Should I buy a mechanical or quartz watch?

You just got your first paycheck for your hard work, and you immediately think about rewarding yourself with a nice watch. Did a lot of reading on the internet, however, everyone says quartz watches are punctual and cheap, yet a large group of people still recommend that you buy a mechanical watch. After all, which watch should you buy is more suitable for you? Mechanical watch or quartz watch ? Let me analyze it for you today !

mechanical watch

A mechanical watch refers to a watch that operates on mechanical principles and does not involve electronic components. The mechanical watch is the original form of the watch. The actual principle of a mechanical watch is to drive the watch to move by the wheel train by rolling the mainspring. There are two ways to wind up the watch: manual winding and automatic winding. Most of the mechanical watches nowadays are self-winding watches ( so called automatic watches ) . The pendulum is used to collect the power of hand movements. Users don’t need to wind the automatic watch every once in a while. As long as the automatic watch is worn every day, it will last. walk. Some automatic watches also come with a manual winding structure.

Quartz watches

Watches driven by batteries and using the piezoelectricity of quartz as an oscillator are called " Quartz Watches ". Due to the stable vibration frequency and high accuracy of the quartz watch, it replaced the mechanical watch and became the mainstream watch style in the market after it was launched in the 1960s. Quartz watches are mainly divided into two types: pointer watches and jumping-type watches, which use the wheel train to drive the pointer and the liquid crystal display board to display the time numbers. Because the power required to drive the gears is greater, generally speaking, the power of the jumping quartz watch is more durable, and the battery life can reach 5 years or more. As for the battery life of an analog quartz watch, it is generally 2-3 years.

precision

The most basic function of a watch is to read the time, therefore, one of the factors that affect our purchase of a watch is the accuracy of the time. In terms of accuracy, even the monthly error value of a quartz watch worth several hundred yuan is quite low, which is more accurate than a mechanical watch of the same price. Take a HK$2000 Orient Bambino as an example, using the F6724 movement, the daily error is +25 seconds to -15 seconds. However, if you buy a Citizen Future Force series light kinetic energy quartz watch at the same price, the monthly error is within +-15 seconds, and almost no error can be observed in a day. Therefore, quartz watches have high time accuracy and are suitable for watch users who require high precision.

Price

Since the quartz watch is an electronic watch, the parts inside the watch can be mass-produced at low cost. However, mechanical watches have many and small parts, and their structures are more complicated, requiring higher assembly and production costs, so the cost of producing quartz watches is relatively low. Therefore, with the same material and design, the price of quartz watches is cheaper than mechanical watches.

exterior design

Secondly, the shape is also a factor that determines our purchase of watches. Many times, we buy a watch because we like the shape of the watch. Due to the simple structure of the quartz watch, the main parts are only small electronic parts such as flat circuit boards, integrated circuits, quartz tubes, coils, etc., and the movement is small in size. Therefore, the elasticity of the quartz watch is greater, and the quartz watch can be easily controlled from the thin and light shape to the heavy design.

On the contrary, the power source system and escapement system of a mechanical watch both occupy a certain amount of space. A mechanical watch also requires more parts than a quartz watch. Therefore, even an entry-level quartz watch, such as Paul Hewitt , can have a body thickness close to 6mm. But if you want to find a mechanical watch under 10mm, you have to find it in the mid-level mechanical watch brand with tens of thousands of yuan, such as the Meister series of Junghans .

However, since the development of mechanical watches has reached more than two hundred years, the diversity of mechanical watches is not less than that of quartz watches. You can find works of art mechanical watches like the Patek Philippe 6300A-010 , thin and light watches like the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept , and more.

power source

Because the power source of the quartz watch comes from the battery. The watch needs to replace the battery for the quartz watch after about 2 to 3 years of use. However, unlike other electronic products, the battery of a watch can be replaced immediately after purchase. Most watches require special tools, such as watch openers or watch bottom cover switchers, etc., and sometimes watch repairers are required to replace them. However, the power of a mechanical watch comes from mechanical principles. When the mechanical movement is properly maintained, the mechanical watch can continue to run for decades. Therefore, as long as the watch continues to be wound, the watch can keep running and will not stop due to the end of battery life. Therefore, mechanical watches are more convenient than quartz watches in terms of power sources, saving the trouble of replacing batteries.

life

Because the quartz oscillator in the quartz watch will gradually attenuate the crystal oscillator over time, which will reduce the accuracy of the watch. Generally, there will be obvious attenuation in about 10 years, and it cannot be reversed. Therefore, the life of a quartz watch is about 10 years. The lifespan of a mechanical watch depends on its maintenance. Under normal use and diligent maintenance, the lifespan of a mechanical watch can exceed 30 years, and even 50 years or more. So you see a mechanical watch that has been used for 3 , 40 years in an antique watch shop, and it still works normally. With proper maintenance, a mechanical watch will last longer than a quartz watch.

Citizen Parawater from 1959

Conclusion: Mechanical or Quartz?

Of course, quartz watches have greater advantages under the two practical factors of "accuracy" and "price", which is why the quartz crisis (Quartz Crisis) appears. Today's mechanical watches not only strive to improve the "precision", but also show traditional craftsmanship such as grinding, inlaying and carving on the movement and case of the watch, making the watch a small and pocket-sized work of art. Everyone has their own considerations when choosing a watch, which cannot be generalized. Whether you should buy a quartz watch or a mechanical watch depends on your needs, preferences and budget. There are different knowledges in buying watches, and you can ask experienced people besides groping for yourself. Lam Workshop sells different quartz watches and mechanical watches . Welcome to come to our store in person and let the staff provide you with more suitable suggestions. I hope my article can help you.

Recommended reading:

How should I choose the first mechanical watch? Lin Tsai's four suggestions will help you.

Do you want to buy an Orient watch at 10,000 points? Because it is an Orient Star AV0111L

【Lesson 1 of Watches】Must know! The 4 basic structural parts of watches

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