About Me
The word that decides everything
Every watch is quartz, mechanical or automatic. It's one line in the specification, most people skip it, and it determines almost everything about living with the watch.
Quartz. A battery drives it. Accurate to a few seconds a month, needs nothing from you, and the battery lasts two to three years. It's the least romantic option and the most practical one.
Mechanical. A wound spring drives it. You wind it by hand, usually daily, and it keeps time to within roughly ten to twenty seconds a day depending on the movement. That variation isn't a fault — it's what mechanical timekeeping is.
Automatic. A mechanical movement wound by the motion of your wrist. Wear it most days and it keeps running; leave it in a drawer for two days and it stops, and you reset it.
None of these is better. They're different arrangements, and the right one depends entirely on whether you want to think about your watch or not.
What we tell you before you buy
The movement type and its stated tolerance. If a mechanical watch runs twelve seconds fast a day and the manufacturer specifies ±20, that's within spec. We'd rather you know that in advance than discover it and think something's wrong.
What the water resistance rating actually permits. 30 metres doesn't mean 30 metres — it's a pressure test, not a depth. It means splashes and rain, not swimming. The full guide is in our terms, and it's the single most common misunderstanding in watch retail.
Whether precious metal is solid or plated. "Gold-tone" is a finish. Solid gold above the statutory weight carries a UK hallmark, and where a piece is plated we say so and give the thickness where the manufacturer provides it.
Lug-to-lug, not just case diameter. A 40mm case with long lugs overhangs a slim wrist; a 42mm case with short ones may not. Lug-to-lug is the measurement that predicts fit, and almost nobody publishes it.
What we look for
A movement with a service history behind it. Established calibres can be repaired years from now by someone other than the original maker. An obscure movement in a cheap case is a watch with an expiry date.
Case finishing at the edges. Where brushed meets polished, where the lugs meet the case. It's the cheapest place to cut corners and the first thing that looks wrong up close.
A clasp that holds. More watches are lost to a failed clasp than to anything else.
Crystal material stated plainly. Sapphire, mineral or acrylic — each scratches and shatters differently, and the difference matters more than most brands admit.
What we don't do
Claim we make them. We don't design or manufacture watches. We select them, we check them before they go out, and we tell you what's in the specification.
Inflate prices to discount them. The price is the price. Where we reduce one, any "was" price is a price the watch was genuinely sold at for a reasonable period.
Manufacture urgency. No countdown timers, no "one left" when there are forty.
Overclaim. A watch won't mark your milestones or accompany your adventures. What a good one does is quieter: you glance at it, it's right, and you don't think about it again until the next time.
Ask us before you order
Not sure between quartz and automatic, whether a case will suit your wrist, or what a rating actually allows?
Email us. Tell us your wrist measurement — a tape measure or a strip of paper will do — and what you'll wear it for. We'll tell you honestly which suits, including when the answer is none of them.
We'd rather give good advice than process a return.
How we make it straightforward
- Free UK delivery, tracked and signed for
- 30 days to change your mind, including on sale items
- Sizing the bracelet won't affect your return — just send the links back with it
- Five years to pursue a claim for a fault, under Scots law
- A reply within 2 working days, from a person
Contact
Email: support@arthurs-watches.com
Phone: +44 141 333 9898
Customer service: Monday to Friday, 9:00 am–9:00 pm UK time
Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays: closed.
Arthur's Watches LTD
Business address: 220 Buchanan Street, Glasgow G1 2FF, United Kingdom