Now this will be a very interesting article, due in part to the subjective nature of the question. I will do my best to answer this question in the most practical way possible. The simple answer to the question, without getting into too much detail, would be 3. A man should own at least 3 watches: a dress watch, a sports watch, and a casual everyday watch.
This is just the general recommendation when looking at the question on a surface level. Yes a man should own at least those 3 different types of watches to use for those different functions. Of course for a watch collector, the numbers will be much higher, but we are talking about the typical, average man here. Ultimately though, how many watches a man should really own, will also depend on many other factors!
We need to ask other questions. Is this person a watch enthusiast? What is their profession? Do they lead an active lifestyle? The answers to these questions will ultimately determine how many watches a man should own. We will get into more details about these sorts of things in the rest of the article. The first thing we will do though, is address the 3 watch types we mentioned in the beginning.
The 3 Types Of Watches A Man Should Own
So I mentioned earlier, that a man should own 3 types of watches: The dress watch, the sports watch, and the casual watch. This is pretty much the bare minimum number of watches to have, assuming you wear watches. In this section, we will briefly discuss each watch, and why they are important to a man.
The Dress Watch
This will be the watch worn on more formal or business occasions. Every man at some point is going to have to attend a formal gathering such as a party, business meeting, wedding, funeral, etc. It is at these types of functions, that you would need a dress watch.
Dress watches tend to have a more elegant, or luxury look to them. You may think that this automatically means they will be very expensive, but this is not always going to be the case. If you go for a full blown, big name brand luxury watch, then yes it will be expensive, however, there are plenty of luxury alternatives that can be purchased for a fraction of the price.
The Sports Watch
As a man, it is not uncommon to engage in various different physical, or sporting events. This is where the sports watch comes in. A sports watch will typically have a sturdy build, and may even possess features relevant to the particular sport.
A good choice for many is to default to a G-Shock watch. G-Shocks are kind of a one size fits all approach to the sports watch. However, in this modern day and age, you may also want to go with a fitness tracker type smartwatch. These types of smartwatches possess many advanced features that can be used as an aid to your activities.
The Every day Watch
The every day watch, as you may have guessed, is a watch that you would wear any day at any time. It is for casual use. Sometimes, this could be called a beater watch. Now when it comes to an every day watch, there is a lot of variety as far as styles and types go. Some people wear luxury watches every day. Even a smartwatch could be your every day watch.
What watch you choose really depends on the nature of your daily activities. Typically though, a person’s every day watch is going to be an inexpensive, and maybe somewhat stylish watch. The possibilities are endless here, really.
So What’s Next?
Now that we’ve covered the basics, there are watches that are best used for specific activities. In the next part, we will cover some of those.
Activity Specific Watches
These are the watches you would wear when engaging in very specific activities. These watches have specialized functions relevant to that activity.
The Diving Watch
Diving watches are already popular due to the style, but they actually do serve their purpose, should you wear one while diving. Usually diving watches have a few features that you would need when diving. These are: sufficient water resistance, a rotating bezel, and luminous hands and markers.
Diving watches are going to be rated as such when they have a water resistance of at least 100 meters. The rotating bezel is used to track diving time, which is also a very important function. Lastly, luminous hands and markers allow you to see the time while in really dark areas.
The Outdoor Watch
You may think that a sports watch is good here, but this type of watch can apply to several different outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, hunting, mountain climbing, and fishing. These types of watches are usually durable, and will posses advanced location tracking features.
These days smartwatches are frequently used in outdoor scenarios. A lot of times the outdoor watch will feature a GPS for navigational purposes. They may also contain a barometer and altimeter for keeping up with air pressure and altitude.
Conclusion
So obviously how many watches a man should own is going to vary wildly depending on the particular person we are talking about. But I think that the 3 should be the bare minimum. Some may agree, others will disagree. Some may say more, some will say less, but this is just a general recommendation.
If a person is a watch enthusiast, I would say to double or even triple that number by having 2 or 3 dress, sports, and every day watches in your collection. When it comes down to it though, you can really just get however many watches you want/can afford. There are other types of watches out there, but we covered pretty much the major ones that you would need.
Anyway, that’s it for this brief little look into watch ownership. I hope that you have enjoyed this article! If you did, then we have plenty of other informative pieces which you can check out here
