A Definitive Guide to Shopping for Mens Watches

Whether you wear a watch to level up your style or just like having the time right at your wrist, choosing the right watch can take a bit of research. 

And if you’re into history, check out our recent post, “The History of Watches: Winding Through Time” to take a quick trip through the story behind the watches we know and love today.

Looking for a men’s watch that’s stylish, unique, and actually fits your vibe? You’ve got options. A lot of them. But don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. In this post, we’ll break down the key things to look for so you can find the right watch without overthinking it.

Features

Depending on how you spend your time, you’ll want to think about which features actually make sense for you. Chronographs, timing bezels, date displays, easy-to-read dials, illumination... the list goes on.

Take the chronograph, for example. It’s super useful, and more than just a fun thing to fidget with while you're supposed to be working. You can use it to track elapsed time for everything from workouts to cooking to, yes, even timing things underwater. Check out our recent post on great ways to use a chronograph. The elapsed time is tracked on a sub-dial, making it easy to keep an eye on anything from a few minutes to several hours.

Then there’s the timing bezel. A classic feature on dive watches, it gives you a simple, no-fuss way to keep track of elapsed time. Just rotate the outer bezel to line up with the minute hand, and you’re good to go. We recently heard that even doctor's use this feature in marking their time spent with patients. 

Here’s a real-life example: a friend of ours wanted to squeeze in a quick surf session but had lunch plans with his partner. Before hitting the water, he lined up the timing bezel with the minute hand. From there, it was easy to keep track of how long he’d been out. When the minute hand made its way back toward the marker he set, he knew it was time to catch one last wave and head in. Simple, useful, and no bells and whistles to distract you from the task at hand.

Water Resistance

Gone are the days when you had to baby your favorite watch every time you stepped outside, or heaven forbid, you got near water. These days, a good field watch is built to keep up. But when it comes to water resistance, not all watches are created equal.

If you’re planning to get your watch wet, it’s worth knowing what’s actually keeping the water out. Features like a screw-down crown, triple-gasket seals around the stem and crown tube, and a screw-down case back all help give a watch serious water resistance. Piston-sealed crowns and gasketed case backs offer a much better defense against water than basic tension-held designs.

The easiest place to start? Check the dial or case back for the watch’s water-resistance rating. If it doesn’t list a depth rating, that’s your cue to keep it away from the pool, or even from the shower. If there’s no specific depth rating, it’s generally designed to handle everyday splashes—not your next snorkeling adventure. In other words, maybe leave that one on the beach.

So, what do those numbers actually mean?

• 30 meters: Good for splashes, rain, and everyday life.
• 50 meters: Fine for hitting the showers.
• 100 meters: Ready for swimming, snorkeling, and more adventurous water activities.
• 200 meters: Now we’re talking. This is serious water resistance and suitable for diving.

For some perspective, 200 meters is about the height of the Seattle Space Needle or the St. Louis Arch. That’s a whole lot of water between you and the surface, and a pretty impressive depth rating to have on your wrist.

Illumination

Reading your watch in broad daylight? Easy. Reading it when the sun goes down? That’s where things get interesting.

Watch lume has been around since the early 1900s, originally helping military and field watches stay legible when the sun went down. Today, lume is pretty much a must-have on any modern watch built to handle the elements, with glow-in-the-dark material applied to the hands, hour markers, and other key features.

But not all lume is created equal. When you’re checking out a new watch, it’s worth paying attention to both how much lume it has and what kind of lume it uses. After all, there’s a big difference between a watch that gives you a quick little glow and one that stays lit when you actually need it.

One of the industry favorites is Swiss-made Super-LumiNova, which has been a go-to for more than 20 years. It’s made with strontium aluminate, a non-radioactive material that can keep glowing for up to 15 hours with a sufficient UV charge.

Watch Strap

A great strap can completely change the look and feel of the watch.

Think of the watch itself as the main character. The strap? That’s the personality. Okay, maybe that analogy is a little cheesy, but you get the idea. Swap out the strap and suddenly your watch has a whole new vibe. Keep a few different styles around and you can mix things up depending on where you’re headed.

And there are plenty of options to play with: NATO, Zulu, Rally, Oyster, President, Jubilee, Engineer, Aviator/Pilot, Bund, Shark Mesh, Milanese, Tropic, Perlon, Waffle, Double Ridge, and even NASA straps. 

There's also the strap material to consider- leather, woven canvas, nylon, or a stretch fabric for a snug fit. Don't even get us started on clasp styles. Nerd out on your own time. 

Of course, there’s one detail that can make or break the experience: the fit. One of the biggest frustrations with men’s watch brands is that custom bracelet sizing isn’t always an option. You might find the perfect watch, only to discover the bracelet doesn’t fit quite right.

That’s why we offer custom sizing before shipment, so your watch is ready to go as soon as it lands on your wrist. No awkward fit. No extra hassle. Just put it on and go.

Did you know?

The NATO strap was originally developed for British soldiers in the 1970s and was known as the G10. Why the G10, you ask? Soldiers had to request the strap using a G1098 requisition form. The more you know...

The “NATO” name came later from the NSN (NATO Stock Number) used to identify and order the strap.

So yeah, that simple strap on your wrist has a pretty cool military history behind it.

Durability

If you’re the kind of person who actually gets outside and puts your gear to work, a delicate watch probably isn’t going to cut it. What’s the point of having a great-looking watch if you’re constantly worried about scratching or damaging it?

When you’re shopping for a new watch, durability matters. Look for features like a  sapphire crystal, stainless steel or titanium cases and components, DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coating, and screw-down crowns. These details aren’t just there to sound impressive—they’re designed to help your watch handle the bumps, scrapes, and everyday abuse that come with an active lifestyle.

Your watch should be able to keep up with you, not the other way around. Whether you’re hiking, camping, surfing, traveling, or just going about your day, you want a watch that can be put through it's paces and keep ticking.

Know before you go: make sure your watch can handle the basics: sweat, grit, water, and whatever else your next adventure throws at it. A good adventure watch shouldn’t sit safely in a drawer. It should be out there with you.

Warranty

When you spend good money on something, you want it to stick around. Cars, laptops, phones, you name it. That’s where a solid warranty comes in. And honestly, we feel that buying a men’s watch shouldn’t be any different.

Before you pull the trigger on a new watch, take a look at the warranty. A lot of watch brands offer somewhere around 2–5 years of coverage, but there’s usually plenty of fine print. Manufacturer defects? Often covered. Scratches, everyday wear, accidental damage, or a dead battery? Not so much.

That’s why we do things a little differently at VERO. Every VERO watch comes with a 10-year, no-questions-asked warranty that covers everything from aesthetic wear to impact damage. We cover pretty much anything that impedes in the functionality of your watch. We stand behind our watches because we build them to be worn, not babied.

And if you ever do need to use that warranty, we’ve got you covered. No complicated hoops. No second-guessing whether something counts.

That's All Folks...

I hope this post would help you get a better idea of which features to look for in mens watches. 

Have a question?

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