Helping Hands - Understanding Discount Watches Online

When shopping discount watches online, collectors are confronted with a bewildering array of styles, terminology, brands, and models. Often, the hands of a watch are tied to the identity of the model, manufacture, or style of a given watch, and new enthusiasts entering the community often wonder how they can pinpoint the defining characteristics of a specific hand style.

For instance, the term “ Mercedes Hands ” often emerges when discussions turn to Rolex Submariners, Sea Dwellers, and GMTs. While text and timelines will describe the appearance of “Benz” styles during the 1950s, a collector may be at a loss to distinguish these from stick, sword, Dauphine, cathedral, leaf, or Breguet indicators – to name just a few.

This Rolex GMT offers an excellent white-on-dark example of “Mercedes” hands. Also known as cathedral hands, the distinction between the two terms is created – in this case – by the presence of the three-pointed star motif within the shaft of the hour hands. In general, hands that include the faceted and framed style but not the inset “Benz” logo would be called “cathedral” hands due to manner in which the hands resemble the cut-and-soldered stained glass of a gothic cathedral.

At times, similar styles of hands such as Dauphine and sword hands can become confused. Both feature a triangular tip and may include a central crease that extends over the length of the hand. However, sword hands are cut to flare and widen as they approach the hour indexes; Dauphine hands narrow as they project outward.

In certain cases, a style of hand is so closely associated with its original brand or watchmaker that it assumes the name of the originator even when applied to the watches of other brands. In the case of watchmaker Breguet, whose namesake, Abraham Louis Breguet, is considered the single greatest innovator in watchmaking history, a class of hand designs is named in the man's honor.

Breguet hands are characterized by their long, needle-like shafts and feature a subtle narrowing toward their outer extremities. The last portion of a Breguet hand features an asymmetrical ring that interrupts the continuous run of the shaft. Often, Breguet hands feature heat-treated coatings that turn them a deep blue; this was a nod to ALB's service to the French court of the House Bourbon, which took “royal” blue as its signature color. Among discount watches online, most bearing the Breguet style are, in fact, manufactured by Breguet, but the style is sufficiently popular to appear on timepieces from many manufacturers.

Often, the best online reference for examples of these styles is the actual inventory of quality pre-owned watches online at 300watches.com. The company's supply of Rolex, Omega, Breitling, and haut-de-gamme brands offers a complete cross section of hand, case, and dial styles for reference. Collectors interested in adding a particular style, clarifying the style of a given watch, or interested in discussing the range of available styles are encouraged to call or contact the watch sales professionals at 300watches; we love to talk watches!

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