BRAND HISTORY is of SOME IMPORTANCE— While many brands trace their heritage back 100 years or more, you need to consider how informative this is based on whether the watch you are about to purchase is better because of the experience this history implies, or is merely riding on the coat-tails of ancient successes or bought out fine names of long ago.
A number of modern brands bearing fine names are mere shells of what their companies meant decades ago. Look at their new models and compare them to the older models for sale on used watch dealer sites and Internet auctions. Are 5 year old models of this brand worth anything? Are the much older models worth more than more recent ones? These can be signs of dramatic changes in the quality of watches from a manufacturer.
WATCH MOVEMENT DETAILS are usually of LITTLE IMPORTANCE— Unless you are an expert, connoisseur or collector, do not worry to much about the details of the movement inside a watch beyond whether it is a) quartz, b) certified mechanical (Chronometer), or c) non-certified mechanical. Frankly, most watches from any premium brand are sufficiently fine devices for keeping time that will give you several decades of use if properly maintained.
Technical details of the mechanical “movement” (the actual mechanism inside the watch) are seldom particularly important unless the watch you are buying is over $10,000 or has some unique functions. Over 98% of mechanical watches made mainly tell the time, date, and maybe include chronograph functions. All mechanical watches with just these basic features use technology invented over 75 years ago, and nobody has really improved it since then. So do not waste time fooling yourself into believing one standard mechanical watch mechanism is perceptibly different from another–especially to the extent of paying more for one watch over another based on that attribute alone.
ROMANTIC NOTIONS OF WATCHMAKING are MOSTLY UNIMPORTANT and OFTEN FALSE OR MISLEADING— Many fine watchmakers try to give the feel that their expensive products are finely hand crafted.
They do this by creating an image of your watch being made by generation old families of dedicated watch craftsmen, in a quaint village in the Swiss Alps, with movements made by the same people who make the rest of the watch, each crafted over long periods of time.
But all of that is nothing more than romantic baloney designed to make you feel better about spending so much money on a watch. The truth is that very few watches under US $20,000 are hand crafted. Most are mass produced by machines in large quantities. Even the highly reputed Rolex is mass produced–they make over a million watches a year!
Notions of the movement of the watch being better if made ‘in-house’ than if made by a separate company (even if owned by the same parent organization) are antiquated concepts that have little to no meaning in the modern age of large corporations and mass production.
In fact, it is the modern techniques of mass production that ensure the higher level of consistency and quality that we enjoy of modern watches.
PRICE is NOT IMPORTANT — “What?” you say? Price not important? That’s right–it is not!!
Price is only one measure of the value and deal you are getting. What good is a low price alone when the dealer is unable or unwilling to resolve a problem and you have no recourse with the manufacturer because you bought through an unauthorized cut-price dealer?
What good is saving an extra few percent on a very expensive purchase if the product never arrives, turns out to be a counterfeit look-alike product, lacks good warranty coverage, or otherwise will disappoint you or cost you more money in the long run?
So always choose your watch over the value you will receive for your money, not simply the lowest price for something that looks like what you wanted.
NUMBER OF JEWELS INSIDE THE WATCH is NOT IMPORTANT — The number of jewels in the watch movement are normally prominently mentioned as if they really meant something.
But in fact they are a just a red herring. These are not jewels of value. They are small synthetic ruby elements used as extremely low friction pivots for a few critical parts of a watch mechanism.
They are worth only a few pennies and do not add value to a watch. The exact number that is appropriate for any watch movement depends on the exact design and functions of the movement.
It is perfectly normal for two watch movements with identical performance and functions to use a different number of jewels. A standard mechanical movement usually requires a minimum of 17 jewels–but beyond that, more is not better in any way that you could interpret.