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A man needs a different watch for different occasions – a formal design to go with a tuxedo or suit, a sports watch for short sleeves at the cricket or footy.

Connoisseurs go even further. Retro or classic? Heirloom or formal? Sport or casual? Expensive or really expensive?

When it comes to serious watches in Australia, you need to fork out a bit just to reach the lower end. Anything less than $2500 and you’ll generally wind up with something that lacks artisinal pedigree. In other words, it will likely be mass produced: a simple, well-made watch in a non-precious metal with few or no complications (features other than the time of day).

If you’d like something more sporty and distinctive, Sam van der Griend, of Watches of Swintzerland advises: “Invest a little more. We’d recommend the Baume & Mercier Riviera in rose gold. Made in Geneva, it’s one of the best in its class.”

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How to buy a watch | The Australian

If you buy the silver Bulgari ring (pictured below) this Christmas, you will be simultaneously giving and receiving: ?60 of the ?290 price tag will go straight to Save the Children. This is one of many examples of the burgeoning relationship between jewelry and charity.

Bulgari, whose normal entry-level price for jewelry is around ?490, aims to appeal to a wider audience than the one it normally targets with a product such as this. According to Francesco Trapani, its chief executive, ?It is a pretty inexpensive piece of jewellery. We don?t normally do silver but we wanted to do something very commercial to raise money.?

The ring will spearhead the Roman jewelry house?s 125th anniversary celebrations when it goes on sale next January in Harrods and at Bulgari stores worldwide the following month. It is hoped that sales of the rings, plus the proceeds from a related auction of high jewellery, will raise ?10m for Save the Children.

This effort is just one among many contemporary marriages of precious product and philanthropy, including a bangle from Montblanc, pens and watches from Chopard, and watches from IWC (the International Watch Company).

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