Analogue vs Digital vs LED Men's Watches

20 May 2009

You wear a watch. We all need to. Since 'time' began, timekeeping has been a necessity for the human race. We needed to know when to return to the cave after a good day's hunting, and more recently when we've arranged to meet a mate for a latte. Of course we use our phones, computer or any other display to find out the time, but there is nothing NOTHING like wearing a good watch but it is more than that as well. A watch identifies us; sports utility, hi-tech, smart, understated, over-the-top, expensive, cheap, it is a unique signal that tells you something about a person the 'second' you see them.

There are so many types out there now and it's hard to know where to start when choosing yours. So we thought we'd whip up a quick comparison that may as a helpful starting point when choosing your next timepiece: What's good and what's bad about ANALOGUE, DIGITAL and LED type watches?

Analogue:

A watch with 'hands' that rotate around the middle.

The analogue watch is THE classic style of watch for both men and women. An analogue watch is defined by the 2 hands which rotate around the centre, marking out the hours and minutes and sometimes a 3rd hand to denote seconds.

When the analogue watch first started to get into the mainstream market it was an item of beauty; to be cherished and respected since they were seen as a marvel of human technology. Thinking about the tiny parts and mechanical movement, it is still pretty amazing. Although there are now thousands of analogue watches on the market they still hold an element of prestige. Even now, when they are mass-made, the classic, traditional appeal of an analogue watch is never likely to diminish. There is such as huge choice and variety of straps, sizes, finishes, prices and levels of prestige, this means that there will always be something that suits you and your lifestyle.

One downfall of an analogue watch is that they do break; inevitably with their mechanical innards, things can go wrong and sometimes the hassle and cost of getting it fixed can outweigh the price of the watch in the first place, although all of our watches have a warranty, this can be a factor. Also, depending on the mechanism they can fall out of sync sometimes over longer periods of time, so it's usually wise to cross-check the time on an analogue regularly to make sure it is accurate.

so the advantages:

>Classic, classic, CLASSIC
>Loads of variety of styles, brands, prices, sizes etc
>Will always find something in your budget

and the disadvantages:

>Conventional, your dad wears a watch like this
>Mechanical, so it can break
>Accuracy can be dodgy over a longer period of time
>Battery will need replacing every couple of years

Analogue watches on equip.co.uk...

The Fossil 'Maxwell' Analogue Watch £120, The Ice Watch 'Infinity' Rose Gold Analogue Watch £225, The Vestal 'Observer' Analogue Watch £129 (From left to right)

Digital:

It was the 70's that brought us the first digital watch which was basically a complete flop. The digital technology actually used LED's which were then, well, rubbish. No one liked having a watch with a battery that died within a week of having it, as the LEDs were on 24/7 and zapped the power. So a few years later the LCD digital watch was born.

There's no doubt digital watches are sneered at by high-end watch snobs as being amateurish and geeky, but that is exactly what makes them so good right now. Seriously though, there are plenty of retro styles which look excellent and two great advantages are that they're understated... and tend to be cheaper! You can go out in a digital and not care too much if it gets scuffed, and wear it all day everyday.

A disadvantage is definitely that digital watches are impossible to read in the dark, UNLESS you get one with a light. Luckily all of our Casio's are ones with electroluminescent but that's something to look out for if you go elsewhere.

so the advantages:

>Retro, very retro.
>Batteries will last years and years.
>Reliable and long lasting.
>More associated with Men, you don't see many women wearing these.
>Easy to read/Accurate.
>Multi-Functional: Alarms, calendars, dates, TV remotes

some disadvantages:

>Not as many styles, since there has not been as much experimentation or development over the years.
>Can be a bit too plastic.
>Associated with geekery. If you think that's a bad thing.

Digital Watches on equip.co.uk...

The Casio 'A168 Digital Timer' Watch £23.50. The Vestal 'Monte Carlo' White Analogue & Digital Watch £126.25, The Vestal 'Calcutron' Calculator Digital Watch £79 (From left to right)

LED

So, LED's? Yes, they did drain the life out of any battery they came into contact with and yes they can't be on all day, everyday, but technology changes and we now have available to us the new and improved LED's in our watches, the digital LED combo is now a distant blip.

The system and casings have been made more efficient, robust, and long lasting and therefore accurate, making for a pretty wicked style of watch. Brands such as Tokyo Flash have led the way with LED's and snubbing the 'so-called' watch experts that have, much like they did with digital watches, not played the game or even considered taken a quick test drive with an LED watch.

We think this is rubbish! LED watches do have a few disadvantages (Below) but there are definitely some advantages worth looking at for sure. They are more of a gadget than a watch, which means they definitely won't fade into the background and will always get you noticed. The futuristic look has that trekky appeal (which is a good thing, especially at the moment). Also the 'Light show' that they are now famous for gives something extra to each style, making you interact with the watch, they are definitely not boring.

The quirkiness of this style of watch does come with some disadvantages. Depending on where you get the watch and the style, sometimes the lights can be hard to see. Different colours use different amounts of energy so you sometimes don't know where you stand and more often than not they are not water resistant.

so the advantages:

>Original way to tell the time
>Different colour/casings/programmes
>Not conventional

some disadvantages:

>Battery is better but won't last as long as other styles of watches
>Can be difficult to learn to tell time
>Certain lights/environments can make lights hard to see

LED watches on equip.co.uk...

The Tokyo Flash 'Infection' Multi-Coloured LED Watch £106.50, The 'Police' Green LED Watch £175, The 'Shadow' Blue LED Watch £145 (From left to right)

What watch to wear?

Well, there is definitely a choice that's for sure. But this does cause a problem. There isn't a right or a wrong answer no matter what anybody tells you. I think choose whatever you like and and whatever fits into your lifestyle. If you still can't decide just weigh up the options and see what is best, simple. This isn't a cop out, we can't tell you what to buy, even if we would like to try...it is impossible.

Not one to contradict myself, but there is definitely an argument to always have an analogue watch, at least as a standby. Also, don't want to bang on about it but they are a classic, but there are brands out there like Vestal and Ice Watch that really do challenge the old fuddy duddy watches if that's your thing, so it doesn't have to look like you have borrowed your grandad's watch.

If you still can't choose between whether to wear a digital watch or a LED watch then it again depends on what your like and who you are? LED watches are generally more modern in style but the digital has now become a modern classic, what to do, what to do?...Choose a style and run with it...sometimes it is better to experiment...it doesn't have to be expensive at all, check out the Casio range or the 'Dot Matrix'...cheap as chips and pretty brilliant to be fair...they are literally the ultimate retro watch we think.

Make the most of it because soon enough it will get worse with laptop, mobile and car key watches on the market. In the mean time check out our current styles...

The Fossil 'Sampson' Leather Cuff Watch £80, The Ice Watch 'Pure White' Watch £50, The Tokyo Flash Black 'Barcode' LED Watch £129 (From left to right)

SHOP NOW FOR WATCHES...

A brief history of time........
The moon, stars, sun, seasons and nature were always used to measure time and construct a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly pattern or routine. The first hunter-gatherers used shadows and the position of the sun to gauge the time of day approximately. Later civilisations devised very smart ways to quantify it like dividing the sky into segments and adding or taking away two sections as the seasons changed.

The word 'Watch' came about during the Anglo-Saxon period when men would have to sit-up at night to watch for invaders. It was around the C19th that the watch industry really took off and developed with England, France, the US and Switzerland taking on the technology of watch making and efficient time-keeping. Over the centuries the finesse of watchmaking and timekeeping has been refined evolving from the water clock to gears and weights to a spring loaded mechanism. All these components have brought us the classic wrist watch we recognise today.