complication. Complications tend to err toward the practical, such as a dual time zone or a chronograph, though some are essentially romantic in nature, like a tourbillon or a moon phase. A date display is generally considered to be the simplest complication, and the more you’d like to know about the calendar, the more complicated your watch gets.

If you’re a seasoned traveler or someone looking for daily intricate features, travel and date complications are among the most useful and elegant solutions the watch industry has created.

A movement is what makes a watch ‘go.’ When deciding which movement is right for you, some factors to consider are level of precision and maintenance costs involved. There are two types to choose from: mechanical and quartz.

Manual and automatic movements both fall under the umbrella of “mechanical” movements, which are made up of only mechanical parts, like gears and springs. Most collectors and connoisseurs prefer manual or automatic watches as these movements represent the accumulation of over 600 years of refinement, expertise, and craftsmanship.

Quartz is typically the most accurate type of movement. Low in maintenance costs, these watches use a battery as their power source. They require periodic battery changes.

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