Choosing your first automatic watch is more than a purchase: it's a rite. We discover an object that lives without a battery, moved by your gesture, whose mechanics breathe on the wrist. In a world saturated with screens, an automatic reminds us that time can still be read by the movement of a pendulum, by the whisper of a rotor. This guide is for the man who wants a watch with soul, a companion in style and history — a piece that doesn't just tell the time, but tells something about you.
An automatic watch is wound using a rotor, an oscillating mass that turns with your movements. No battery, but a power reserve — often between 38 and 80 hours — stored in a spring. Is this accurate? Yes, enough for daily life, even if an automatic is not an atomic clock. Expect a reasonable drift (around ±10/20 s per day on good models), while a certified stopwatch will tend to be around −4/+6 s.
And above all, an automatic is experienced: we barely hear it, we sometimes feel it vibrate; it ages, is adjusted, revised, transmitted.
Before the technical sheets, ask the question of aesthetic DNA. The first automatic watch must carry you as much as you wear it.
If this is your first watch, think versatility. A dark dial (blue, black, gray), a steel case, and a timeless design will go with as many outfits as possible.
Size is not just a matter of diameter. Two 40mm watches can wear very differently depending on lug-to-lug length and thickness.
Also look at the dial opening (a thin bezel “enlarges” the watch), the lug width (20 mm is very versatile for changing straps), and the ergonomics of the lugs. The in-store test remains decisive.
Don’t let yourself be hypnotized by the word “manufacture” for a first piece. A good, well-adjusted supplier movement is better than a capricious in-house caliber. Safe values:
Useful everyday functions: manual winding, stop-seconds (hacking) to set the time with a quarter turn, quick date. A power reserve of at least 40 hours is comfortable for alternating between weekdays and weekends.
Your first automatic doesn't have to be the watch “of a lifetime”. It should make you want to wear it, and understand what you really like. Some benchmarks:
Look at the warranty (2 years minimum), the availability of serious after-sales service, and think about the maintenance cost: a simple service generally varies from €150 to €400 depending on the brand. Be wary of “bargains” without papers or history.
Take the time. In the store, test several diameters, play with the light on the dial, listen to the soft ticking. Check the closure of the bracelet, the softness of the crown, the fineness of the winding. A first watch is chosen by reason - but is confirmed by heart. If you're unsure between two, sleep on it. The next day, one will impose itself.
An automatic likes to be carried. Alternate if you have several watches or give it around twenty turns of the crown before an important day. Avoid shocks, magnets (iPad cases, bag clasps); an adjustment or demagnetization can be done quickly by a watchmaker. A complete service is planned every 5 to 8 years depending on usage. Rinse the watch in fresh water after the sea, and change a gasket if there is the slightest doubt about its watertightness.
Your first automatic watch is not a destination, it's a departure. It will set standards – comfort, style, sound – which will then guide your eye. Take it for what it is: a tool that expresses your taste for things well done, a discreet sign that time, sometimes, deserves to be experienced mechanically. This guide gives you pointers; it's up to you to write history on your wrist.
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