Watches buying guides

An automatic watch winds its mainspring through a rotor that moves with the wrist, and the three Seiko models here also allow winding by the crown. Seiko pages state a caliber, a case size and a bar rating, while the Titan page states a movement warranty.

Listed case sizes run from an oval 19 x 16 mm on the Titan Raga to 31.5 x 31.5 mm on the Casio, so measured case width comes before dial style. Only the Timex lists a water resistance figure, the Casio gives no depth, and the Titan and Seiko pages give none.

Case thickness on the four pages runs from 3.60 mm on the Titan Edge to 13.4 mm on the Seiko 5 Sports, so thickness matters before dial colour for formal sleeves. The Seiko automatic lists approx. 41 hours of power reserve, which a two day weekend can exceed.

Four couple watch sets from Timex and Titan are covered here. The Timex pages state the package contents and a 30 m water resistance figure, while the Titan pages list two case lengths per set and a warranty split between movement and battery.

Four Casio digital watches are compared on backlight, alarms, battery cell and water resistance. Casio states 100 m for the MWD-110H-3AV and a battery life of 7 years for the W-218H-3BV, and both are brand figures, not independent measurements.

Match the strap to daily water exposure first, read a water resistance label as a light splash limit and not a depth, and pick quartz or automatic by how often the watch is worn. Titan words its rating as unsuited to swimming or diving.