Watch buying guides

The questions that come up before you buy, answered straight and checked against the watches we actually list.

Water resistance

Why 50m does not mean fifty metres, and which rating you actually need for showering, swimming and diving.

Sapphire, Hardlex, mineral and acrylic: how each one scratches, how each one breaks, and what is worth paying for.

Quartz beats mechanical on accuracy at every price. Here is what you are paying for when you buy automatic anyway.

Measure your wrist, then ignore case diameter — lug-to-lug is the number that decides whether a watch fits.