Everything You MUST Know Before Buying A Watch - Essential Beginner's Buying Guide

In this video, I go over everything you need to know before buying a watch. This beginner buying guide shows you the basics of movement types, case materials, finishing, sizing, the best brands and how much you should spend.

No watch buying guide would be complete without product links:

Affiliate Product Links:

Other watches shown in this video (chronological order):

Links to other videos mentioned:
Small chronograph roundup: Coming soon...

Chapters:
0:00 Do You Want To Buy Garbage?
0:35 Movements - Quartz, Mechanical or Automatic?
4:47 Materials & Construction
7:30 How Much Water Resistance?
9:12 Finishing & QC
10:36 What Size Watch To Buy?
12:57 Most Versatile Styles
14:13 Which Watch Brand To Choose?
15:05 Where To Buy Watches?
16:07 How Much Should You Spend On A Watch?
17:34 Buyer Beware!

Disclosures:

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Ben's Watch Club tends to cover affordable watches like Seiko, Timex, Casio, Citizen, MVMT, Vincero, Bulova, Orient, Hamilton, and more. We rarely feature luxury watches like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Breitling, Tag Heuer, Tudor, Grand Seiko, Cartier, Omega, Audemars Piguet, or Hublot due to their price.

[BensWatchClub]

Watches shown in this video (chronological order, affiliate links):

[Kfinnerty]

I learned more about watches in less than 20 min than I knew my whole life. Thank you!

[ytdavidkwei]

I think the biggest factor is why you buy the watch. Try to ignore the "luxury" watches. Luxury is a subjective matter. Affordability and value are the factors.

[helloimgen]

I used to buy watches only based on "looking good" but i never considered if they are fake, good thing i havent come across a fake watch but i'll certainly look out for those, also ty for this video, this will help me look for the best choice/watches to buy soon

[jasonhalket]

I've been down several rabbit holes before stumbling onto your videos.
You've educated me and definitely saved me a fortune. Thank you.

[vast]

Quartz watches could tick faster. But they almost always limit it to 1 second ticks to save battery life. But they could have quarter second ticks if they chose to.

[jimsutter]

An extra recommendation should be: check in your area if anyone services mechanical watches and for how much. In my area (seacoast New Hampshire), there are only a few places that work on watches. Most refuse to service anything that is not a luxury brand, and the only one that even called me back for a watch with a medium/lower end ETA movement said that basic service starts at $450. I have sent watches away to be serviced, but it is hit or miss if they actually come back having been serviced or not and what quality of servicing is received (even from the same company).

[MarkJoseph-vvpj]

Ben, you give the horological industry and hobby a lot of class. Fantastic videos that I look forward to watching. Great job.

[ronwall]

Hi Ben, just wanted to say that I really enjoy your channel and I find it so informative 👍

[davidvose]

I know a bit about watches, have seen many videos. This is the best intro summary I've seen.

[leonschumann]

as beginner all of these seem like very intuitive, sensible and helpful tips

[confessionsofahustler]

This video was everything I needed ! I’m watch shopping for my man and I was majorly confused due to the options and price ranges !

[howarddo]

Thank u! Very helpful video, I'm planning to buy my first watch and this is a godsend

[Ohne_Silikone]

316 stainless is also used for boats and seashore environments. While it is a bit softer than 304 (‘regular’ stainless steel), it was designed to take corrosion much better. I don’t know what the L adds to the mix. 304 is not really inferior though. It should be tougher to dent and scratch I presume. It probably also builds rust a bit quicker. For other appliances I prefer it over 316.

[MrMistako]

Thanks for video!
Found Bering watches and they ideal for me! Love their thinnest and looks.

[defender]

Oh Ben, I think you've more or less nailed the 'whole watch thing', which isn't an easy thing to I have watches that span more or less the whole range of what's available including Moon/Space travel? Thanks again, have a great Christmas and stay safe!

[sabot]

One quibble and only because I work exclusively in 304L and 316L. 304 is not inferior to 316. It's actually harder and has a higher melting point. Where 316 fares better is in corrosion resistance when exposed to salts and acids. 316 though is also easier to machine because of its Molybdenum content which makes it (relatively) softer than its cousin 304. The Moly also gives 316 a better corrosion resistance in its astinic barrier. That being said, the average human would be hard pressed to see any difference in the two metals over the course of the natural life of a watch.

[Bambuh]

I already have a few watches, and I'm not really looking for new ones but your videos, the style and your personality are awesome. Keep doing the videos, you really deserve more recognition

[pedromacedo]

Excelent content, you've got one more subscriber! Thanks for your work

[rahulmax]

Amazing video. This video pretty much sums up Everything