Is a quartz watch considered inferior from a automatic watch?

They are just different flavors of the same food.

If you want the highest accuracy & convenience, get quartz.

If you want to be able to see the wizardry of a watch working, it's "soul" if you will; get a mechanical.

No. Quartz is usually superior in timekeeping and features. Many people mistakenly equate inexpensive and ubiquitous with inferior. There are some very high-end quartz out there too that are difficult to call inferior in any way.

I personally have a strong preference for mechanical movements, but I don't consider quartz watches as being "inferior", especially those with a HAQ movement. The majority of my collection consists of mechanical pieces, but I also have several with quartz movements.

Quartz watches aren't inferior, they are actually superior in a watches main function (telling time). However, I will say there is an unwarranted sense of snobbery towards quartz movements by a lot people which may be where people get the idea that quartz is inferior. Personally, I do prefer mechanical movements simply because I find it cool how so many moving parts are moving in unison to tell something so simple as time, but I do also really admire quartz movements like the high accuracy ones in Grand Seiko's and The Citizen's. It's ok to have a preference, but to completely discredit and to be a snob towards quartz movements is being a snob towards what quartz watches has done, which has been making watches affordable to the masses.

Absolutely not. They're just commonly associated with cheap mass produced watches with plastic components (which themselves aren't necessarily bad). I think that's where that assumption of inferiority comes from. There are some very fine quartz watches out there, both modern and vintage. My Seiko Grand Twin Quartz is one of the finest watches I own.

Nope, quarts watches are brill especially the high accuracy ones. Citizen with the 0100 calibre rocks.

Love both, they have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Cheers!

Both are great and most people here own both from what I see and read.

I have about a third of my watches quartz from a thirty odd collection. I'm an eco drive fan in particular.

They each have their place. I prefer mechanical and automatics because the more things I have that perform a function without the use of batteries the happier I am. That being said, I really love my eco-drive Citizen's... a lot.

It’s all good. All things being equal, I prefer a mechanical, but there is lots of good stuff in every flavor.

Like other poster posted Quartz is superior in almost everyway. From accuracy to durability to price and everything in between.

It really depends what angle you're coming from. From some angles, it's irrefutable that quartz is 'better'. From other angles, an automatic watch has its own kind of magic - you move, the watch works - that is a really beautiful engineering concept, and which people still highly value, despite the availability of the more accurate quartz movement. Similar for mechanical watches, too. Just wind them, and they work.

Both have their merits.

The ease and convenience of quartz really sets the tone for “grab and go”. High accuracy quartz are really great engineering feats.

Automatics are ways to sink the tool with the human in manually setting the time. It’s the charm of the watch.

Both are right for me and have places in my collection.

Everyone always talks about the difference in movement but as someone who needs to wear quartz when I play drums my one complaint is that quartz watches don't always get the nicer fit and finish that automatics do.

Not across the board, but definitely in the more affordable price range, there seem to be far more automatics with nicer case finishing and dial details than quartz watches. I'm speaking of the $700 and under range.

I know you can get very expensive nice quartz watches, but most folks aren't in that category. You can get a stellar automatic for $500, but the same version of that watch in quartz might be more accurate but it's often not as nice on the outside. At least that's my opinion :)

Dang, you caught me right in the middle there. I have both Casio and Citizen (Eco Drive) as well as 3 Seiko automatics! Actually, I think I have one of the best examples of a hybrid, which is a Seiko Arctura Kinetic. It uses an automatic mechanical winding mechanism to power its quartz movement.

There is no right answer as its a design decision by the companies as to accuracy and longevity. It all comes down to cost per unit.

One of the most common watches I wear is my Tag Aquaracer quartz..... And accurate as hell, too!

Not at all. If it tells time and has a good design, I'll love it.

There are pros and cons to both. Quartz batteries typically last for 3 years. (I have seen one quartz watch, Momentum M50, that claims 10-year battery life.) This allows the "grab and go" technique mentioned above. Whereas, with automatics, you must continually wear the watch to keep it wound, otherwise, it loses "power" every 40-80 hours.

As @UnholiestJedi mentioned, automatic movements are more about watchmaking and artistry, while quartz is all about precision and accuracy. In terms of accuracy, the worst quartz watch is a full order of magnitude better than the best automatic watch.

I forget which Cruncher said it, but I saw in a recent post that the reason most people avoid having "too many" (amount = subjective) quartz watches is because replacing all of the batteries when they die can get both expensive and time consuming. Whereas with an automatic, it simply costs you about 5 minutes worth of time to wind and set it when it stops.

Assuming you had a lot of automatics, I guess it could become time-consuming to wind them all, but I would assume that you'd just leave them all be (when they stop, there's no dead battery to leak / ruin the movement) until you actually wanted to wear one of them, and then you would set and wind that particular watch. And of course, you still save the cost of the battery / labor for replacement. The only real expense that you could incur with an automatic is the cost of any watch-winders you might want to buy.

"The only real expense that you could incur with an automatic is the cost of any watch-winders you might want to buy."

Well, that and the occasional full service.

As long as you weren't wearing it every day and didn't keep it running when you weren't, that would occur about every 7-10 years, maybe longer. This would be if the watch was serviced or made in the last 10-20-ish years. Newer synthetic oils can last much longer than the ones originally used.

Vintage watches should absolutely go to servicing when acquired if there are no records of a service in the past few years and that cost should be accounted for when making a purchasing decision.

Winders only make sense to me if I had something that was complicated to set like a moonphase or a perpetual calendar. Services on those would then of course be more frequent since they are always running.

Good points! 😀🤝

I love an automatic, but you have to factor in cost to maintain. Imagine an Omega or Cartier automatic vs quartz.

I used to be anti quartz when I first started collecting seriously but then I took a step back and saw how many G Shocks I had in the collection. Who am I to say anything bad about quartz? 😂😂😂

Here’s a thought for you using cars:-

Lots of different manufacturers/models lots of different engines, some electric and some diesel/ petrol fuelled……..ultimately I guess you buy one because you like it. Apply this logic to watches and focus on the "like"above all regardless of its engine………..🤔

Quartz is way more accurate. I had an Omega Seamster quartz from like 2004 that was crazy accurate, like a second a month accurate.

Got a lot of grief wearing it while selling high end automatics so I sold it.

I still miss that watch.

I cannot imagine my collection without one another. I enjoy craftsmanship, features, sometimes the pure look of my timepiece. Quartz watches are also craftet different from one another, so imho both techniques are equal to me

I have both quartz and automatic watches, for me they are equal and have pros and cons

I don't think quartz is inferior. Then again, I may be biased (see my username). 😂

I echo the voices above. I have a grand seiko quartz, beautifully finished and accurate as hell, and I love it. However, it does not get the same wrist time. Its the tamagutchi effect: automatics are needy, they scream for your attention all the time. Wear me or I will stop, wear me and see how accurate I can be, did you remember to wind me...? Some times being the nice,care free, and un-intrusive watch is a bummer...