Priceless Watch Buying Tips – the Experts at de Boulle Give Real Useful Advice

This article is part of a promoted series and not produced by the editorial staff.

We’ve all heard that time is of the essence. And when you don your very own watch, you capture the essence of time — your way. From sporty to classic, delicate to bold, statement to staple, there are just so many directions you can take with your timepiece.

When you buy a watch, you’re purchasing a subtle extension of yourself and your style. It’s up to you to express yourself through these elegant accessories.

It’s instrumental to be armed with the right information when you’re ready to start watch shopping. The perfect watch is out there, waiting for you. You just have to find it.

The knowledgeable experts at de Boulle, the preeminent jeweler in Houston and Dallas that brings nearly 36 years of expertise and history, put money-saving tips at your fingertips.

“For some people, a determining factor in their perfect watch is symmetry. For others, there’s just something about it. I always give people the advice to look for what catches their eye, and what they enjoy seeing on their wrist. It’s all about what makes you feel something,” Nick Boulle says.

“They need to make sure it draws them in, because if they follow their intuition, it will continue to do so for a long time.”

In some cases, there’s that instant, unforgettable connection. Especially when you’re just starting to build your stunning collection.

“It’s certainly worth having a staple piece, like the Patek Philippe Calatrava or Rolex Submariner,” Boulle says. “Real staples that you can mix back and forth depending on your style as well as the occasion.”

Other times, selecting the best fit is a matter of exploration. The critical criteria? Budget, comfort, occasion and complications.

When it comes to purchasing your watch, it’s about what makes you feel most like yourself — identifying the piece that reflects the way you, yourself, tick. Forget about the status quo. Leave the trends at the door.

“Rather than succumbing to what pop culture says, or what your friend looking over your shoulder says — focus on what speaks to you,” Boulle advises.

“And next, I would say that comfort is key. Just because a large watch-face craze is going on doesn’t mean you can’t choose something smaller and slimmer because it feels right to you.”

You must determine the occasion. Whether you want a sophisticated accessory to wear on an evening out, or a casual classic that’ll get you through every day — or a watch that does double duty that dresses up or down, depending on your mood and destination.

“With the use of interesting materials and/or complications you like, you can find something you can wear under any circumstances nowadays,” Boulle says. “I saw a guy with a bright blue strap on a manual wind chronograph wearing a button down and jeans.

“It looked great, it made it fun. A few days later, we switched swapped it for a more formal black strap for a black tie gala.”

When it comes to color, watches are your playground, depending on your personal favorites and what complements you best. But a general, a good rule of thumb is to consider the skin tone. Yellow gold plays beautifully off certain skin tones, while on others rose gold is the right fit. Some will look ideal in a dark PVD-style watch, others will make a watch in a satin or platinum case shine.

Watch Complications

Then come the complications. These astonishing features are a testament to ingenuity and and human achievement.

“Complications are what have made the industry as unbelievable as it its. The history of the most prominent brands has been built around them in terms of what people have been able to accomplish,” Boulle reveals. “For some people, it’s a celebration of what man can create in the ultimate perpetual calendar minute repeater, or for others it’s how far a human can free dive wearing a watch as their tool.”

There are myriad watch complications to benefit all different lifestyles. If you love to travel, look into a Travel Time or World Time complication.

They’re unbelievably sophisticated. Certain ones allow you to maintain your own time zone and let you update to a new time zone with the click of a button as soon as you land.

If you’re an avid diver, you could look to a watch with depth ratings far deeper than is even possible for a human to dive.

If car racing is your passion, a chronograph or split-seconds chronograph is in order, like the classic Patek Philippe 5960R.

“It’s unbelievable, but the engineering and intricacy of the most complicated of watches can require more training than a brain surgeon to work on and parallel perfectly with the intricacy of a fine-tuned racing engine,” Nick Boulle notes.

Sometimes the right watch makes more of an impression than a race car anyway. Time can be on your side.

To see more of de Boulle’s unparalleled watch selection, click here.