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The guide in full
How to find the watch that suits you
Today the time is shown to us by phones, cars and kitchen appliances. Even so, many people wear a watch, because it is more than a timekeeper: a piece of jewellery, a piece of engineering, craftsmanship you can feel, or a companion for special moments. That is exactly why the choice is so wide and the decision not always easy.
To help you keep an overview, we group watches into twelve basic styles. The boundaries are fluid, and many manufacturers combine elements of several styles. Size, movement and material come on top of that. Our watch guide brings these points together in three steps:
- Choose the occasionOffice, everyday wear, sport, travel or water: what is the watch meant for?
- Rate watchesYou see typical watches from the twelve styles and decide from the gut: I like it, or not really.
- Set the detailsBudget, movement, wrist and functions. After that we show you matching, available watches from our stock.
The 12 watch styles at a glance
Every style has its field of use and its typical features. The example watch comes from our current range.
Dress
Suits: Suit, evening, special occasions
Slim, quiet, usually on a leather strap. It disappears under the cuff and is noticed only when you want it to be.
- Slim case, 38 to 40 mm
- Sapphire crystal, ideally slightly domed
- Automatic or hand-wound
- 3 to 5 bar is quite enough
- Leather strap with a pin buckle
Typical brands: Certina, Junghans and Titoni.
Example from the shop: Tissot BALLADE 40MM men's watch
Clear Elegance
Suits: Office and evening, with one refined extra function
Elegance that rewards a second glance: day and date, moon phase or jumping hour.
- One useful complication (day/date, moon phase, jumping hour)
- Swiss or German automatic movement
- Sapphire crystal, often a display back
- 5 bar, no contact with water
- Leather or a fine metal bracelet
Typical brands: Maurice Lacroix, Union Glashütte and MeisterSinger.
Example from the shop: Union Glashütte Noramis men's watch
Bauhaus
Suits: Office and everyday wear, for lovers of reduction
Nothing that does not need to be there. Dial, hands, baton indices. A design classic for the wrist.
- Pared-back dial with no ornament
- Slim case, 36 to 40 mm
- Domed sapphire or hardened crystal
- Hand-wound, automatic or quartz
- 3 to 5 bar
Typical brands: Mido, MeisterSinger and Junghans.
Example from the shop: Junghans max bill automatic sapphire glass men's watch 027/3501.02
Sport
Suits: Everyday wear, leisure, sport
Robustly built, sportily drawn, happy to take a rough day. Often on a steel bracelet.
- 316L stainless steel, brushed
- Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
- At least 10 bar
- Rubber or metal bracelet
- A screw-down crown is an advantage
Typical brands: Luminox, Junghans and Edox.
Example from the shop: Mido Multifort 8 One Crown Blue Men's Watch
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Diver
Suits: In and by the water, holidays, everyday wear
The watch that takes everything. Rotating bezel, luminous material, screw-down crown. More tool than jewellery.
- At least 20 bar, better 30 bar (dive watch standard)
- Unidirectional rotating bezel, ideally ceramic
- SuperLumiNova or LumiBrite
- Screw-down crown, 316L or titanium
- Metal or rubber strap
Typical brands: Tissot, Titoni and Oris.
Example from the shop: Seiko Prospex Sea Automatic Diving Watch Men's Watch
Pilot
Suits: Everyday wear and travel, when legibility counts
Large numerals, high contrast, plenty of luminous material. Readable at a glance, even on the move.
- Large Arabic numerals, high contrast
- Luminous material on hands and indices
- Automatic, often with a display back
- 5 to 10 bar
- Leather strap with rivets or a textile strap
Typical brands: Bulova, Titoni and Fortis.
Example from the shop: Fortis FLIEGER F-41 Automatic Black Men's Watch
Field
Suits: Outdoors, hiking, on the move
The plain and sturdy one. Light, understated, hard-wearing. Military roots, civilian everyday life.
- Light case: titanium grade 2/5 or carbon
- 10 bar
- Luminous material, matt dials
- Textile or NATO strap
- 38 to 42 mm
Typical brands: Luminox, Hamilton and Victorinox.
Example from the shop: Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical H69439931 Unisex Watch
Skeleton
Suits: Evening and everyday wear, for lovers of mechanics
The movement is the show. Openworked plates, visible wheels, nothing is hidden.
- Openworked movement, visible front and back
- Sapphire crystal on both sides
- Automatic, the finishing of the movement decides
- Fine finishing, perlage, blued screws
- 5 bar
Typical brands: Bulova, Mido and Maurice Lacroix.
Example from the shop: Maurice Lacroix 1975 Master Skeleton Men's Watch
Open Heart
Suits: Everyday wear and office, the way into mechanics
A window onto the balance wheel. You watch the heart beat, the rest stays classic.
- Window onto the balance wheel
- Automatic movement, often a display back
- Sapphire or Hardlex crystal
- 5 bar
- A good first step into mechanics
Typical brands: Bulova, Tissot and Seiko.
Example from the shop: Hamilton Jazzmaster Open Heart Automatic H32675540 Men's Watch
GMT
Suits: Travel, a second time zone, long-distance relationships
An extra hand for the time back home. Anyone who travels a lot will not want to be without it.
- 24-hour hand, set independently
- Automatic with a GMT function
- 10 to 20 bar
- A two-colour bezel helps with reading
- Metal bracelet with fine adjustment
Typical brands: Certina, Mido and Longines.
Example from the shop: Seiko 5 Sports GMT Automatik Men's Watch
Chronograph
Suits: Motorsport, engineering, everyday wear with a stopwatch
Pushers, subdials, tachymeter scale. The technical watch that can do something.
- Stopwatch function with two pushers
- Automatic chronograph (Valjoux, Sellita) or quartz
- 5 to 10 bar
- Tachymeter or pulsometer scale
- 42 to 44 mm, sits with presence
Typical brands: Junghans, Union Glashütte and Fortis.
Example from the shop: Hamilton Intra-Matic Automatic Chrono H38416111 Men's Watch
Digital
Suits: Everyday wear, sport, retro fans, smartwatch
Precise, light, with an alarm and a stopwatch. From the retro classic to the smartwatch.
- Quartz or solar, very high accuracy
- LCD or LED, alarm, timer, stopwatch
- Light cases, often stainless steel or resin
- 5 to 10 bar
- A battery lasts years, solar even longer
Typical brands: Seiko, Junghans and Hamilton.
Example from the shop: Hamilton PSR Digital Quartz H52414130 unisex watch
Which watch size suits my wrist?
Measure the circumference just above the wrist bone, most easily with a tape measure or a strip of paper. The table is a rule of thumb. Dive watches and chronographs wear larger than their diameter suggests, because of their height and their bezel. A slim dress watch, by contrast, may be a little larger.
| Wrist circumference | Suitable diameter | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| up to 16 cm | up to 36 mm | slim, discreet |
| 16 to 17.5 cm | 36 to 40 mm | classic, versatile |
| 17.5 to 19 cm | 40 to 43 mm | sporty, present |
| from 19 cm | from 43 mm | strong, striking |
Automatic, hand-wound, quartz or solar?
The movement decides how accurately a watch runs, how much care it needs and how it feels.
| Movement | Energy | Accuracy | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic | The motion of the wrist winds the mainspring | standard movements about 10 to 30 seconds a day, regulated and certified movements considerably more accurate | Power reserve usually 38 to 80 hours, high-quality movements 72 to 120 hours |
| Hand-wound | The mainspring is wound by hand using the crown | as automatic | Often particularly slim, the daily winding is part of the ritual |
| Quartz | Battery | very accurate | Light and easy to look after, battery change every few years |
| Solar | Light charges a rechargeable cell | very accurate | No regular battery change, keeps running even after days in the dark |
| Kinetic | Motion charges a rechargeable cell | very accurate | Combines winding through motion with the accuracy of quartz |
What to look for when it comes to quality
Why does one watch cost 300 euros and another 3,000 euros? Many of the differences come down to quality features you can verify.
Watch crystal
| Crystal | Scratch resistance (Mohs) | Properties |
|---|---|---|
| Acrylic | low, 2 to 3 | very shatterproof, scratches can be polished out, typical of vintage models |
| Mineral glass | high, 5 to 7 | clear and inexpensive, scratches stay |
| Hardlex | high, 6 to 8 | hardened mineral glass from Seiko |
| Sapphire crystal | very high, 9 | only diamond is harder, excellent clarity, standard on high-quality watches |
Water resistance
| Rating | Classification | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|
| no rating | no protection | no contact with water |
| up to 3 bar | splash-proof | rain, washing hands with care |
| 5 to 10 bar | water-resistant | everyday wear, showering with care |
| 10 to 20 bar | waterproof | swimming and water sports |
| 20 to 30 bar | dive watch | snorkelling and sport diving |
| from 30 bar | professional dive watch | demanding diving |
Case, bezel and luminous material
316L stainless steel is corrosion-resistant and polishes well. 904L stainless steel and titanium are tougher still and cope very well with salt water over the long term, and titanium is also particularly light and more scratch-resistant. On the bezel, ceramic stands up to scratches best, while aluminium is lighter but shows marks over time. Good luminous material such as SuperLumiNova or LumiBrite glows brightly and for a long time.
Movement and frequency
Mechanical movements come from Japan (Seiko and Miyota, for example), from Switzerland (ETA and Sellita, for example) or from a brand's own manufacture. The frequency describes how often the balance wheel swings: at 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 hertz) the seconds hand makes six steps per second and looks slightly jerky, at 28,800 (4 hertz) it sweeps smoothly. Hairsprings made of silicon or special alloys are antimagnetic and less sensitive to temperature.
Accuracy and certificates
| Level | Deviation per day |
|---|---|
| Standard movement | about 10 to 30 seconds |
| regulated movement | about 6 to 10 seconds |
| Chronometer (COSC, DIN 8319) | minus 4 to plus 6 seconds |
| Master Chronometer (METAS) | 0 to plus 5 seconds |
Strap and bracelet
Rubber is waterproof and shrugs off dirt, ideal for sports and dive watches. Textile and NATO straps are light and comfortable, but they pick up dirt. Leather looks refined and wears very comfortably, but should stay out of the water. Metal bracelets are robust and last the longest.
Frequently asked questions about choosing a watch
Which watch suits me?
That depends on three things: what you will wear the watch for, which style appeals to you and how strong your wrist is. For the office and the evening, slim watches such as Dress, Clear Elegance or Bauhaus work well. For every day and for leisure, Sport, Field or Diver are a good fit. Anyone who travels a lot will appreciate a GMT. The watch guide at the top of this page asks exactly that and shows you matching watches from our stock.
Which watch goes with a suit?
A suit calls for a slim watch that slides under the shirt cuff: a dress watch, a watch in clear elegance or a Bauhaus model. A diameter of 38 to 40 millimetres, a quiet dial and a leather strap that matches your shoes and belt have proved themselves. Large dive or sports watches usually look too bulky with a suit.
How large should a men's watch be?
As a rule of thumb: with a wrist circumference of up to 16 centimetres, watches up to 36 millimetres fit, from 16 to 17.5 centimetres it is 36 to 40 millimetres, from 17.5 to 19 centimetres it is 40 to 43 millimetres, and above that from 43 millimetres. The distance between the lugs matters too: if they extend beyond the wrist, the watch looks too large.
Which watch is suitable for every day?
An everyday watch should be robust and uncomplicated: stainless steel or titanium, a sapphire crystal, at least 10 bar of water resistance and a strap that copes with sweat and water. Typical styles are Sport, Field and Diver. If you prefer something more elegant, a Bauhaus model on a metal bracelet is a good choice.
Automatic or quartz, which is better?
Both have their place. A quartz watch runs very accurately, is light and needs hardly any care. An automatic watch winds itself through the motion of your wrist, consists of many finely finished parts and, well cared for, lasts for generations. If you value mechanics and craftsmanship, choose automatic. If accuracy and peace of mind matter most to you, choose quartz or solar.
What does the bar rating on watches mean?
The bar figure is a test pressure, not a diving depth. Up to 3 bar, a watch is protected against splashes only. 5 to 10 bar counts as water-resistant, 10 to 20 bar as waterproof and suitable for swimming. Dive watches start at 20 to 30 bar. What matters is that the crown is closed and that the seals are checked regularly.
When does a watch become a luxury watch?
There is no fixed price threshold, and every ranking sets it differently. Honestly, every watch is a luxury you treat yourself to, given that phones and cars have long shown the time anyway. What counts is what matters to you: design, mechanics, precision, craftsmanship or lasting value. The quality features on this page explain why watches cost such different amounts.
Why do watches vary so much in price?
The price comes from the movement, the materials and the finishing. A Swiss or in-house movement takes more work than a simple standard movement, a sapphire crystal is harder than mineral glass, and ceramic on the bezel lasts longer than aluminium. Added to that are fine finishing, accuracy certificates such as COSC and the hand work involved in assembly.
How do I build a small watch collection?
Many collectors focus on one brand, on one type of movement such as automatic, hand-wound or solar, on a country of origin or on dial colours. A very practical route is to own one watch from each of the twelve basic styles. That way you have the right watch on your wrist for every occasion.
Can I see and try on the watches beforehand?
Yes. We keep many of the watches from the guide in stock in our shop in Solingen. You can reserve any suggested watch online and try it on at your leisure. Our team is also happy to advise you by telephone or via WhatsApp.
Written by Sandra Rödel, RM Time in Solingen, your watch specialist between the Rhine and the Ruhr. Last updated in September 2026. Do you have a question about a watch? We are happy to advise you in person, by telephone or in our shop.
