What's in a Watch?

Since the early 18th century, watches have decored a gentleman's accentuation and been showing the rate at which life flew past. For years watches remained a luxury, for some an issue of prestige. In the decades that followed watches continued to become more handy, slippable into pockets and the mechanical movement that powered them more and more accurate.
It was only post WW 2 that we began wearing watches on our wrist. In fact, it was the Allied military that introduced these watches to be worn on the wrists in order to help keep those in the army managing their time and missions accurately and maintaining overall organization. After the War most of these men continued wearing them, instead of the carrying them, and this fad grew so intense that watch manufacturers realized the growing demand for them, and started manufacturing them in larger numbers. Of course women's watches soon followed suit and in modern day society, we have endless options for watches that do everything from telling time to providing GPS coordinates. Obviously watches have met with great progression over the years and manufacturers have continued to supply men's watches that aim to suit the needs of the modern man. For many guys, men's watches serve as the only piece of jewelry they are willing to wear aside from their wedding rings. This probably explains why there is such a wide variety of men's watches available today. If it's the only piece of jewelry a man will wear, he might as well have a few men's watches to choose from. That way, men are able to wear watches that match not only who they are and how they live, but what they want to wear as well.
So what are the things we need to know before buying a watch?
Know What Makes Them Tick
Quartz: The most common and accurate movement for a watch. Quartz watches are also generally less expensive than other types of movement.
Automatic: Wrist movement powers up the mainspring in an automatic watch. You must wear it consistently, though, or after a few days it will wind down and stop running. However, watchwinders are great for keeping automatics in constant motion. Winders will also prevent you from having to reset the date everytime you want to wear your automatic.
Mechanical: Winding the crown sets gears and springs into motion. This old-school technology doesn't keep time as accurately as quartz movements, but that shouldn't bother you if you're a true collector.
What do "chronometer" and "chronograph" mean?
Chronometer is a designation given to a watch that has the highest standard of precision. The designation is given to automatic and mechanical movement watches, not those that run with quartz movement. A watch carrying the chronometer certification has passed vigorous tests demanded by the Swiss Official Chronometer Control (COSC).
A chronometer's mechanical movement is close to perfection, so the time it displays is almost always accurate (unlike other self-winding or automatic watches), and therefore carries a premium price over non-chronometer watches. The 15 days of rigorous tests conducted by the COSC include testing its performance under different temperatures, different positions, and even under water.
A chronograph designation is often confused with a chronometer one, though they are completely different. A chronograph is basically a watch with stopwatch capabilities. It displays different counters or mechanisms for measuring elapsed time. Counters can register seconds, minutes and hours. This gives its owner the ability to time anything he wants.
The classic definition of a "good" watch generally refers to a watch with mechanical movement. Most mechanical watches use an intricate system of gears and springs that rely on mechanical energy to operate. Because of their craftsmanship, these watches are given higher regard because they capture the fine art of watch-making. They command a higher premium as a result.

But mechanical watches, by their very nature, are often inaccurate (when there is no movement, such as your arm swinging, mechanical watches stop and require winding). In fact, a quartz watch (a simpler and less expensive movement, which uses a battery that sends electric currents to a small quartz crystal to ensure timing accuracy) is much more accurate than a mechanical watch, but is sold at a lower cost.

Quartz watches are cheaper because they are not perceived as "sophisticated" by connoisseurs. But who cares? At least they are reliable and accurate. If you are set on mechanical movement, know that most popular mechanical watches that are manufactured nowadays use automatic movement, which means they wind themselves thanks to the movement of the wearer.

Without getting too technical, I recommend you check out the offerings of Swiss watchmakers for a "good" watch. They are made with the highest standards in the world. With the consolidation that is occurring in the industry, most well-known brands are owned by a small group of companies. This means you can get the same level of craftsmanship of a higher priced watch by buying its lower priced cousin in the company product line.

For example, if you can't afford a Movado, you can buy its less expensive counterpart by Esquire (it is made by the same company, but since Movado is the more prestigious brand, it carries a premium price). In fact, I would say that an INR 12,000 Esquire offers the quality of a watch priced at INR 50K or more. Similarly, you can purchase a Tissot (a trademark of the Swatch Group) at a much lower price than an Omega (also a Swatch Group brand) without compromising much quality.
Scratch-Proof?
The cover of a watch's face, known as the crystal, is designed to protect the dial. There are three main types of crystal found in watches: acrylic, mineral and sapphire.
Acrylic crystal is an inexpensive plastic that does not prevent scratches, but allows scratches to be buffed out.
Mineral crystal is glass, which is composed of several elements that aid in resisting scratches (it is seven times harder than acrylic crystal). It is generally found on more expensive watches.
Sapphire crystal is the cover of choice for premium watches. It is the most expensive type of crystal and is three times harder than mineral crystal. It is made of an extremely durable synthetic material that makes it shatterproof and scratch resistant (not scratchproof). Some have a non-reflective film to prevent glare.

What is the legal definition of a Swiss watch?
Like Champagne, Bordeaux or Port, certain products have stringent standards (based on location or quality) that must be met before carrying a particular designation. The Swiss have several organizations to ensure the integrity and reputation of Swiss watchmakers. The accepted standard for what constitutes a Swiss-made watch is a Swiss movement, set into its case in Switzerland, by a manufacturer of Swiss origin.

A Swiss movement is defined as a movement that was assembled in Switzerland (by a Swiss-based manufacturer), and whose Swiss movement parts constitute 50% or more of a movement's total value. Movements that meet this requirement will carry a stamp (on the watch's face or back of the case) with the words "Swiss," "Swiss Made," "Swiss Quartz," "Suisse," "Produit Suisse" or "Fabrique en Suisse." The former three are the most popular in North America.

If your watch says "Swiss Movement," it means that the inside parts of the watch are Swiss, but that the case is not, therefore it cannot carry the other stamps. If the case is Swiss, but the movement is not, it will say "Swiss Case."

Some other tidbits: If your watch has a "T" on its face, it means it has tritium , the greenish-white substance on the hands and numbers that glows in the dark. If the face has the letter "O," it means that the hourly markings on the dial are made of gold.
This post has been assembled from websites, and not entirely by penned by me. Now that you are equipped with so much knowledge, have fun selecting and using the watch that you love to wear!