Watches are no more just a necessity these days. They are a fashion statement. Gone are the days when watches served the functional purpose of telling the time. Today watches tell who you are. Watches tell your social status. Watches speak about your taste. There is no upper limit on how many watches you can or should have. There are many brands of watches available today. What brand of watch you wear also reflects your personality. However not all of us can afford to have a Rolex or a TAG Heuer. Designer watches are the favorite of everyone but there are some less expensive brands as well that go with your style and personality.

Watches come in two categories – automatic and quartz. Automatic watches are those that do not have any batteries and that get charged by the physical movement of the wrist. Quartz watches have batteries that need to be changed from time to time. Automatic watches are preferable over quartz watches. Today watches come with MP3’s embedded in them. Watches even show direction apart from time and date. Yes these are the watches with GPS or Global positioning system in them. It is very helpful to have a watch that shows you where you are located and which way you need to go especially while you are traveling or when you are in a new and unknown city or country.

There are watches for different purposes. There are office watches, party watches, sports watches, military watches, diving watches and much more. Watches are to be worn all the time every time. Women like to flaunt their diamond studded designer watches at parties. Office watches are more simple and elegant. However with the increasing fetish of ladies for diamonds even office watches have diamonds in them these days. Men wear diamond or designer watches to show that they are different from the others. And indeed, not everyone can have a designer watch. Watches for men are mostly large sized but for women they are sleek, slim and elegant. It is almost as if large watch sizes stand for masculinity and power while slim watches are considered feminine. Today many self-dependant and assertive women like to flaunt big watches.

As I said before, not all of us can afford to wear expensive watches. All those of us who cannot afford expensive brands contribute to making replica watches a flourishing industry. Well obviously replica watches are made by less skilled workers using substandard material. There are various levels of replica watches (or counterfeit watches). There are the very cheap ones that are sold for a few dollars. Their quality is bad and they stop working within a few days. Then there are some better replica watches that last longer and look better. There are also replica watches that are made of expensive material (though not of what the originals are made of), look very much like the originals and can cost the buyer a few hundred dollars. These watches last three to four years and are made for a handful of customers. Watch companies are fighting hard to have this industry shut down as it negatively affects their business but there is no stopping this trade. It is in any case illegally carried out.