WATCH TALK FORUMS banner

Existential questions about mechanical watches

3K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  M_Milaguet 
#1 ·
Why people buy watches with mechanical movement?
Quartz is mach cheaper and keeps better time.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Mechanical watches appeal to those who appreciate the traditional art and science of horology. Modern quartz movements are definitely more accurate, cheaper to manufacture and less expensive to maintain.

It's kind of like comparing digital/solid state stereo to analog/tube stereo or CDs/MP3s to a well-pressed vinyl LP. High quality 'old school technology' will always have a devoted following of its own.
 
#9 · (Edited)
If all I wanted to do was keep time.....I'd look at my phone. If I just wanted wall coverings, I'd use posters. Some objects have a greater value than just the immediate function. Often the design is paramount. I can't tell what the time is on a Movado Museum unless it's twelve-o-clock, but it is a beautiful design. Mechanical movements are like this. I try to have all my watches with a display back so I can watch the watch. It's a feature that most people never see. It's purely for the enjoyment of the owner.
 
#11 ·
I prefer mechanical and automatic watches because I enjoy watching smooth motion second hands vs. the hard ticks of quartz movements. Many quartz second hands also frequently land off-center from corresponding tick markers -- little imperfections like these make me hate looking at the time piece.
 
#12 ·
Mechanical watches are not logical, but don't have to be. Some of us have direct memories of the world before quartz (1968) when almost all watches were mechanical are drawn to the nostalgia. Others are attracted to the idea and history of a precision (relatively) timepiece powered by wound springs and tiny gears, not batteries and electronics. Some just like the snob appeal of owning something most will never have either because of cost or ignorance.

Digital and Quartz timepieces share the similar problems of being so accurate, common and inexpensive that few can see the value of spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a watch when your phone or a Timex works fine. If you love watches their are only a few high end quartz to be exited about.
 
#17 ·
For me it depends entirely on the qualities of the individual watch and/or movement involved. Mechanical watches, new and vintage, range from cheap pin pallet escapements, through more mass market offerings all the way up to Patek and fully handmade from scratch inhouse pieces. These days quartz tends to be with a few exceptions all of similar quality. It was not always so. An early 1970's Beta 21 quartz movement was far more "handmade" than your average Swatch group ETA based automatic of today(and many times more expensive when new) and with a smoother seconds hand than any AP could manage. The 90's resurgence of the Swiss mechanical watch as a luxury item and the economies of scale and modern manufacturing of same means that they're mostly like any other mass market item rattled off production lines in their many thousands. Soul gets added later…

Watch collecting is a broad church and we collect and admire what we personally like, whether that be handwind, automatic, tuning fork or quartz. They can all have soul for the individual and long may that continue.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top