I tend to prefer quartz
Why I tend to prefer quartz
This one is going to be either boring or fun lol.
This is NOT a Quartz vs Mechanical thread… I’ve been obsessed with watches on and off for almost 25 years (most of my life) and have owned way too many watches, and have plenty of experience with both mechanical watches and quartz watches.
My appreciation for quartz watches started early, and then dwindled down as I started focusing on mechanical watches. I still absolutely LOVE mechanical watches, and I think they deserve the love and attention that they get. There is something about a devise that can keep time accurately without a single electronic component. That’s amazing.
Here’s is why at this point in my collecting journey, I’m starting to prefer quartz watches for MY collection. Keep in mind, these are my personal opinions and I’m focusing on why I collect quartz watches. I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind on mechanical watches here. Also keep in mind that when I say “collecting quartz watches” I mean I have more quartz in the collection than mechanical watches, but I will never go full quartz.
First off, good quartz movements get me just as excited as any equivalent mechanical movement. For example, a stock base Sellita SW200 does as much for me as any decent quartz equivalent. Why? Because while the mechanical movement may cost more, they’re both machine made movements with little human interaction.
To me, the whole “mechanical has soul” argument goes in the trash if the watch is just as mass produced and machine made as any other, and I can’t afford any hand made watches 😂 maybe I’m just desensitized from years and years of collecting? The magic seems to fade the longer you’re in this hobby.
I know what most of people think of when they think of a quartz movement. A small plastic dot, with a battery, a pice of crystal, and… wait.. that’s it right? Well… no… not at all.
To be fair, a lot of cheap quartz movement are almost exactly that, and unfortunately thats what tends to stick in the minds. I’d like to share some examples of some high quality quartz movements that are still quite affordable. I mean, we all know about the Grand Seiko 9F caliber, but that’s not the only quartz movement worth having in the collection IMO.
Some examples I will be showing are from ETA, and Ronda. One of my favorite movements is the older ETA 955.112. These movements have quite a bit going on (mechanically) that most wouldn’t expect. Metal mainplate construction, fully jeweled gear-train, and an instant date change mechanism similar to their mechanical movements. Its fully repairable and serviceable (serviced in a way very similar to a mechanical movement, just a lot simpler)
I’m not trying to compare the complexity between mechanical movements and quartz movements, not at all. I’m just trying to explain that not all quartz movements are throw away junk, and some are quite complex little devises that do require maintenance, and can last a lifetime.
Ronda gives you access to all their technical data sheets for their movements, and you can even see an exploded view of their parts. These are just run of the mill quality quartz movements. Don’t even get me started on the Seiko and Citizen HAQ movements lol. The level of attention to detail on the Seiko 9f series movements is astounding.
Now, if we start talking serious money (to me) like Patek, VC, FPJ, etc.. then hell, why wouldn’t you buy mechanical?
But I have always been on a tight budget, and there’s no way I will be able to afford anything of the sort for at least a very long time. Which leads me to my next point that pushes me towards more quartz watches.
Maintenance… service costs… I’ve always been a “if you can’t afford the maintenance, you can’t afford the item” kind of guy.
That’s why I drive Honda, Toyota, and not Audi or BMW. I can afford to work on them myself without having to buy special factory tools or spend thousands on service costs at the dealer. My brother’s AMG C63s is proof of that. He can afford the maintenance (and to track the damn thing) so he can afford the car. I think the same way with watches. I won’t consider a luxury mechanical watch until I know I can, not only afford the initial purchase, but the service and maintenance down the road.
When it comes to quartz movements, I have done a number of repairs and maintenance to my own watches, including cleaning and oiling of the gear-train, movement swaps, coil swaps, and circuit testing very easily and inexpensively. That along with the given antimagnetic properties, shock resistance, and overall reliability and accuracy, I have started to opt for more quartz powered watches from the brands I love the most.
For me, as long as the movement is serviceable, repairable, and is of good quality, I am extremely happy. But I find quartz movements to be just as fascinating, but in a slightly different way.
What has more soul than a vibrating quartz crystal that’s cut in the shape of a tuning fork?
As a musician, this speaks to me on a deeper level lol. Also, 32k oscillations per second? The fact that it can accurately count that number every second of every minute of every day, reliably for decades is incredibly impressive to me, and you need magnification to see those electrical contacts!
Ok I’ve bored you all enough with my twisted views that nobody will agree with. I’ll see myself directly into a trash can. 😂
But seriously, I love your watches. I love what you collect and why. I love your enthusiasm for mechanical watches, and I love this community. I hope some people got a little enjoyment out of this. Or maybe it made you realize how much you hate quartz movements 😆😆😆
Shane Paradis. I’m a string instrument repair technician, and cat dad 😄 I’m here for the fun and fellowship.
Great post.my simplistic views of quartz are just the grab and go factor for me.
I don't have the time or patience to write a long post.😂
Great post.my simplistic views of quartz are just the grab and go factor for me.
I don't have the time or patience to write a long post.😂
Thank you! Also also totally agree with that. Especially when rotating watches through the collection. It doesn’t matter what the power reserve is, it’s always dead for me 😂 I think about how many times I’ve unscrewed the crown to wind it and set the time lol
One of the best things about WC is how it’s such an open forum without being obnoxious or rude, and this post is a great example of that. It helps to make you see things from a different angle. Your post won’t change my collection I’m the opposite to you I have quartz watches that I appreciate and use regularly but I am more a mechanical guy. But it’s always nice to learn something new so thanks for this.
I enjoyed your post, a refreshing read and coming from a different viewpoint or with a different objective than most discusssions revolving around quartz.
Nothing but love here for quartz and I am starting to prefer them unless the movement is a complication or in a generational piece etc…. I have my collection probably split quartz and mechanical. I have a GS9F and it stands right next to any mechanical imho, I’ll always try to have one in the stable.
A lot of times quartz affords me what I want in a watch like weight or thinness and reliability and ease of use over its mechanical brother.
Cheers to vibrating crystals and oscillations.
Great post.my simplistic views of quartz are just the grab and go factor for me.
I don't have the time or patience to write a long post.😂
100% this for me. No faffing time and date setting.
It really feels great to have a quartz watch ready to go on those days you don't feel like sitting to set the time and date.
Great post. I tend to have a strong preference for mechanical watches but I can also appreciate a well made quartz watch as well, and have several in my collection. I feel that part of the stigma associated with quartz is the fact that there are so many cheap throw away quartz watches that people tend to think of all quartz watches as falling into that category. I'd personally prefer a quality quartz watch over a cheap and poorly built mechanical watch.
Thank you! Also also totally agree with that. Especially when rotating watches through the collection. It doesn’t matter what the power reserve is, it’s always dead for me 😂 I think about how many times I’ve unscrewed the crown to wind it and set the time lol
Not saying I won't get a mechanical watch but I just like to grab a watch and not have to worry about doing the " Seiko shuffle " to get it going 😂
That was a great read. Thanks for sharing.
I have 3 batteries to change at the moment
I'll tell you how I feel after 🤣😵💫
Quartz gets so much unjust hate imo. It isn't better or worse, just different but of equal value
That was an excellent read. Thank you. What watch brands should I be looking at for a quality quartz movement at, let's say, the below $1000 and $500 price point? I'd like to try something other than Timex and Casio. Not that those are bad, just looking for something different. Cheers
Petition to ban the phrase “but it’s quartz”
I buy watches by several aspects, dial, case, hands, brand , in my choices there aren't quartz watches that qualify, I wouldn't mind at all , but just don't exist.
Ps. I also am a fan of hand wound watches.
I think a quality quartz is more interesting than a cheap mechanical movement
I have a few intresting quatz watches here is my omega deville. keeps amazing time even after almost 40 years
I’ve got a 9f GS gmt which has more human interaction building it than any of the major Swiss brands under £10k
I’ve also got a couple of tunas with the 7c46 movement that was specificity designed for the singular purpose of being the ideal movement for a saturation dive watch
And possibly the best of the lot in my sinn UX a movement that has to power its way through an oil filled case is as acurate as a 9f movement and has between 7/10 years of battery life. There is so much more to quartz than cheap and nasty plastic disposable movements
Don’t get me wrong I love quality mechanical movements the precision and engineering that go into them is amazing. It’s one of the main things I enjoy about watches and all the best watches I’ve owned are mechanical and I will always be more drawn to a quality mechanical but I can appreciate and enjoy quality quartz
I mostly agree with this post. Most of my watches are quartz and I like them a lot. Where I disagree, is simple mechanical mass-produced movements are not interesting. I find all mechanical movements fascinating.
First, they are designed by people, not by machines. I've been in product design for over 35 years. I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I work with them a lot. And to design something that can be mass-manufactured by a machine is an art in itself. And to be produced in quantities of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, and still be so accurate. Believe me, that is not simple. I build myself a watch with cheap Chinese ST3600 movement and regulated it to be accurate enough so I need to correct time only a couple times a month. And that is with a $40 movement.
Second, the basic mechanical watch design stayed pretty much the same for over 500 years. Yes, there are additional complications, decorations, materials, etc. But the basic engine containing a wound up spring and a few wheels with gears stayed the same. And to me this is like looking at 500 or a 1000 year old building. How people were creating and building such structures with primitive tools they had. How people were creating such precise devices without any modern machines. So, maybe it is not the watch itself, but all the history it represents, makes me interested in it.
Again, this is my opinion, I apologize if I offended anyone.
Not to be a jerk, and certainly not saying you shouldn’t appreciate mechanical movements, but doesn’t the above apply equally - if not more so - to quartz watches?
Not to be a jerk, and certainly not saying you shouldn’t appreciate mechanical movements, but doesn’t the above apply equally - if not more so - to quartz watches?
Yes, it does. The difference is when it was made. We are talking about something that was mass-produced about 300-400 years ago vs something that was mass-produced 50 years ago. It is like looking at a modern building and realizing how clever the architect was using modern materials vs looking at a 1000 year old building thinking how clever the architect was that the building built with old materials is standing for so long.
Best of both world: spring drive GS, it's super accurate and the power reserve is good enough that I can pick up and not worry about winding it like you would do for a quartz.
Help me Ronda...
3 words: Bulova Lunar Pilot
I’m guilty of feeling that stereotype of “quartz don’t have no soul” and I try to talk myself out of it. Basically the quartz needs to have something extra for me to feel good about it. Like being solar powered, or bulova’s precision movement. Even the higher end Swiss quartz’s you mentioned would make me feel like I had a watch that “has more soul” to it. I know it’s silly. We should be praising the accuracy but high volume Chinese quartz output has tainted the image imho.
I see where you’re coming from! You could also argue that a Seiko 4r series, eta 2824, and sellita sw200 movements are just as mass produced and machine made as any equivalent quartz movement, and therefore also have no soul. I mean… those things are PUMPED out, and Rolex flaunts their machines, and scaled up production. 😁 I’m just having some fun btw!
I think a quality quartz is more interesting than a cheap mechanical movement
I have a few intresting quatz watches here is my omega deville. keeps amazing time even after almost 40 years
I’ve got a 9f GS gmt which has more human interaction building it than any of the major Swiss brands under £10k
I’ve also got a couple of tunas with the 7c46 movement that was specificity designed for the singular purpose of being the ideal movement for a saturation dive watch
And possibly the best of the lot in my sinn UX a movement that has to power its way through an oil filled case is as acurate as a 9f movement and has between 7/10 years of battery life. There is so much more to quartz than cheap and nasty plastic disposable movements
Don’t get me wrong I love quality mechanical movements the precision and engineering that go into them is amazing. It’s one of the main things I enjoy about watches and all the best watches I’ve owned are mechanical and I will always be more drawn to a quality mechanical but I can appreciate and enjoy quality quartz
THIS!!!
Holy crap! I wasn’t expecting this much attention, haha. Thank you all for the comments! I really appreciate having this community where we can share our experiences and thoughts with each other in a dignified manner. You all rock!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I see where you’re coming from! You could also argue that a Seiko 4r series, eta 2824, and sellita sw200 movements are just as mass produced and machine made as any equivalent quartz movement, and therefore also have no soul. I mean… those things are PUMPED out, and Rolex flaunts their machines, and scaled up production. 😁 I’m just having some fun btw!
No you are 100% correct! That’s why now when I see a new watch and it has a 4R or NH movement I’m like “nah I’ve got 7 of those already!” It needs to feel different and unique to my collection in some form or another.
No you are 100% correct! That’s why now when I see a new watch and it has a 4R or NH movement I’m like “nah I’ve got 7 of those already!” It needs to feel different and unique to my collection in some form or another.
Totally agree haha. I have too many ETA powered watches in the collection at the moment.
From engineering perspective, Quartz watches are phenomenal.
There is a component that vibrate 32,768 times per second and know how to count that then translate in to one click of motor stepper.
all because of something that moves between very small copper wires that are negatively charged which we call electrons.
From engineering perspective, Quartz watches are phenomenal.
There is a component that vibrate 32,768 times per second and know how to count that then translate in to one click of motor stepper.
all because of something that moves between very small copper wires that are negatively charged which we call electrons.
EXACTLY!!! absolutely fascinating to me
I have no issue with quartz watches and own a fair few. I was even after a GS quartz when they discontinued the model I was after. If the launch something close, I’m buying it.
Only Two of them are Not Quartz BUT all are Very Accurate !