Your Guide to Watches

It can be difficult to know what you are looking for when choosing a new watch. This is why we at Mermaid Stories have prepared this guide to women's watches for you. We help you finding out what criteria matters the most when choosing a new watch. Here you'll get an insight into what materials or glass types the watch can be made with and how you decide which fits you the best!

Watch size

When choosing a watch, you want it to match your body, so you should think about which size you prefer. Depending on your wrist size, choosing a big or small dial size can give your wrist a completely different look, especially in combination with other jewelry. The common opinion is that you should always see at least a small part of the leather strap or mesh band when looking straight at the dial from above. Thereby you make sure that you really can enjoy the design of the watch from all angles.

Women's watches traditionally have a smaller diameter than men's watches, but recently it has become popular to go with bigger sizes. This doesn't only have the advantage that your arm looks nice: If you just shortly want to check the time when looking at your wrist, it really helps to see the time right away without having to double check or get closer. Therefore we have decided to choose a 37mm dial for all Mermaid Stories watches, which is a size that fits most women's wrists perfectly.

Mesh band or leather strap?

The choice between leather straps and mesh bands is not only about the look, but it also affects the weight of your watch. While watches with leather straps can feel very light so that you almost "forget" about wearing a watch, most mesh bands will be more tangible on your skin. At the same time, a mesh band gives a watch a more feminine appeal, almost making it a piece of jewelry in itself. 

In summer, there are different opinions about which of the two actually is more comfortable. But if you have a leather strap of good quality or a not-too-heavy mesh band, both should be comfortable to wear.

At Mermaid Stories, we chose to only work with straps made of vegetable tanned leather, which is really soft from the start and no chrome is used in the tanning process. Another advantage: Its surface is natural and has the ability to breathe, so the leather doesn't bother you when you sweat. 

Watch movements

The watch's movement is the part where the magic happens: Here, it is defined how the time gets measured. In general, the two categories on the market are quartz movements and mechanical movements. Manual and automatic movements are both in the category of mechanical movements, and only consist of mechanical parts such as gears or springs.

On the other hand, you find quartz and auto-quartz movements which are battery-powered, but also have some parts which are mechanical. Quartz movements can both show the time in an analogue or digital way and are sensitive when you take them into areas with less than -15° or more than 45° Celsius. They should not be put too close to magnets because these can damage the quartz movements, sometimes even permanently. Apart from these precautions, you only need to do battery changes once in a while (usually every 1-3 years, depending on the battery), a service which almost all common watch shops provide.

If a watch has a hand for the seconds, you can easily see if it is a quartz or mechanical movement: While the mechanical one moves the hand in a smooth way, a quartz movement will have a "tick" movement, literally "jumping" from one second to another. 

Battery-powered women's watches with quartz movements are convenient since you don't have to worry about any winding or resetting. Quartz movements are currently the most accurate time tellers on the market, which is why we at Mermaid Stories have decided to work with quartz movements. For this, we work with movements from the renowned Japanese supplier Seiko. Seiko has many years of experience in producing these high quality quartz movements and provide great quality that lasts for a long time. 

Watch case, dial and hands

Watch cases can be made of different materials, from precious metals like platin or gold to stainless steel. At Mermaid Stories, all of our watch cases are made with high quality stainless steel, and our roségolden and golden models are plated with the so-called IP plating method, which is especially durable. 

For the "background" of the watch, its dial, the designs which are available are wildly different. From very minimal designs to ornamented dials with diamonds on it, you can find women's watches for every taste. Especially for women, you find many dials which are heavily decorated with gemstones or other stones, or which come in different shapes like round, oval or with edges. For our Mermaid Stories watches, we have decided to combine a minimal, Scandinavian watch design with female details. If you look closer, you can for example see that the watch hands are softly formed like waves, and all of our watches have our iconic mermaid engraved on their back. 

Sapphire glass or mineral glass?

For most watches available on the market, you can choose between plexiglass, mineral glass or sapphire glass. While the former is often used for sports or children's watches, but also for some higher priced watches, many of the watches on the market are either equipped with mineral or sapphire glass.

Mineral glass is a type that is very commonly used for watches. It consists of hardened glass whose durability depends a lot on the quality of the glass and its production, but can hold out many shocks depending on its resistance. 

Sapphire glass, which is the type of glass we use at Mermaid Stories, is especially scratch-resistant and made of synthetic sapphire, thus very hard and has an extremely high resistance to damages. 

Waterproofness

In order to know how close you should get to any water with your watch, you can have a look how waterproof it is. A watch's waterproofness will typically be stated in ATM or bar. These two units have very similar values since they measure the pressure of the atmosphere, and one ATM approximately corresponds to one bar. The deeper you dive into the water, the higher the ATM value of your watch should be. Yet, it is recommended that you only go diving with diver's watches marked as those, since they are especially made for this sport. 

So what do the different specifications mean for your everyday life?

3 ATM or bar - These watches should not be taken into the shower or out in the rain. They will usually be okay if you they get some sprinkles on them once in a while, but the general recommendation is that you keep them away from any water.

5 ATM or bar - Watches that state a waterproofness of 5 ATM will typically be okay when you get into the rain and mostly even when you forgot to take them off under the shower. Yet, since they are only a bit more waterproof than the 3 ATM watches, the best practice is to take your watch off for any activity where water contact is expected.

10 ATM or bar - You can easily go swimming, snorkling or on sailing trips with this type of watch, as long as you stay very close to the surface of the water. 

20 ATM or bar - These watches are typically made for snorkeling or other sports, but it depends on the specific watch model if you also can go diving with them.

30 ATM or bar and more - Watches in this range usually classify as diver's or specific sport watches, but it is always recommended to check for the exact model if it is save to go diving with it. 

Interesting to know: You should always expect the watch's waterproofness to be a bit lower than indicated, just to be save. Tests are usually conducted with static pressure on watches which are entirely new, so the older your watch gets, the more it might be prone to let water in. Different environments also provide different situations of pressure on the watch, so do chemicals like soap or detergents. Also keep in mind that once you have gotten your battery switched, the waterproofness of your watch can be different than before.

Battery lifetime and exchange

Every one to three years, your quartz movement watch will need a new battery. It is important to get the battery changed right after you notice that it doesn't work any more to prevent any potential damages.  

Most watch and jewelry shops offer a fast service for exchanging watch batteries of the most common types. Often, you can even watch them exchange your battery on the spot, so you don't need to wait for long to be able to wear your watch again. Only for some watch types, a battery change will take longer or you will need to go to a specialist. All batteries used in Mermaid Stories watches can be exchanged in most standard watch and jewelry shops. 

Watch packaging and maintenance

To ensure that your watch looks nice for as long as possible, it is recommended that you take it off when you sleep. Like this, you also ensure that your leather strap or mesh band gets strained as little as possible. (Read also: Guide to leather straps and how to take care of them.) The best is to store your watch in a cool and dry place, for example your jewelry drawer or the watch's original box it came in.

At Mermaid Stories, we think that it is important how your watch is coming to you. We are in love with beautiful watch packaging and proud to deliver confetti feelings right to your door. Our watches always come in a nice pink box, no matter if you order for yourself or your beloved one.

 Discover Mermaid Stories' watches

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If you have any further questions about watch details, get in contact with us at hello@mermaid-stories.com. We're happy to help!