Buying a wristwatch? Keep these four things in mind before pulling the trigger

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The quest for the perfect watch never ends. You may be rolling your eyes when you read that line.

After all, if you have one watch that works and tells you the time, that should be enough, right? Well, absolutely, but if you’re a watch aficionado, you will find that your head and heart will never be satisfied with such purely utilitarian thinking.There’s also the fact that one’s taste and aesthetics evolve, which means that the watch you once wanted—and now own—may not be enough. Because you like a different style of watch now, and would really like to own one in order to rotate with the watch you already have.And so it goes.

Before you know it, you’re deep in the rabbit hole of watch collecting, keeping track of new releases, reading up on vintage watches, obsessing over watch Instagram (yes there is such a thing). I’ve been there and done that (in fact, I’m still there and still doing it), so by now I am aware that when it comes to watch collecting, there are a few rules that you need to observe.It’s easy to get swayed by a watch that is the flavour of the season.

For instance, a few years ago, Swatch and Omega pulled off an incredible collaboration by releasing a cheap, plastic version of the iconic Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch. The effect was instantaneous: Long lines outside Swatch boutiques around the world and resellers scalping gullible enthusiasts by charging three to four times the retail price online.The watches looked great, but soon, problems started surfacing.

The chronograph pushers would fall off, or in some instances, case backs might break off. At around ₹20,000, the Swatch Moonwatches were inexpensive by Swiss watch standards, but that’s still a fair chunk of change.