WRISTWATCH GENRES

Chronograph: A type of watch that features an additional stopwatch function in addition to the main time. A chronograph can be either quartz or mechanical (or a hybrid of the two) and is activated via a set of pushers protruding from the side of the case.

Flyback Chronograph: A type of chronograph that can be reset without stopping the chronograph function (which is necessary in a normal chronograph). It’s particularly useful among pilots and other users who need to record multiple times in quick succession.

Rattrapante Chronograph: Also called a double chronograph or split-seconds chronograph, this adds an additional seconds hand and pusher to the standard chronograph function. The additional seconds hand moves in sync with the standard seconds hand, but stops when the extra pusher is depressed, allowing the user to record two times at once.

Field Watch: Iterations of early wartime watches form this category. They are generally recognized as being sturdy and austere, with a bold and clearly legible face. They are sometimes referred to as officer’s watches. Dive Watch: A dive watch is a water-resistant watch, but not all water-resistant watches are dive watches. True dive watches should meet a specific standard for diving like ISO 6425, which requires the watch to be water-resistant to at least 200 meters, feature a unidirectional rotating bezel and some form of illumination.

GMT: Though it stands for Greenwich Mean Time, a watch referred to as a GMT has the ability to track two time zones at once. Originally developed by Rolex for pilots in the ’50s, they’re particularly useful for any frequent flyer.

Pilot Watch: Watches designed to meet the needs of aircraft pilots. Ideally, pilot watches have a distinct dial layout that is inspired from the German flieger watches used by german pilots in World War 2. These watches also have a large diamond shaped crown that helped the pilots make adjustments to their watches with their gloves on. Different iterations of pilot watches will feature rotating bezels (like diver’s watches), logarithmic slide rules, and a flyback function (ability to reset stopwatch with one button push). World timer: A watch with a dial that can be adjusted to show the time in 24 different time zones represented by 24 major cities across the globe. (See some of our favorite world time watches here.)

Dress Watch: A dress watch needs to be simplistic. Elegant. And above all, minimalistic. It isn’t some gaudy watch that’s bejeweled with diamonds or a chronograph that is so big it looks like a clock. It is subtle, understated and charming. They aren’t intended to be worn with jeans and a t-shirt; to the gym; or beach shorts and floral printed shirts. They are meant to pair with your business suit, your dinner jacket, and a tuxedo.

Fashion Watch: This is a term that comes with great disdain in serious horological communities. A fashion watch is a watch sold by a fashion company that doesn’t make its own watches. These watches look beautiful but are made with low grade materials and often powered by questionable movements. It’s the brand name of the Fashion company that sells this watch, not the functionality of the watch or watchmaking pedigree of the manufacturer. These watches can get very expensive but will often be sold as low as 70% off during clearance sales.

Figure 30. The Vault 2009 Dual Time

Figure 33. Huawei 2018 Smart Watch with Digital stand-by Figure 31. Timex 2017 Hybrid Smartwatch Figure 32. Xiomi 2018 MI Band 3

Dual time: Dual-time watch has two hour hands in order to indicate time in two different time zones. This complication is popular with travelers, as it allows the wearer to set a “home” time zone for quick reference. The second hour hand is sometimes referred to as the GMT or UTC hand.

Analog Watch: Used to distinguish traditional watches, utilizing moving ‘hands’, from digital watches that display the time numerically utilizing a LCD display.

Digital Watch: This kind of watch displays the time digitally (i.e. in numerals or other symbols), as opposed to an analog watch, where the time is indicated by the positions of rotating hands.

Ana-Digi Watch: This kind of watch combines digital and analog time displays.

Smartwatch: A mobile device with a touchscreen display, designed to be worn on the wrist. The main benefit of a smartwatch is that it keeps you constantly updated without you having to whip out your smartphone Hybrid Smartwatch: A classically-styled analog watch (usually quartz-powered) that also features digital smart functions like activity tracking and push notifications.

Activity Tracker: A wearable device or a computer application that records a person’s daily physical activity, together with other data relating to their fitness or health, such as the number of calories burned, heart rate, etc. An activity tracker motivates you to get up off your sofa and do some exercise.

Note:

Despite having categorized these watches, I am of the opinion that there needs to be a more serious classification of watches for women. While you’d find watches in the women’s section fall into some of these categories, there exist categories for women’s watches that haven’t been chalked out. Take for instance, the heavily studded watches from Graff Diamonds (Say, the Hallucination).

Why do we have so many watch genres?

Today we live in a world where you can wear a t-shirt to work and any color to a funeral. Instagram makes it fashionable to couple sneakers with a saree and Balenciagas with a formal blazer. Indeed we live in times where you are truly free to wear whatever you like in whichever way you so chose to, so long as you still wear something (we have yet to hit the milestone where it’s globally fashionable to not wear anything). However, things weren’t always like this. In the past, we had rules to dress a certain way and thus it was worth pointing out some of the conventions around dressing. Matching outfits with watches, as mentioned in the above map would still make it easier for you to dress today if you don’t want to spend too much time in the mirror wrestling with some new funky styles. While you may not like to abide with the matching suggestions in the strictest sense, it is a good practice to match watches according to what kind of occasions or activities you’re taking part in. For instance, it would be a good idea to wear a rugged rubber g-shock or fitness tracker instead of your mechanical timepiece when you’re in the gym since most mechanical watches get damaged due to shock.