To purchase for form or function?

We all have different reasons for buying watches. Some buy for the practicality, some for fashion, still others for the artistic designs, but many buy watches simply to flaunt their own prosperity.

But before one purchases a new one, it is good to first learn about types of fine timepieces. Below is some information and advice suggested by the Jewelers of America on their website at jewelers.com.

First, there are several types of watches, which include:

* Mechanical watches, or the traditional "wind-up" watches, which work with the help of a mainspring inside the watch which the wearer winds by turning the crown on the side of the watch. The spring gradually unwinds and turns tiny interlocking wheels which move the watch hands to measure seconds, minutes and hours.

* The automatic or self-winding watches wind themselves as the wearer moves his or her wrist. The wearer's arm actions cause a weight behind the movement to rotate, winding the mainspring. They can also be wound manually.

* Quartz watches are powered by batteries, rather than a mechanical spring. The batteries send electronic impulses through a small bar of synthetic quartz crystal which vibrates more than 32,000 times per second. Those vibrations are channeled through a series of gears that result in one impulse per second.

Quartz watches are generally more accurate than mechanical watches, for two reasons. One, mechanical watches have many moving parts. That means more friction and less accuracy as the parts interact. A quartz digital has no moving parts. Two, the quartz crystal's constant and amazingly frequent vibrations per second enable watches to measure the second with unprecedented accuracy.

* Special feature watches perform a variety of tasks. Besides telling the hours, minutes and seconds, many watches reveal the month, day and year. Some also give the phases of the moon or the time in other countries or time zones.

* Chronograph watches measure small fractions of a second. Some are used to calculate speeds, distances and altitudes. There are specialized watches for astronauts, pilots, parachutists and skin divers -- even timepieces that meet the special needs of blind persons.

Selecting a watch, like selecting any piece of jewelry, should be based on personal taste.

For sport or leisure, a person may want to wear a chronograph. For business use, a more tailored-looking watch with a leather strap and neutral color dial is sometimes desired. For evening and dress wear, the sky is the limit for decorative and elegant watches. Gold or platinum bracelets with or without precious gemstone accents - for men and women - provide an excellent way to show off your fashion panache.

No matter what style of watch you choose, there are some guidelines to follow. Buy a watch with a familiar trademark or one whose performance has a good reputation.

Since it is difficult, if not impossible for the untrained person to detect a counterfeit, avoid the transient street peddler or questionable mail-order promotions which advertise huge discounts on supposedly designer or "famous name" watches.

According to Timotius J. from PT City Time here in Jakarta, fake watches today are difficult to identify.

"Only the experts' eyes can usually recognize them, such as the quality of the body, knob and the initial. But only original ones have certain codes inside the machine," he explained.

And be sure that the manufacturer is behind the warranty.

"Watches you buy from street traders or sellers at Mangga Dua shopping area will never give you warranty cards and proper boxes since their products are real fakes," another distributor reminded.

Replace broken or scratched crystals immediately: even a hairline crack can let dust or moisture into the mechanism, threatening its accuracy.

Sutarsa Tanu from PT Mitraniaga Bumiandalas reminded collectors of quartz timepieces to always replace the batteries every two years at the latest.

"It's better to replace the batteries every year. And always replace the batteries at official counters, otherwise you will face another problem," he said.

He quoted a veteran Swiss watch mechanic, who always reminded him, that customers should be told in advance to immediately remove the plastic cover usually placed at the back of new watches.

"Leaving it there will only rust your watch," he said, adding that many Indonesians for some reason, prefer to keep the plastic there thinking that it will help protect the watch from sweat.

-- K. Basrie