Find the Best Watch for You at Maharaja’s Fine Jewelry!

So much of what makes watches special remains unseen, hidden behind the face. This hidden complexity makes watch buying challenging for newcomers. While it can be simple to decide which watch looks the best, it gets confusing fast when deciding which brand, or other specifics like the watch’s movement type At Maharaja’s, we want to make every jewelry decision simple, so we’ve prepared this helpful guide to consult when it comes time to buy a watch.

Understand Your Brand  

Watch brands represent huge international fashion houses, that have some of the biggest designers, proprietary technologies, and cutting-edge engineering at their disposal. They work around the clock to dream up new innovations in watchmaking all to bring you a timepiece that perfectly suits your taste. Centuries of design experience have been poured into the premier brands, and over the years each has developed its own reputation for certain distinct flairs.

Citizen Watch

Citizen watches are affordable, well made, and accessible. Citizen watches are a great place to start for new watch collectors and often featuring limited edition releases and fun designs.

Frederique Constant Watch

With a deep passion for design Frederique Constant watches are known for traditional styles that are classic and timeless. Based in Geneve, Switzerland Frederique Constant makes luxury swiss time pieces affordable, accessible, and unpretentious. 

G Shock Watch

Athletic watches for those on the go, G Shock watches are known for luxury quality in a sporty package. Made by the parent company Casio, the multinational electronics manufacturer, G Shock watches are designed to weather even the most extreme conditions. 

Seiko Watch

As a watch designer Seiko brings precise engineering and pioneering electronic technology. One of the few fully-integrated watch manufacturers on the market, Seiko designs, develops, and makes their own movement mechanisms, always emphasizing cutting edge technology. 

Shinola Watch

A Detroit based luxury design brand, Shinola is known for its enduring quality. Shinola watches are each pieces of luxury craftsmanship that can handle the demands of a working lifestyle. 

Rolex Watch

Rolex watches are the defining luxury watch brand and are considered by many to be the best of the best. Bold, and instantly recognizable, the Rolex is designed to stand out and make a statement. Maharaja has a selection of pre-owned Rolex watches* to help you get the watch you’ve always wanted. 

*Maharaja's is not an authorized dealer of, affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Rolex. Rolex products carried by Maharaja's are not sold, distributed, offered, or certified by Rolex.

Different Types of Watches

To find the perfect watch, one must understand what type of watch is perfect for them. Doing that means a little learning about the different types of watches and their advantages. In general there are two broad categories of watches, Mechanical and Quartz, and they center on the watches ‘movement’ type. These movement types describe how a watch does its thing quite literally ‘what makes it tik’. 

Movement Types

Mechanical Movement

All mechanical watches have no electrical power source, instead, they work by coiling up a mainspring which stores potential energy that is then released to turn a dial at regular intervals. The specifics are complex, but in broad terms, a mechanical watch works by the same pendulum principle any clock does, just in miniature. 



There are two types of mechanical movement: manual and automatic. Manual watches are wound by hand with some regularity. Automatic watches are wound by the natural movement of the wearer, as the mechanisms inside are so sensitive they are set into motion by even the most subtle of wrist movements. Both require interaction to remain on time. In fact, automatic watches can lose time, and unwind if not worn. 

These qualities make mechanical watches ideal for the watch enthusiast. Someone who wears their watch daily, values craftsmanship over convenience, and who has a taste for the romance of simpler times. Mechanical watches are endearing, enduring, often handcrafted, and represent the peak of watch-making design for many. Each mechanical watch is truly a wrist-born wonder, made of only springs, gears, and ingenuity. 

Quartz Movement

Quartz watches are powered through an electrical charge and use a battery. The battery creates a closed circuit that is specifically tuned to cause a precisely cut quartz crystal to vibrate at a consistent frequency. This vibration serves as the pendulum for the watch and converts the electrical charge into the needed kinetic energy to turn the dial.

The consistency of these vibrations makes quartz watches incredibly precise. Even the cheapest quartz watch is known to be more accurate over a month than some mechanical watches are over a day. Quartz watches are also easier to produce than mechanical watches, but that doesn’t always mean they are cheaper.

When introduced Quartz watches drastically transformed the watch industry, suddenly putting watches onto everyone's wrists. But it wasn’t long before premier watch designers adapted the technology and created some of the most technologically advanced timepieces a wrist has ever worn. Now quartz watches represent some of the most beautiful accurate, sturdy, and long-lived products on the market. Quartz watches are best for those who value precision and want to be on the cutting edge of design and technology.

Fitting Your Watch

The first step in fitting your watch is finding your wrist circumference. If you have a flexible tape measure wrap it around your wrist where you’d feel most comfortable wearing a watch. If you don’t have a tape measure, simply wrap a string around your wrist, cut it to that exact width, and measure the string with a ruler. 

Now you know your wrist circumference, let's look at your watch sizes. You may be given a few terms that are industry standard but may be confusing as an outsider. For example case in this context refers to the section of your watch between the bands, where your watch face and mechanisms are housed. Here are a few helpful watch measurements and terms you may see when shopping for a watch:

Case Diameter

This is the diameter of your watch case. Bigger case diameters are bolder and easier to read. Smaller cases are more subtle and subdued. 

Thickness

This is the thickness of your watch’s case, that is how tall it stands on your wrist. Bulky watches can be cumbersome to some but can feature interesting secondary functions. While lower-profile watches might feel too delicate to those who aren’t worried about subtlety.

Lug-to-Lug

This is the measurement between the lugs on your watch. Lugs are where your watch band meets the case. So it’s a vertical measurement of the watch. This measure isn’t typically given by manufacturers but can be helpful when determining the right watch for you. If you don’t like how a watch feels on your wrist, you may want something with a shorter or taller lug-to-lug length. An experienced watch seller will be able to accommodate you if you asked for help finding something that fits better lug-to-lug. If they aren’t sure when you ask, you may want to shop elsewhere.

Finally the Perfect Watch for you

At Maharajas we have a wide selection of watches from a variety of premier brands. Offered in both vintage and new styles, Maharaja’s watch selection has something for even the most discerning watch buyers. We invite you into our shop to check out our selection and ask our experts about which watch might be best for you. Start at home by browsing our online selection to get a feel for the styles, then come into the store to take home the perfect watch for you.