I know quartz watches are slimmer, lighter, more robust and accurate.
Having said all that, I've recently developed an itch for an automatic watch, probably a field watch.
I know, if field watches were invented today, they'd be quartz and the originals were mechanical not automatic so an auto is perhaps the least genuine option for a field watch.
Given that mechanical/automatic watches are less accurate the time will need correcting frequently. So while doing that, I might as well wind a manual, is it worth the extra for an automatic?
Or is it a case of this being a heart purchase and not a head one so just get the auto that started this query?
some people find winding it all the time a pain in the arse, some people enjoy the routine, ie with their daily coffee
If a watch gains say 10 sec a day in reality that means you correct it maybe once every week or two.
If I want to be more accurate than a couple of minutes, I check my phone. And I use a digital not analog display.
There are good reasons for mechanical, auto or other watches, but accuracy really isn’t one of them these days.
My main watch is 64 years old and is manual. If you are buying a vintage watch then a non date takes away some of the faff because they are often not a quick set type so need a lot of crown spinning to set the date. Only anppli if you don’t wear it for days or weeks. Other than that manual watches are fine, I wind mine around 9pm.
If you are looking at new then the Hamilton Murph 38mm is well worth considering, it is automatic
I almost always wear an auto of one brand or another and find that they are generally accurate enough that I don't find myself adjusting them for minor discrepancies that often, if at all. I may have to set them if I've not worn them for a while but no more than this. My main watch can be on my wrist for weeks and I'll not be adjusting it.
Given that mechanical/automatic watches are less accurate the time will need correcting frequently. So while doing that, I might as well wind a manual, is it worth the extra for an automatic?
Quartz watches aren’t as accurate as you might imagine, most of my watches are mechanical, one is a manual wind, and my TAG Heuer ‘NightDiver’ is a quartz, plus I’ve got several Casio watches that can and will lose or gain a certain amount, and a mechanical watch, provided the movement is hackable, is very easy to adjust.
As you might only be having to reset/adjust once a week or maybe even every couple of weeks, depending on how fussy you are, an automatic is probably the best option, because as long as you’re wearing it, it’ll keep running without you even thinking about it.
From my own experience with my Yema Rallygraf, which is around fifty years old, I find myself absentmindedly winding it without even thinking about it, but that won’t last more than 24 hours on a winding.
Automatic mechanical all the way.
Oh, and a quartz watch will have to go into a shop to have the battery replaced, because most have a screw caseback and, if they have any sort of decent water-resistance, like 200m, you certainly won’t be able to do it yourself!
An automatic will only need opening for a service every ten or so years, many go a lot longer than that!
I almost always wear an auto of one brand or another and find that they are generally accurate enough that I don't find myself adjusting them for minor discrepancies that often, if at all. I may have to set them if I've not worn them for a while but no more than this. My main watch can be on my wrist for weeks and I'll not be adjusting it.
What he said
Automatic mechanical all the way
And he said
I've got a few watches, they are all either mechanical or automatic, they all keep decent time.
I wear a Seiko 5, it’s bashed, scratched and scraped. Being an engineer I appreciate its a little marvel of modern manufacturing that happily puts up with its abuse. I wouldn’t deliberately seek out a manual wound watch over an auto - that just feels a retrograde step too far.
I hve a Seiko Kinetic, which is a fantastic watch. It is incredibly accurate and the charge lasts for ages (powered by wrist movement). I bought it specifically so it wouldn’t need a battery replacement - thus losing its waterproofness. I also have a lovely Tissot, which was much more expensive, but is significantly less accurate, and the charge doesnt last as long.
I have two Seiko 5s (well one 5 and one diver that has the same 7S26 movement). They are absolute works of utilitarian engineering art. I love 'em.
The 3 main advantages of a manual movement are cost, thinness, and aesthetics.
My "nice" watch (this being a relative claim on STW I know) is a Citizen Eco Drive. Aside from specialist devices it's easily the best watch I've ever owned if your primary requirement is "telling the time".
It keeps perfect time, it has a perpetual calendar, and is solar powered so zero maintenance aside from changing it daylight savings. If you keep it in a coal mine (or for some bizarre reason, a drawer) a charged battery is good for about three days before needing a light source again.
I don't know what a "field watch" is, but if I had to go back to a manual winder again it'd never get used.
If a watch gains say 10 sec a day in reality that means you correct it maybe once every week or two.
If I want to be more accurate than a couple of minutes, I check my phone.
A watch gaining a minute a week isn't fit for purpose, that's ludicrous. I'd send it for repair or ebay it. (Actually, I'd probably do neither of those things, I'd most likely sling it in a drawer and forget about it.)
COSC certification, which only ~5% of Swiss watches produced meet, allows up to +6 seconds per day, or +42 seconds per week. A minute per week (or +9s/day) is in no way "ludicrous" and falls well within acceptable timekeeping for a mechanical watch.
A minute per week (or +9s/day) is in no way junk and falls well within acceptable timekeeping for a mechanical watch.
Conclusion: mechanical watches are junk by design?
The specs for my Citizen list accuracy to within +/- 15 seconds a month (in practice mine is much less than that). Worst case scenario that's 1.5 minutes every six months, and every six months is when I accurately re-set the time using an NTP source during the GMT/BST switch. 1.5 minutes is about as far as I'd want a watch to ever be incorrect by.
In that same timescale your minute/week timepieces are half an hour out and your certified best 5% of all Swiss watches are wrong by 18 minutes. I fear that our definitions of "acceptable timekeeping" may differ somewhat. 😁
Very loosely, an automatic is probably a better bet. As everyone points out, with most modern auto watches, correcting the time is something you can do when you think about it or when it bugs you; but winding a manual watch is something you have to do religiously.
If the timekeeping bothers you, you could go for a mechanical quartz type (eg Seiko Spring Drive); otherwise you'll be grand
After years of various smart watches,from Samsung, Fitbit Google and Motorola which variously needed charged, updated, synchonised to my phone etc, and all of which broke down inexplicably I have also opted for a citizen Eco drive it's been flawless since I got it 18months ago and doesn't need wound up.
Perfect....
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. I've jinxed it now haven't I.
I fear that our definitions of "acceptable timekeeping" may differ somewhat.
Definitely. I'm not telling people I'll meet them at the local at 19:22. I work in 15 minute segments, 5 minutes if I absolutely need to, so if my watch needs nudging forward a minute twice a month I'm happy (as are Contrôle officiel suisse des Chronomètres) that it's capable of "acceptable timekeeping".
If your need for a watch is purely to tell the time, then you buy a Casio F91. They're piss cheap and work perfectly.
If you're buy anything more than that, it's because you're buying it because of how it looks (it's jewellery basically) and/or how much it costs and/or how it works and/or how accurate it is, and you're making a judgment balance between those four factors.
For me, I'll buy/use a mechanical watch, and take the (to me) trivial hit on timekeeping, because I think a mechanical watch mechanism, especially an automatic one, is an inherently brilliant thing.
Manual? Classic, but something of an affectation. Automatic, nice but even fancy ones drift with their timekeeping. I now rely on my Elliot Brown quartz ‘Singletrack’ Horton.
However, this is also influenced by the fact that I can no longer hear its quartz ‘tick’ as well as its excellent timekeeping and very reasonable battery life and battery replacement cost.
A watch gaining a minute a week isn't fit for purpose, that's ludicrous. I'd send it for repair or ebay it.
The reality is, though, that the specifications are +/- per day, unless a watch movement is really worn or dirty, the deviation is more likely to be a minute or so every couple of weeks, maybe even months. Even if one of my watches was gaining a minute or so a week, I wouldn’t be too bothered, there’s nothing I do that needs that level of accuracy anyway - I might notice if it’s gone more than a couple of minutes in a month. Dead easy to reset with a hackable movement, takes a few seconds…
And just to add, as this subject had come up, I decided to dig my quartz TAG out. I haven’t worn it in ages, probably two or three years, so the time was a bit out, what with clocks changing, etc, and the date obviously was way out, but it’s running fine, and that is one advantage over an automatic or a manual; it will be still running, but just not showing the time correctly if clock changes had taken place.
It’s showing it’s age a bit, the black PVD coating is pretty worn, the bracelet is even worse, and the lumed face, hands and markers are nothing compared to modern Lumibrite or Super Luminova.
It does also look a bit small compared to my other dive watches. 🤷🏼♂️
The reality is, though, that the specifications are +/- per day, unless a watch movement is really worn or dirty, the deviation is more likely to be a minute or so every couple of weeks, maybe even months.
The reality is, though, that when I reset mine for BST recently it was out by less than a minute.
If your need for a watch is purely to tell the time, then you buy a Casio F91. They're piss cheap and work perfectly.
I had one. I would agree that they're piss cheap and work, though "perfectly" is a stretch. I don't recall it being the greatest timekeeper (though it was a long time ago now), the backlight served no purpose other than to drain the battery, and the buttons quickly wore out.
You can buy modern movements for them these days as a direct replacement. Gotta say, I'm tempted.
For me, I'll buy/use a mechanical watch, and take the (to me) trivial hit on timekeeping, because I think a mechanical watch mechanism, especially an automatic one, is an inherently brilliant thing.
This is the vinyl argument.
I don't disagree that it would be a lovely thing, but taking a "trivial hit on timekeeping" ON A WATCH is just barmy to me. Do you also have an iPhone Pro that doesn't make phone calls very well? A Lamborghini that starts most of the time?
We'll have to agree to differ here I fear. 😁
We'll have to agree to differ here I fear.
Absolutely, different strokes for different folks innit, and I'm happy that we agree that you're wrong 😉
Like I say, 8 have a couple of nice quartz watches that keep time perfectly well.
This is just an itch to own a miniature mechanical marvel on my wrist that, while it will keep adequate time, it probably won't do it as well as the quartz.
Logic then says buy the quartz, but I already have quartz, therefore no need to buy a new watch...
Unless I just want mechanical/automatic for the sake of having mechanical/automatic.
Don't "need" a watch at all. I carry my phone more than I wear a watch. That tells time pretty well
@Cougar - for what it’s worth I have one COSC watch and the certificate told me what the inaccuracy was in each orientation. By laying it in a particular way when I took it off each night I got it to about a second a month.
But accuracy is overrated when you’re carrying a phone most of the time anyway.
A watch is slightly functional jewellery really.
I too have a Citizen EcoDrive that tells the time with remarkable precision.
That said, I've just treated myself to a Redwood Monsoon Stealth. A clean face, solar powered and no date - so it just tells the time.
Automatic is fine but solar power is fine too. Plenty to choose from Seiko,Lorus or Citizen)
If you are as bothered as me then get a Casio Tough Solar with international atomic time or radio-controlled time.
