The Watch Journey – Mechanical VS Quartz Watches

Welcome to the 3rd instalment of  my watch journey. Most people will chose a watch based on price and looks. After that or in conjunction, less will choose one based on brand. Even less after that, some will choose on whether the watch has a mechanical or quartz movement or something else.

Mechanical watches are those that tell the time by using mechanical means, of springs, levers, oil and bits of stones and plastic. They are wound by a dial or automatically by the movement of your hand. Either way they don’t stay wound very long.  Mechanical watches are marketed as more desirable or luxurious and are still falsely and heavily marketed as being made by a crafts person hence more expensive. Of course it’s not true for the 99.99% of watches being sold. They are built by machines that makes millions of exact copies each year. The only time you see a human putting one together is purely for marketing promotion or staff training. Machines, their computers and software are the only why to get such precise construction and quantity. 

Quartz watches use a quartz crystal, motor and a privative circuit to move the hands at very precise intervals. It is very basic and quite stone age by 2024 standards. The parts of a quartz watch can be made of any material including wood. Although a quartz time keeping was a technological marvel when first introduced it has became quite generic. Anyone calling a quartz watch a ‘computer’ highlights the lack of basic engineering beyond primary school.  Quartz tech allowed watch makers to incorporate new features watch owners once only dreamed of. These are also built by machines. Quartz watches are powered by a battery but can be charged by solar, kinetic movement or even wrist movement. They can also be sync’d to the atomic clocks automatically, making then 100% accurate.

Mecha-Quartz watches are a combination of mechanical parts and some basic electronic parts. Many manufacturers have tried this technology in the past but only Grand Seiko have kept developing and selling these type of movements. Some use batteries and others use daily hand movements to wind spring. They are highly desirable by true fans of horology. 

There are other movements like the short lived and advanced Tuning fork movement headlined by Bulova Accutron. However it never gained popularity as a watch and went the way of the sundial and hourglass watches. These are also highly desirable by true fans of horology. 

Does it really matter if it is a Mechanical or Quartz movement? Yes because it depends on what you want a watch for. Quartz watches are amazingly accurate regardless of 98% of environmental conditions. As long as there is a power source you can put your watch away for months or years and the time is still be accurate. That said there are variable quality of quartz movements. Mechanical watches are OK for accuracy and performance but only for as long as you can wear it and they are dependent on so many factors, temperature, the angle it hangs on your wrist, the magnetic fields around you, gravity and age. The accuracy and reliability of the mechanical movement extremely variable. OMG should you drop a mechanical watch because it will be damaged. 

In the end the mechanical watch is more gadget or fashion accessory than a dependable time telling device or timepiece. Unless the watch was really hand made either mechanical or hand made quartz by a real human start to finish there truly is no difference. So the next time you see the insides of a mechanical or quartz watch you can admire the CNC machines accuracy, mind you both have been designed by humans initially. There is no elusive value or soul in a mechanical or quartz movement as both are made by machines. You have bought into pre-purchase marketing hype if you actually think that! The soul of watch lies in it’s life’s journey with it’s owner or owners not the marketing hype or anything else. 

“A 20 year old Seiko quartz watch that has been through school, college, university, marriages, work, accidents, holidays and other mis-adventures has lifetimes of soul than mechanical Rolex that has been stuck in a box and brought out for special occasions” You see – you would keep the Seiko till you pass on because it’s priceless. On the other hand you would sell the Rolex for its monetary value to a used watch dealer or someone to perceives value to it.  

It brings up the often and quote that the mechanical watch can last a life time or more. This is only partly true as metal parts can be replaced over time. But they do rust and wear out over time and become hard to keep running. Quartz watches are not different and are harder to replace but even digital watches can last decades – after all do have a perfectly working digital watch and quartz watch over 30 years old in my collection. Further more most traditional makers simply don’t fix even simple electronic circuits let alone LCD screens. 

For me I’m not fussed about absolute time accuracy, less so with a mechanical watch as I have a phone that has a huge magnet on the back for wireless charging and I know that a mechanical watch will probably be inaccurate due to this simple magnetic interreference. I certainly don’t buy into the marketing element of mechanical watch being more desirable because they claim it is hand made. I guess I go for a watch based on looks and value although if it keeps the time well – that is a bonus.

The following chart is form Wikipedia (not the most reliable source).
Demonstrates how accurate and durable Quartz watches are compared to mechanical watches. 
More to the point how incomparable they are but how arbitrary and pointless COSC is.