Barbour Watches Review
If you live in the United States, you might not be overly familiar with the name of J. Barbour and Sons, colloquially referred to as simply “Barbour.”
The British company has been in business since 1894 and specializes in waterproof outerwear, though they also make a variety of other clothing, having expanded their line tremendously in recent years.
In 2014, the company introduced wristwatches to their product line as an accessory that they felt worked well to accent their existing products.
The watches are attractive and well-built, and work well for daily wear as well as for more formal occasions and they’re offered at a price that’s reasonable as designer watches go.
Read on for the full Barbour watches review.
Build Quality
Movements
Innovation
Styling and Features
Care and Maintenance
Warranty
Prices
Where to Buy
Summary
Barbour Watches Build Quality
As with many wristwatches offered for sale by companies known primarily for fashion, these watches are not designed in-house, nor are they manufactured by the company.
That said, they’re well-made timepieces, featuring stainless steel cases and mineral crystal. Water resistance for all of the models we’ve seen was rated at 50 meters, which is more than adequate for fashion watches.
The movements in Barbour watches are electronic quartz movements sourced from Switzerland, likely from Ronda or ETA. Quartz electronic movements are both reliable and accurate, and have the added benefit of requiring little in the way of maintenance.
That means you can largely just wear them without having to worry about whether they’re going to keep time or need to be wound, and that’s ideal for a watch that’s primarily sold as a fashion accessory.
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You won’t find any technical innovation in this brand, and that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Innovation and mechanical complications are best left to companies that specialize in mechanical watches, rather than those that sell them as fashion accessories.
Because of this, you’ll find that Barbour watches are largely restricted to time-only models, though a few also feature a date complication. We’ve seen at least one chronograph model, as those are always popular with watch buyers. For most people who would be interested in the Barbour brand, those features are likely enough.
As the brand is relatively new in the marketplace, they don’t have a lot of different models or styles. The official Barbour watches Website only shows three different watches, though we’ve seen some online retailers offering as many as 20 or so.
Designs are primarily labeled as men’s watches, though many of them are of a unisex design. Prospective buyers should keep in mind that case sizes run in the 40-45mm range, so most Barbour watches might be a bit large for many women.
Colors are largely limited to traditional black, white, silver and gold, though they’ve offered at least one model with a blue face. Straps are largely black or brown leather, with a few models offering stainless steel bracelets.
Despite the quartz movements, all of the models we’ve seen had analog displays.
The designs are largely classic and austere, and that makes them suitable for daily wear, office wear, or evening wear. They are nice looking watches, but aren’t going to stand out in any unfavorable way, as brightly colored watches from Swatch or similar companies might.
Care and maintenance of Barbour watches is simple, as these watches all feature battery-operated quartz electronic movements. These movements are accurate and reliable and will usually run for years at a time without the wearer having to do anything in the way of maintenance.
You will need to replace the battery every few years, though this can be done at any watch shop or at many jewelry stores. You should store Barbour watches away from extremes of temperatures or strong magnetic fields, as you would any watch.
With care, you’ll find that your watch will run well for years to come.
The warranty offered with the purchase is more than adequate and is the industry standard of two years. The company will warrant their product against defects in materials and craftsmanship for two years from the date of purchase. About 90% of all watch companies offer a similar warranty.
As these watches are tested well at the factory, you should have to worry about defects.
As designer watches go, you’ll find that these watches are fairly reasonably priced. One can easily spend thousands of dollars on a designer watch, but most are largely priced in the $200-$800 range.
While this doesn’t qualify as inexpensive, these prices are at the lower end of the scale for name brand designer fashion watches.
You can find them for sale at a number of retailers, both online and off. Barbour has a number of stores in Great Britain, as well as a few in the United States.
They also authorize the sale of their products through a small network of authorized retailers, and you can check the company’s Website to find one near you.
While their watches can be purchased online, they cannot be purchased through the company Website. Instead, the Website will direct you to a retailer near you.
You can, however, purchase them online via a number of other retailers, and some of these retailers offer a larger selection of Barbour watches than you’ll find on the company site. Buying online will also offer you the greatest opportunity to buy them at a discount.
Barbour Watches Summary
As with watches from any fashion brand, you’re not going to find cutting-edge technology in this brand. On the other hand, most people don’t seek that in a fashion watch; they’re interested in good looks, a movement that runs well and accurately, and they want it at an affordable price.
Barbour watches offer those things in a timepiece that reflects well on the company’s traditional product line. If you’re a fan of their waxed coats and boots, you’ll likely enjoy wearing their watches, too.
Barbour watches are well made, generally affordable, and a good choice for fans of the brand.
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