How to buy a watch as a gift

What each tier buys

Under $50. Reliable quartz with a plain dial — a Timex Weekender is the archetype. Accurate, light, and genuinely good at what it does. No pretension, which is why it works.

$50 to $100. Better quartz and the entry point for G-Shock. Tough, accurate, batteries that last years.

$100 to $300. The sweet spot for a gift, because this is where mechanical movements start. A watch that winds itself from the motion of a wrist, with no battery, is the thing that makes people interested in watches — and it costs less than most smartwatches.

$300 to $1,000. Better finishing, sapphire crystal rather than mineral glass, nicer bracelets, more accurate movements. Real improvements that an enthusiast notices and a newcomer mostly does not.

Above $1,000. Refinement, in-house movements, and brand. Worth it to someone who has chosen it; rarely the right gift purchase for someone who has not.

The tier to avoid

Fashion-brand quartz watches at $150 to $250 are consistently the worst value in watches. You are paying for a name on the dial and receiving a mass-produced quartz movement worth a small fraction of the price. A $120 mechanical watch from a watch company is a better object, a better gift, and more interesting to own.

The full comparison across tiers is in watches under $100 vs under $500.

Quartz, automatic or solar?

Quartz is battery-powered, accurate to seconds a month, and needs a battery every few years. The practical choice.

Automatic winds itself from wrist movement, has no battery, and drifts by several seconds a day by design. The interesting choice, and the better gift for someone who will find that charming rather than annoying.

Solar — Citizen's Eco-Drive is the best-known — charges from light and needs effectively no maintenance for a decade. The right answer for an older recipient or anyone impatient with upkeep.

The three measurements you need

Case diameter versus wrist size. 36 to 40mm suits most wrists; 44mm on a small wrist looks wrong no matter how good the watch is.

Lug width, if you are buying a strap. Usually 18, 20 or 22mm, printed in the watch's listing or measurable with a ruler across the gap.

Bracelet sizing. A steel bracelet usually needs links removed. Most jewelers do this for very little, and it is worth having done before you wrap it.

If they already collect, do not buy a watch

Taste in watches is specific to the point of being personal, and a collector has a list you cannot reconstruct. Buy around the watches instead: a two-slot roll, a strap set in their lug width, a loupe, a spring bar tool. See gifts for watch lovers.