Jewelry Education
Watch Buying Guide

It Started in Switzerland

It was in Switzerland where the history of fine watchmaking began. And the great, highly sought after brands that came out of that country are some of the fine brands Impress Jewelry Creations sells and services today. The reason why elite, Swiss brands are viewed as some of the best in the world is because they are designed, built and made by independent design manufacturers.

At IJC, we align ourselves with watch manufacturers that have the design capabilities to build watches in-house. Our highly sought after brand partners and their collections feature watches that contain custom movements (the internal mechanism of the watch). Because these movements are designed, manufactured and serviced by that individual company, the timepieces are not only unique but are of the highest quality.

Two of the luxury Swiss watch brands found at IJC are Maurice Lacroix and Frederique Constant. While most watch companies build their watches from components sourced from many different places, Maurice Lacroix and Frederique Constant shine as actual manufacturing capable watch companies. In a world of mass produced watches, these two Swiss watch companies stand apart from many of their counterparts as being true innovators.

Watch Buying

People buy watches for a variety of reasons. For example, buying a certain brand of watch could commemorate a moment or the fact that its wearer has arrived to a certain station in life. Besides the obvious reason of telling time, they buy them because they are rare, limited or because of their performance level. And they buy them for fashion too. Watches not only represent a certain status, but serve as a form of style, personal expression or art. Although there’s recently been a shift in watch purchases as our society evolves even more in terms of technology, the worldwide sale of watches has actually seen an increase in the last decade. The focus has simply shifted to more high-quality timepieces that look perfect on your wrist.

With IJC, our watch inventory represents a great balance of value, status and extremely limited edition models. We offer timepieces that may be one of only 100 pieces made. The composition of our collection accommodates the collector and the individual who is looking for a distinctly different watch to commemorate that very special occasion or life milestone.

Types of Watches

Generally, the epitome of fine, Swiss watchmaking is the automatic movement (self-winding) mechanism. The automatic movement watch is powered by an internal rotor or pendulum that spins and applies light pressure to a main spring. No battery is required and the movement is perpetual as long as the watch is regularly worn and maintained. The beauty behind this type of watch is it lasts indefinitely.

In contrast to automatic movement timepieces are manual wind timepieces. They are very mechanical and lack the self-winding, automatic capabilities, but, with that, you are usually able to increase the artistic side of the timepiece by allowing the movement to be displayed through an exhibition back. This type of watch will be most appealing to someone enthralled by these engineering marvels. Thus, a mechanical watch lends itself to being more interesting and appreciated by a discerning watch buyer.

A quartz-based watch, on the other hand, is powered with the help of a quartz crystal, which serves as a type of electronic regulator inside the watch. The output of a battery is fed through a quartz crystal which vibrates in a very specific, timely fashion. A quartz-based watch is ultimately battery powered and can be more fashion-focused. This type of watch requires intervals of battery changes (which IJC does!). Some luxury and fashion quartz-based watches are also solar powered. You will need to expose them to a certain amount of light (indoor or sunlight) regularly in order to keep them running. A great benefit is these types of watches are eco-friendly and don’t normally require battery changes.