Can You Buy a Quartz Watch and Still be Legit?

Gary has apprised us of this first world concern: "Can I buy quartz?"

 

 

Comments

[Gary]

This is funny. I found it on Watchuseek.

Daylight Saving -- Movie Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4EUTMPuvHo&feature=youtu.be

[Angelo]

A quartz can probably never be as collectible as an heirloom or expensive, vintage classic---at least not in comparison to a good automatic. I say that---as a person who has far more quartz than automatics/mainsprings in my collection. I'm a quartz guy for the most part, but if you're viewing it from an investment standpoint or even as a luxury/prestige piece, the automatics still rate a fairly sizable edge.

[Ulysses]

He's absolutely right about quartz. Although I love mechanicals for their mechanical beauty, I recognise that in terms of absolute time-telling accuracy, durability, reliability and maintenance, you can't beat a decent quartz. Even "cheap" quartz movements with plastic components will keep ticking for decades without maintenance. The weakest link in quartz watches was the battery, but even that has been eliminated now thanks to solar powered movements so the last inconvenience (if you can call replacing a battery every three years inconvenient) has been removed.

[bill]

Nice watches are nice, but it's hardly a miracle that watchmakers can make a good watch for a high price tag. The "dime store" grade (remember dime stores?) quartz watch IS a miracle. All the utility most people ever need, accuracy that could only be dreamed of in the mechanical watch days, all at a price that marks it as nearly disposable.

And a nice quartz watch is.. nice too. :)

[Gary]

I like the idea of a mechanical watch more than the reality. I don't like having to wind and set it every time I want to wear it. I don't like the often substandard out-of-the box accuracy (my best one is fast 30 or more seconds per day). I don't like the need to service it at regular intervals to keep it healthy.

Personally I prefer my solar/atomic Citizen and Casios. They charge themselves, so the case doesn't need to be opened every 2-3 years to replace the battery. They set themselves most nights, so I know the time is accurate. They don't need expensive scheduled maintenance. This type of watch is more suitable for me. If it means I'm not a "real" watch enthusiast, so be it.

[jonnybardo]

In a way it is analogous to the difference between LPs and CDs. A CD is (or was; now it has been surpassed by the mp3) a superior, more advanced technology, but something is lost in the process.

[Gary]

I don't think the LP versus CD analogy applies in this case. The problem with CD audio is that the digital word length (16 bits) and the sampling rate (44.1 kHz) are too low to capture all of the information in the music. Subsequent technologies, like SACD and DVD-Audio, correct this problem by using more word length and a higher sampling rate. Unfortunately the MP3 format, which is inferior to CD, took hold. It's a matter of convenience over sound quality. So CD (and even more so, MP3) has a lack of precision (resolution) compared to analog (LP or tape). I don't think the same is can be said for quartz watches versus mechanical watches, as quartz has higher precision, not lower.

[jonnybardo]

I don't mean in terms of technical precision but in terms of organic feel. An LP sounds more organic and warm, including the crackling and just softer sound. I think that applies to a mechanical watch, which feels more symbiotic.

[Angelo]

Jeff once said that wearing an automatic made him feel more "connected" to the watch (if I remember correctly). In any event, he seemed to be saying that the energy he gave the watch by wearing it and moving---seemed to give him more of a connection to the watch than the battery---which will run a watch sitting in a drawer for up to 3 years or so. With an automatic, the watch depends on the wearer.