Somehow, a Timex just wouldn't cut it.

There's a moment in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies where the camera gives us a very good look at 007's watch. It is such a strikingly blatant display of shameless product placement that it is indeed nearly laughable. Need we even tell you that the watch looked splendid? Whatever subliminalities there were during that brief moment worked immediately -- one of us loved the look of James' specially fitted Omega Seamaster Automatic with the Officially Certified Chronometer so much that he went out and bought one that very weekend. Certainly no one is going to look at this watch and confuse us for the debonair Mr. Brosnan, but fret we don't. Our wrists thank us everyday, this we know for sure. Never mind that the watch cost five times more than the per capita income in Bangladesh. Hey -- no one said style came cheap. That's not to say that you should pony up a couple grand for a piece of jewelry that probably tells time no better than a $20 Casio. Who cares that much about split-second accuracy? We certainly don't. And for the most part, neither should you. Ask an honest Rolex wearer and he'll tell you the same thing: it is simply not only about precision timekeeping.

To find a suitable watch is no easy task. It took one of us a full month to decide before purchasing their TAG-Heuer. What you want to do is find something dressy while still sporty, substantial without being gaudy, and, most importantly, well made enough to last a few years. Or at least until you want to buy another one. And on that note, you should. Men need to have more than one watch. In fact, two at the minimum.

If you wear a suit everyday -- most of you, we presume -- you'll probably need an everyday watch. Think of the second watch as a weekend special. A helpful hint: no plastic, digital or Mickey Mouse watches at work please. As gadget hounds, we love very few things more than the idea of a watch with a million functions. We even hear that Casio has a G-Shock, which, when aimed at a pair of speakers, determines the beats per minute of a song. But let's be realistic - guys in suits and G-Shocks look like fools.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• A watch tells more about you than you think you do. Check the wrist of the guy in the corner office - see if he's wearing a Patek Phillipe or the like. If so, he pays attention to the details, and is a force to be reckoned with. If he's sporting, say, a plastic watch, that means he pays little attention to the details. Trust us, he won't be in that corner office for long.
• If you are looking for a quartz watch, movements are movements. The quartz movement in a $10 watch will tell time with the same accuracy as that in a $1,500 TAG-Heuer. However, that $10 watch may begin to fall apart after a few days. Your TAG won't (unless you've purchased it out of a suitcase from a gentleman in Times Square swearing it's real).
• Automatic movements are generally more expensive than quartz ones, are infinitely more desirable to collectors, and never need batteries. However, they do not tell time as accurately as quartz watches. Also, if you buy an expensive automatic watch, be prepared to have it serviced every few years.
• You nearly always get what you pay for, even in this day of ridiculously high retail markups. For instance - watches with scratch-resistant sapphire crystals and tough-as-nails stainless steel casings will outlast a $50 Timex.
• A Swiss watch does not necessarily mean a better watch. There are countless fine Japanese watches on the market. Seiko and Bulova have not become world leaders in watch technology for nothing.
• If you are shopping for an everyday watch and you wear a suit to work, then by all means wear a suit when you're shopping for the watch. Even if it is a Sunday.
• The simple fact that we are men has not relieved us of our duty to accessorize. At the minimum, your watch must match your wedding band (or other hand jewelry). We like to take it a step further and match our belt buckles too, but we're vain like that.
• You don't have to spend $2,000 for a good everyday watch, but you should spend at least $200. We think that this is the minimum threshold where watches start to get very good. Some of the best watches on the less expensive side of the price spectrum are made by Citizen, Swiss Army, Mondaine, Seiko and Wittnauer.
• Your weekend or casual watches should not be anywhere near as substantial as your everyday one. That would lessen the impact of your main watch.
• Try on all the watches you can possibly stand to try on within 25% of your price range up or down. You might love that slightly more expensive watch so much it will make you want to save for it.
• Under no circumstances should a grown man ever wear a watch with a cartoon character, the logo of a sports team, alcohol or tobacco company, or any sort of corporate endorsement. There's a reason the team can afford to give away watches on fan appreciation day. They're crap.
• Try to buy a watch from a watch company. While that may sound fairly obvious, remember this as an example: TAG-Heuer is the official timekeeper for Formula One Racing. Gucci, on the other hand, is the official timekeeper to male fashion stylists cruising the streets of Chelsea. And while we mean no disrespect to that fine Italian company, we prefer to buy our watch from a company that didn't get its start making handbags, thank you very much.

We love to go into Tourneau and try on watches that cost more than our cars. The salesfolk don't appreciate it too much after the tenth watch or so, but everyone should try on that impossibly expensive Patek Phillipe or A. Lange & Sohne, if for nothing else than to really put into perspective how important a good watch is.