How to Tell If You're Buying a High Quality Watch

Throwing you 10 signs that your watch is high quality! Know how to tell if your existing watch collection is solid or better yet, learn these tips and tricks so your NEXT watch purchase is a great investment!

[heidifryburger]

Tom- "Expensive does not mean good quality" *shows a Hublot*

[alanmckinnon]

There's an amazing shot you guys took of a Grand Seiko where the minute hand is at 2 o'clock and the second hand approaches and you can see the reflection of the logo in the reflection of the second hand. In the reflection of the *underside* of the second hand. That is quality at absurd levels, the hands are mirror finished and so is the underside.

PLEASE use that shot more often. Actually, just put it in every video, that'll be good

[simonyu]

With regards to weight, I was surprised to learn that was a thing so many people used to gauge watches and why they had issues with titanium as a result. Way before I got into watches, I collected pocket knives and titanium and other resilient but lightweight metals were highly desired in handles/scales. Titanium especially came a premium at the time.

Related, I once assured watch newbie online who was hesitant about getting a G-Shock because they didn't know if lightweight resin could be durable and used in a well constructed watch. Sharing a video of a G-Shock being run over by a truck and still working seemed to do the trick

[schell]

Sure fire sign that a watch is good quality - It says "A Lange & Sohne" on it (in German).

[chlee]

Interesting that Breitling didn't bother to finish the underside of the second hand at 8:51. Probably just a minor detail though.

[alirezaro]

“Expensive doesn’t mean quality”

*Hublot enters the shot* 😂

[iliasanastasiadis]

If it says Credor or Grand Seiko on the dial, you know it's well made. 😏

[wisamal-hakim]

Agree with all the points, especially the feel on winding a watch.

Winding a seiko 5, goes almost too smoothly, little resistance, slightly scratchy tactile feedback

A Nomos has resistance but still quite rough, almost feels like it needs a service even when new

A JLC reverso, sublime, beautifully smooth, you can feel it getting tighter, every click of the lever spring is audible as well as crisply palpable, does take a 13:38 13:38 good few full turns of the crown to get it going

A Richard Lange. Literally not a turn but a single click of the lever spring and the watch starts. The precision of the engineering is mind blowing.

[dl]

Good point about titanium. There are excellent watches out of titanium that make for an easy daily wear due to their lightness, preferred over steel by those who know.

[exp]

Being able to actually open the back without breaking the watch is usually a good start, otherwise the producer clearly states that their product is designed to be disposable.

Then again, there is no brand that'd ever think so little of both their own creation and their paying customers...

[thebludragon]

I love that the Sugess had the hand pinion capped and the Lange had the second hand pinion open. 😂

[ryangochuico]

I thought i was just being OC, but it's great you guys mentioned that pinion cap. I often look for that cap when comparing between two or more watches in the same price range and actually make buying decisions based on this (among other things of course). The hands just look that much neater and elegant with that cap on there. Thanks for talking about it. 🥰

[Dj]

This whole time I thought Tom had never touched a watch, now come to find out he has fondled ever watch since the early 2000s!

[karlsenula]

The markers line up, the colors don't bleed into each other, sapphire crystal with AR coating, solid end links, solid links, if see-thru crystal Sapphire on both sides, cyclops lines up, crisp bezel action, good lum., milled clasp with more than three micro adjusts or good quality leather or sailcloth strap ... if NATO then grommets or sealed holes.

Now all the above said there are many mid-tier to end watches that fail one or some of these.

[ge]

If there's a lot of play in the keyless works. If you switch from moving the hands forward to moving the hands back, and it takes a quarter turn of the crown for the hands to reverse direction you probably have a cheaper movement.

[mercster]

Like my old granddad used to say, "If something feels hollow and rattle-y, it's probably hollow and rattle-y." Thanks fellers!

[Entertainment-usgt]

Please send link on the video where the "diminishing returns" concept is talked about.

[davidc]

i have a 350€ watch with a capped second hand on right now. It really does elevate the watch 😊

[shaneanderson]

A very interesting topic to discuss, as the general definition of “Quality” is fitness for purpose. No one would deny that an A Lange & Sohne is a totally awesome watch (as is a lot of other expensive brands) but the word quality is difficult to give meaning. A $100 dollar watch can certainly be a quality watch, when considering fitness for purpose and the relative cost for it. I think, an unfair bias would be introduced if a watch was $100, 000 dollars is a thousand times more quality than its $100 dollar counterpart, the mats does not make sense. Like everyone else on your channel, I believe that expensive watch makers go to extraordinary lengths to make their products as perfect as is humanly possible, as this is fully appreciated in the end product.

[steveg]

I think there should be several videos on this topic. As in a hundred dollar watch versus a thousand dollar watch. A thousand dollar watch vs a $10, 000 watch. A $10, 000 watch to versus a $100, 000 watch. What should you expect moving from one level to the next. If the crown on a Tag Heuer feels like the crown on an entry level seiko, something is wrong.