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Amid the wristwatch storm, how many of the 101 different kinds of watches did you ever wear or have seen people wearing?
Here is your ultimate watch guide to choosing the perfect fit based on your personality, mood, age, occasion, passion, prestige, affordability, and social stature.
Though watches are an invention of the bygone days, they not only rule the modern arena but also are further growing in diversity. For an idea about huge watch diversity, you can look at the list of the best watches for men under 500.
It is not just the movement type, display, and power source to categorize watches into different classes. There are lots of other parameters to classify watches like style, features, age & gender, size & shape, material, color, and price.
Different kinds of watches for men, women, and kids range from casual time telling gadgets to automatic wristwatches to ultra-feature rich smartwatches. If you are an automatic watch aficionado, you would like to read several advantages and disadvantages of automatic watches.
Also read: Top 15 Tips: How to Choose a Smart Speaker, the Best One
There are also timepieces that function as your full-time routine and health guides. The IoT-powered timepieces are an addition to it.
The smartphone which is the fiercest enemy of the wristwatches now stands defeated!
How Is Smartphone a Rival But Not a Perfect Alternative to a Wristwatch?
While your smartphone claims to be world’s most accurate and inexpensive watch, it has miserably failed to offer a perfect alternative to wristwatches. Just ask yourself a simple question. Can a phone render the same level of style, grace, confidence, convenience, and longevity of a timepiece that you wrap around your wrist? The answer would probably be no.
How Do Different Kinds of Watches Differ from One Another?
If you are a watch lover, you would probably categorize the timekeeping devices based on their size, shape, appearance, display, cost, and working mechanism. But when it comes to fifty different types of watches, you need to take into account several other aspects and parameters as well.
Below are the parameters I have used to put different types of watches with names into 101 categories.
A. Movement Type
Based on the type of movement that fuels a time-telling device, you will come across 7 different categories of watches. These seven kinds of watches with names are mechanical, automatic, quartz, chronometer, kinetic, solar, and spring drive.
B. Display Type
The popular watch display types include digital, analog, hybrid, tactile, and touchscreen. While digital and analog are the well-known, traditionally exhausted display types, hybrid, tactile, and touchscreen technologies are the inventions of the recent past.
C. Power Source
If you have been searching for different kinds of watches based on the power source, they belong to one of the five major families. They are solar, quarts, smartwatches, self-winding watches, and those powered by body heat. The modern light powered watches can draw their energy from any type of natural or artificial light.
D. Style
Style is an equivalent of fashion, form, cut, smartness, and sophistication. It does make a big difference in the lives of all and sundry except for few. While functionalities, display, and price do play their part in influencing the choice of a watch, style is what most people are reluctant to compromise for. Based on their style, different kinds of watches can be grouped into casual, dress, fashion, luxury, and smart. The last two, i.e., the luxury and smart watches are a trend nowadays among the elite.
E. Function and Features
Functionalities and features are usually considered as the primary criterion for the ranking of different kinds of watches. That is why they make the most prolific category of watches, ranging from diver, sports, military, pilot, pocket, and racing to aviator, chronograph, GPS, field, tools, transparent, skeleton, mater resistant, and minimalist.
F. Shape
You will find just four main kinds of watches based on their shape. They are rectangular, round, oval, and tonneau. Here a noteworthy difference between the Apple and Samsung smartwatches is that the former (Apple) are usually rectangular, while the latter (Samsung smartwatches) are round.
G. Material
When it comes to materials, you would find over 15 different kinds of watches for men, women, and children. On one extreme, you will find timepieces made of plastic, and the other extreme will reveal to you the watches made of titanium and gold.
Did you know? The Rolex watches are grouped among the world’s most expensive watches, going as high as over $50,000! Use of gold not only renders them a symbol of status but also attaches to them a high resale value. However, grace replicas of Rolex – gold tone watches – are usually grouped among the cheap best watches for men under 50 dollars!
Other kinds of wristwatches based on material include ceramics, stainless steel, wood, quartz, glass, carbon fiber, sapphire crystal, mineral crystal, acrylic, leather, silicon rubber, elastomers, and physical vapor deposition.
H. Age and Gender
You can easily guess that the age and gender-based classification of watches would include three major categories, i.e., women’s watches, men’s watches, and kid’s watches.
I. Band Type
Again, you would encounter over a dozen different kinds of watches depending on the strap and band type. Some watch aficionados look for straps that exude grace and style, while others prefer comfort, strength, and grip over all other things.
The prominent figures of this family include engineer bracelet, president bracelet, jubilee bracelet, oyster bracelet, mesh/Milanese bracelet, perlon, grained or exotic leather strap, Nato strap, double-ridged strap, Zulu strap, bund strap, rally strap, stitched strap, and normal leather strap.
J. Color
The color – could you overlook it or just do not mind? Probably, no. Depending on their mood, temperament, occasion, and company, the wristwatch fans may go for black, silver, red, clear, gunmetal, leather, gold, rose gold, tan, blue, and brown hues.
K. Weight
Obviously in this category of different types of watch, you would stumble upon two main categories, i.e., the lightweight and heavy watches. Mostly, it is the material and stature that contribute to the wight of a wristwatch. Here it is also worth noticing that the watches for women are usually smaller and lighter than men’s watches.
L. Size
Based on their size, different kinds of watches would include big, medium, and small.
M. Price
This criterion for the classification of wristwatches would acquaint you with such types of wristwatches as cheap/inexpensive, mid-range, costly/expensive, and elite class.
Do you remember you first wristwatch? How long did it last and how would you categorize it? Mine was a digital quartz watch which my parents gifted my on my brilliant success in the fifth-grade exams. Though it lasted for three years, my love for it never died out.
List of the 101 Different Kinds of Watches for Gents, Ladies, and Children:
Different Kinds of Watches Based on Movement Type
1. Mechanical Movement Watches
Also called manual or hand wind watches, the mechanical watches require you to wind them by hand or by a tool, called watch winder. They emerged in the 17th century as an offshoot of the spring powered clock that have been in vogue for the previous two centuries.
It is interesting to note that mechanical watches remain undeterred in face of their stronger and fiercer rivals, the automatic watches.
Some of the best rated affordable hand-wind wristwatches include Invicta’s Men’s Specialty 42mm leather watch and Men’s Russian Diver Polyurethane mechanical watch. The former is also one of the best mechanical watches for men under $100.
Each of the wristwatch types is suitable for recreational swimming, snorkeling, sailing, and water sprots. However, you are cautioned against using them for diving.
2. Automatic Movement Watches
Also called self-wind watches, the automatic watches save you the hassle of winding them. They were invented in 1770s, i.e., around a century after the birth of their manual counterparts.
Though automatic watches do not require manual or hand winding, you can’t keep them idle for a long time. If you are habitual of keeping your watch idle for several hours, you will need a watch winder. And the price of watch winders ranges from a few dollars to several hundred dollars.
Did you know? You can get the best rated, feature-packed automatic watches for men and women under $100!
Just put the price tag of Seiko 5 automatic stainless-steel watch against that of Invicta’s Russian Diver watch. The former (Seiko 5) happens to be significantly inexpensive!
And there is a huge diversity of automatic watches for men under $100. And sometimes you even come across the exquisite beauties like Invicta’s Pro Diver Gold Tone automatic watch for an incredibly low price.
3. Quartz Movement Watches
Born in the 1960s, the Quartz watches are yet less than a century old. They are powered by a vibrating quartz crystal to keep time and render better accuracy than both the mechanical and automatic watches.
Owing to their exceptionally low price, the simple Quartz watches have been very popular and common across the world. And their replicas are so cheap that everyone can buy them even in the poorest countries of the world.
Nowadays you can get a superior quality Quartz watch equipped with the cutting edge technologies for much less than 50. An example is that of Casio’s analog sports watch for swimming, snorkeling, sailing, and water sports.
4. Chronometer Watches
The chronometer watches are the superior siblings of the mechanical timepieces. They are superior timekeepers and very accurate as they are subjected to intense precision tests before you see them in the market for sale.
Some chronometer watches are unusually inexpensive, and you can get them for 20 to 30 dollars. An example is that of the Armitron sports unisex digital watch and it has nearly half a dozen variants.
And their Swiss counterparts are insanely expensive and cost you thousands of dollars. An example is Omega Seamaster Diver Chronometer 42mm watch.
5. Kinetic (Automatic + Quartz Movement)
One beautiful truth about the kinetic watches is that they use both the automatic and quartz technologies that work in coordination for a perfect timekeeping experience. That is, while the self-winding (automatic) mechanism generates electricity, a piezoelectric quartz crystal acts as the timing element.
Here it is important to clear out a misconception that, despite using quartz technology, kinetic wristwatches do not need a battery as a source of electric energy. Instead, a built-in electricity generator charges a rechargeable battery or a capacitor.
Owing to their energy saving characteristics and high precision, kinetic watches have become very popular nowadays.
An example of the most affordable automatic wristwatches for men, you will find Seiko’s Kinetic Blue watch. It also offers the wonderful water resistance of up to 100 meters.
6. Solar Watches – Fueld by Natural/Artificial Light
As the very name suggests, solar watches derive their energy from natural light. And those equipped with advanced technologies can also work in artificial and indoor light environments.
Casio Men’s solar sports combination watch enjoys a ranking among the cheapest (below $50), best-rated, and bestseller solar wristwatches. In addition to offering 100M water resistance, it is equipped with all the latest technologies you would ever need in your routine life, including LED light, luminous hands, bells, alarms, signals, countdown timers, stopwatch, and full auto calendar.
7. Spring Drive
The spring drive watches are available as luxury mechanical watches with unprecedented precision level. Here you meet with an exquisite blend of the mechanical and automatic watch making practices.
And it is perhaps due to the specialty of unmatched precision that they are unusually high priced.
While ordinary Seiko wristwatches are available for a few dollars, the spring drive versions would cost you thousands of dollars.
Some of the best examples of Spring Drive watches from the house of Seiko include Grand Seiko Spring Drive with power reserve display and men’s Grand Seiko Spring Drive with blue snowflake dial.
B. Different Kinds of Watches Based on Display
8. Digital Display Wristwatches
As you can guess from their name, digital watches tell you time in hours, minutes, and seconds with the help of numerical digits.
Before the advent of smartwatches, people hailed their digital predecessors as the most high-tech timepieces.
Digital watches are usually powered by Quartz movement technology, and they are probably the most common kinds of timepieces. They range in price from a few dollars to several hundred dollars.
Among the cheapest and bestseller women’s sports watches, you will come across Armitron sports digital chronograph watch with resin straps. It is available in over a dozen color variants, including red, black/silver, grey, purple, baby pink/silver, black/gold, navy blue/silver, and pink/rose gold, etc. The timepiece also affords up to 100M water resistance.
9. Analog Display
The primary difference between a digital and analog watch lies in the mode of displaying time. While the digital watches use numerical digits to tell you time, their analog counterparts have hands for hours, minutes, and seconds.
Why do people prefer analog watches over their digital cousins? It is especially for the sake of grace. Otherwise, the digital timepieces also offer some additional functionalities like stopwatch and countdown timer.
One of the cheapest and worldwide bestseller analog watches is Casio’s Men’s Duro analog watch. It gives you an amazing 660 feet water resistance.
Another analog wristwatch that might interest you is the Timex Unisex 38mm Weekender which is available in over a dozen eye-catching variants.
10. Hybrid Watches – Digital + Analog Display
Also known as a digital-analog watch, a hybrid watch is nothing more than a combination of the two worlds, i.e., digital and analog. It is an amalgam of grace and extra functionality to take your time, routine, and lifestyle management to perfection.
A hybrid timepiece is predominantly an analog wristwatch with features and functionalities of a digital watch embedded into it in a seamless array.
The exclusively digital timepiece functionalities found in a hybrid watch include timer, backlight, stopwatch, and alarm.
A hybrid watch has some cons too. For example, there is overstuffing of techs into a little space, and it is not suitable for formal occasions.
Among the cutest hybrid watches lies Yihou’s military sports electronic digital-analog watch. It is also one of the cheapest one and is available in over half a dozen color variants.
If you can pay a little more, you would probably go for Casio’s men’s slim solar multi-function digital-analog watch, which you can also use for snorkeling.
11. Tactile Wristwatches with Hybrid Touchscreens
There are two different kinds of watches with tactile support. The first type represents a further innovation in hybrid wristwatches. Like their hybrid predecessors, the display includes both the digital and analog versions, with an extra functionality of touchscreen.
Through the touchscreen enabled display of such kinds of watches, you can navigate across different functionalities by touching a specific part of the face. Also, there are buttons to the side, so you can easily cycle through various functionalities.
The only reason to influence your decision in favor of hybrid wristwatches for men and women would be the price, i.e., the tactile timepieces are a bit costlier.
The second type of the wrist watches with tactile support are meant for the blind and for those who want to read time in darkness.
Garmin’s Vivomove 3 tactile watch is one of unbelievably fantastic hybrid smartwatches for men. It is a timepiece with real watch hands and a hidden touchscreen display that does amazing things for you including contactless payments.
12. Tactile Wristwatches for Dark Environments & for the Blind
This kind of tactile watches are especially designed for visually impaired people who can read or rather feel the time by touching it. These are also meant for those who want to feel time without looking at the watch. They may need to do so during a meeting or while enjoying a movie in a theatre.
To help read time through touch, the manufacturers fix raised markings for hours and two magnetized ball bearings, one each for hour and minute. The ball bearing for reading minutes travels in a recessed track around the center of the watch’s face, while the one for hours moves in the track around the outside edge of the watch face.
To read the time a use needs to run their finger over the raised markings and trace the location of the two magnetized ball bearings. And if while reading time any of the balls gets dislocated, the user needs to shake their writs and each ball will snap back to their correct location.
One of the epitomes of different kinds of watches in this category is Eone’s Bradley titanium classic watch with titanium case, smart 40mm case diameter, Swiss Quartz movement, and an exquisite designing standard.
13. Touchscreen Watches
More popularly known as smartwatches or smart wristwatches, these touchscreen gadgets are not just your time-keeping companions but also, they are also your wrist-wrapped smartphones.
Here you enjoy a wonderful 2-in-1 package, i.e., an all-equipped smartphone, and an ultimate routine and lifestyle management solution.
You can access and use all the functionalities by touching or tapping icons on the screen. It is in fact a fully fledged smartphone where the things like messaging, audio/video calling, high speed data streaming everything is possible.
If you are looking for one of the most advanced smartwatches, Samsung’s GPS-powered, LTE-unlocked Watch3 is military-graded watch with wristwatch with 50,000-plus watch faces. It is also equipped with advanced health monitoring and fitness tracking systems. Also, it is fitted with a camera, so you can preserve the pleasant memories of your life.
However, among the bestseller and relatively inexpensive smartwatches is Samsung’s Active 2, which asks for a few compromises in return for a huge cut in price. For example, it lacks LTE and has a bit smaller 40mm size against 45mm of Watch3.
C. Different Kinds of Watches Based on Power Source
14. Solar or light-powered
Both the automatic and solar watches are two different kinds of wrist-worn timepieces that run on the free power source, and they harvest green energy which will be wasted away if not harnessed. Solar or light-powered time tellers are much superior to their automatic counterparts in many ways.
First, while automatic watches stop working if kept idle for a long time, solar watches keep fueling themselves in all types of natural and artificial light environments. Secondly, automatic watch may occasionally need a watch winder, but in case of the solar-powered watch, you can completely do away with that extra, expensive necessity, or a nuisance, whatever you call it.
In short, a solar watch never requires a deliberate or forced energy input on the part of the user.
Casio’s solar-powered sport combination watch is the timepiece that aficionados love to buy for its toughness, feature abundance, and exceptional affordability.
15. Quartz Watches (Power source)
Did you know? Over a billion quartz watches are manufactured annually, i.e., a quartz timepiece for every 7th individual in the world of 7 billion people.
While quartz is known for its ability to create light under pressure – a quality called triboluminescence – it does some other wonderful things as well.
For example, when a charge, heat, or physical stress is applied to this amazing mineral, it generates electrical reaction. As electric current flows through it, the quartz crystal becomes a tiny battery, with positive and negative charges on opposite faces.
Seiko is a big name not only as an introducer of the quartz-powered watches but also as the manufacturer of the finest pieces.
Different kinds of watches in the quartz category from the house of Seiko include Men’s SNE098 Two-Tone Stainless-Steel Watch and men’s COUTURA Japanese-Quartz Watch with Two-Tone-Stainless-Steel Strap.
16. Smartwatches (Power Source)
Though all the 101 different kinds of watches are in vogue, the popularity of the smartwatches for men and women is growing day by day. It is because they perform lots of pragmatically indispensable tasks beyond just keeping time.
The wonderful jobs different kinds of smartwatches do range from counting steps, keeping track of energy levels, respiration, stress, sleep, hydration, and menstrual cycle to smartphone functionalities to making contactless payments.
Fitbit, Garmin, Fossil, and Samsung are some of the big names among different kinds of watches with an extreme touch of smartness.
Fitbit Versa 2 health and fitness smartwatch is one of the cheapest and bestseller smartwatches with a handsome 1.34 inches screen size.
A huge bunch of features includes music, heart-rate, sleep and swim tracking, Alexa built-in, a control over smart home devices, and much more.
17. Self-winding
Also called automatic watches, the self-winding watches eliminate the need for a watch winder. Different kinds of watches with self-winding technology harness the kinetic energy from the movement of your wrist and store it as a potential energy in the mainspring. This stored potential energy then fuels the watch keeping mechanism.
However, they do have certain drawbacks. For example, if you keep them idle for a long time, they will stop working. Secondly, they are less accurate than their quartz, body heat powered, and smartwatch counterparts.
Nevertheless, wristwatch enthusiasts are willing to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars for an automatic watch for the sake of a bunk of cutting-edge technologies they come built-in with. Similarly, the loss of seconds is not that much significant and it can be easily compensated for.
Among the least expensive automatic watches is Invicta’s men’s Pro Diver Gold Tone Watch with 200M water resistance. It is also one of the best watches for men under 100 dollars.
18. Wristwatches Powered by Body Heat
The watches powered by body heat are a fantastic innovation and enjoy superiority over the other two types of self-powered wristwatches, i.e., automatic and solar. They are better than automatic watches for being more accurate and totally hassle free.
And they are advantageous over solar watches in the sense that they do not require any sort of natural or artificial light and will keep operating even in the pitch-dark environments.
And the body heat powered watches have also established superiority over smartwatches for being ultra-feature enriched.
For example, in addition to having fitness tracking system, GPS, step count, and Samsung/iPhone compatibility, they can also measure the calories burned and activity levels using thermoelectric technology.
Also, you access all the data on the accompanying smartphone app, share it with your friends, and compare who burns the most calories during the day.
An example of different kinds of watches running on your body heat is the Matrix PowerWatch 2 smartwatch, which also offers an amazing water resistance of over 600 feet.
Did you know?
Seiko’s the Thermic launched in 1998 – a body heat powered watch – could run for 9 months after a single recharge from your body heat.
D. Different Types of Watches with Names Based on Style
19. Casual
You wear them on casual and informal occasions, where a metal watch band will do. But, for formal settings, you will prefer a leather band and will try to make combinations with your jeans or dress boots.
20. Dress
You wear dress watches with some suit or a formal or semi-formal dressing.
21. Fashion
They employ both a negative and positive sense. In the positive sense, they are good-looking, affordable watches. Here the manufacturer’s main concern is its outward embellishment, while paying less attention to the techs empowering it.
22. Luxury
Luxury timepieces are an extreme form of fashion watches, while giving equal focus to both the outward appearance and the power of techs. Here you will see a seamless fusion of style and craftsmanship.
23. Smart
Here smartness has two dimensions. The first dimension implies their smart appearance and style. In the second sense, a smartwatch is the one that is technologically advanced and is backed with top-end luxury-yielding techs.
E. Different Kinds of Watches Based on Function and Features
24. Dive Watches – Wristwatches for Divers
The dive or diver’s watches usually have a high water resistance. Different kinds of watches with 200M water resistance are suitable for swimming, recreational diving, snorkeling, and skiing. However, they are not recommended for scuba diving.
25. Sports
Like thier sports counterparts, the dive watches are also water resistant. But they are also functionally advanced, shockproof, and scratch-resistant.
26. Military
Such watches are meant for the soldiers to wear in combat. So, what different kinds of watches do the military use? They prefer timepieces with higher accuracy, durability, ease of use and readability, and suitability for dark environments.
27. Pilot
Designed to be worn by airplane pilots, such wristwatches are empowered to give them ultimate visibility and help them out while navigating the skies.
28. Pocket
A pocket watch is manufactured to be kept in pocket, so it is different from both a wall clock and a wrist watch.
29. Racing
A racer has a fraction of a moment to read time, so the racing watches are marked by high-contrast dials and have chronograph functionality.
30. Aviator
Meant for the workers of an aviation department, the aviator watches are large in size, have an easy-to-read black dial, a prominent marker at 12 o’clock position for the sake of quick reading.
31. Atomic Radio Controlled
Among different kinds of watches based on their features and functionalities, the radio controlled watches are highly valued for their accuracy. They ensure accuracy through automatic synchronization with the time of a radio transmitter, which is connected to an atomic clock.
32. Chronograph
Chronograph is a separate, stopwatch-like functionality in the advanced watches. Chronograph watches have 2 or 3 sub-dials and 2 pushers. These pushers can stop or start the stopwatch functionality without interfering with the timekeeping mechanism.
33. GMT
If you want to simultaneously view time in multiple time zones, you are probably looking for GMT watches. Also, their analog dials can tell you time in both 12- and 24-hours formats.
34. GPS
Mostly preferred by fitness and sports enthusiasts, the GPS-powered wristwatches are integrated with a GPS receiver. So, you can accurately get data about your speed, pace, and distance.
35. Calendar and Moonphase
Such watchers has an aperture in their dial that shows the current moonphase based on the 29.5-day lunar cycle.
36. Day and Night
Different kinds of watches with day and night feature have a creative design to show the moon appearing at night and the sun coming out during the day. Other types of day and night wristwatches embed this feature in the form of 24-hour format.
37. Field
Also known as trench watches, the field watches are known for the outstanding accuracy. They are also resistant to dust and water.
38. Tool
The tool watches perform tasks beyond just telling accurate time. A dive timepiece is an example of tool timepieces. Its sealed crown and bezel can resist pressure at greater depths of water.
38. Smartwatches (Different Kinds of Watches Based on Function and Features)
In the world of techs, a smartwatch is defined as a wristwatch with an extraordinary bundle of features and functionalities.
39. Luminous
Luminous watches are usually painted with non-radioactive material at specific locations, like dial, hands, and numerals. They can glow in the dark, so you can easily read time.
40. Transparent
In transparent wristwatches, the band or dial or both are made of transparent material. An example is that of Invicta’s men’s bolt silicon strap transparent watch.
41. Skeleton
A skeleton watch is usually a mechanical watch where the moving parts are visible to the user through either the front or back of the watch.
41. Water Resistant
Different kinds of watches with water resistance functionality are exposed to water at different pressures. For example, if you have a 50M resistant watch, you can wear it while having a shower. But for a recreational diving or swimming activity, you will need a watch with 200M water resistance.
42. Minimalist (Few functionalities)
As the very name suggests, minimalist watch do little more than telling you time. For example, they will have an additional feature of a date window.
43. Feature-filled/Tech-rich
A smartwatch, mechanical automatic watch, and digital-analog watch usually abound in the latest techs and specs. You can take them as the feature-filled/tech-rich wristwatches for men and women.
I have seen all watches. All watches are awesome and good quality. I am searching best and good looking smart watch. Your post help me to search good watch. Thanks, keep it up.
Thanks!