School Me O Wise Watch Ones

[67RS/SSx2]

Okay, I am pretty clueless about watches, at least the way some of you know watches. I have worn a Seiko Quartz for close to three decades. Only issue I have had were bracelet (I used to know those as "bands") clasp failures, and of course battery replacements now and again.

My question is about Automatics versus quartz. Why Automatics? I believe (maybe in error) that quartz watches are more accurate than Automatics. And, you don't have to restart them after not wearing them for a couple of days (which I do most every weekend). The selection of Automatics far surpasses quartz watches which is very cool. I don't even want to mention solar quartz (ugh!).

So why does everyone seemingly prefer Automatics?

Thanks for the education!

 

[rockchalk06]

For me, it's the complexity and all the moving parts. Watch one of @thor447 videos, and you'll see the time and care that goes into them. Thats like crack for my brain.

Yes, quartz watches will keep better time, but if you're talking 10-20 seconds a day, it's not the end of the world. Newer tech in automatic watches has power reserves around 80 hours! Take it off on Friday and it's still ticking Monday morning. I wear a watch no matter what I'm doing. I have G-Shocks for range work and anything guaranteed to beat the hell out of a watch.

Resetting an auto or mechanical watch, really isn't a burden to me. If I know I'm going to dressed up and leaving early AM, I'll set it, throw it on the winder overnight and it's ready to go.

Some quartz watches like my Lunar Pilot have an accuracy of 10-15 seconds per year and any multiband 6 or atomic watch, will be more accurate than that if it's allowed to sync at night.

Get a good quality bracelet and you shouldn't have to worry about them failing. I've never had one fail on 250 to 5000 dollar watches and I can be hard as hell on a watch.

 

[thor447]

Okay, I am pretty clueless about watches, at least the way some of you know watches. I have worn a Seiko Quartz for close to three decades. Only issue I have had were bracelet (I used to know those as "bands") clasp failures, and of course battery replacements now and again.

My question is about Automatics versus quartz. Why Automatics? I believe (maybe in error) that quartz watches are more accurate than Automatics. And, you don't have to restart them after not wearing them for a couple of days (which I do most every weekend). The selection of Automatics far surpasses quartz watches which is very cool. I don't even want to mention solar quartz (ugh!).

So why does everyone seemingly prefer Automatics?

Thanks for the education!

I agree with @rockchalk06. For me personally, if were just about having an accurate timepiece, I'd get a mutli-band G-Shock or Citizen that syncs with the atomic clock each night, and just forget about it. For me, there's just something about the precision of that mechanical device on your wrist. In the a mechanical/automatic watch, there's no electricity, no batteries or capacitors, everything from the time, the day, date, moon-phase, chronograph, or any other complication is all driven mechanically from a mainspring. An automatic will use the motion of your arm during your normal daily activities to drive a rotor and mechanically wind the watch. The mathematics and precision craftsmanship involved to create a machine that can keep time accurately to within a couple of seconds a day, and will last for lifetimes if properly serviced is just appealing to me. After I get over the mechanics of it, I appreciate the time and effort involved making the dials and cases. You don't see the insides of a watch when you're wearing it, so they have to be pleasing to the eye as well.

Yes, a $20 Casio quartz will keep better time than the nicest Rolex, Patek Phillipe, Audemars Piguet, etc. There are clocks all around us and we all have a phone in our pocket (swampratt excluded) if we need to tell the time. It's more about what it takes to make the watch than it is just telling the time. You feel good (at least I do) when you're wearing a cool watch.

 

[JD8]

Automatics are art and craftsmanship, quartz are convenient and affordable. Either can be functional.

 

[cowadle]

i used to carry a hamilton railway special. it was neither an auto or a quartz but was very accurate as long as you followed the protocol. only wind it once per day and always always at the same time every day because it would run just a little fast for the first part and just a little slow for the remainder but almost never lost or gained time. there was a calibration shop that kept them in tune.

 

[RickN]

Timex for the win.


(are they still made?)


Heck some of you just need a self winding watch and an old copy of Playboy.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Personally I like automatics because of the simplicity of use and I can always count on them. I can set aside an automatic for a year, wind it and put it on and it will work with reasonable accuracy. Quartz watches, it depends. The batteries die, solar watches and Mecha Quartz have batteries that can only accept so many charges (I do have a Citizen that went 14 years with no issues but that is the exception, not the rule). Batteries do leak, rendering the entire watch useless. Automatics typically will work and only need proper maintenance every 7 to 20 years. The second hands sweep smoothly with automatics and mechanicals unlike the nervous tick of most quartz watches. An automatic or mechanical is a family heirloom that typically will hold it's value and can be passed on, while a quartz watch not so much. Buy a higher end Swiss Watch like Rolex or an Omega and they are an investment that exceeds what you'd earn in a bank account or even the stock market, whereas I cannot think of any Quartz watches that will hold their value as well. Lastly, Quartz watches represent disposability and impermanence.

 

[thor447]

Timex for the win.


(are they still made?)


Heck some of you just need a self winding watch and an old copy of Playboy.

They are still making them, and LOTS of them.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

They are still making them, and LOTS of them.

Yes, and a little bit north of their former pricing model.

 

[dlbleak]

Mostly it’s price point for me. I have a few quartz and really like wearing this one. It used to be my hunting watch so the crystal is pretty scratched up but doesn’t show in the pics