The allure of the automatic watch

DUBLINIRL

What draws you to the automatic watch over quartz?

From a rational sense when comparing a closed case back automatic to a reasonable decent quartz (not many but there are some) when talking about cost to buy, cost to repair and power reserve it's all a tick in the quartz column but yet we buy millions of automatic watches each year.

What motivates you to keep on winding?

Wibbs

I've been a vintage watch nerd(and none of mine are autos) so that's a different demographic, one that surprisingly imho doesn't have that much overlap with new buyers. Until the late 50's and the first electronic watches came out all you had were mechanical and much of my stash reflects that. On the other hand I got into early electronic and early quartz because of their history, innovation and quality*, so I've a fair few of them too.

I agree that quality quartz blows the doors of mechanicals by most metrics. However watches today are not nearly so much about that, or even telling the time. Unlike in the past we're surrounded by atomic accuracy time today. It's everywhere; phones, cars, computers etc. Watches are a man's fashion item(one of the few), status symbol, life milestone marker and a nod to a past in some ways. They're also a community and a hobby and interest in ways they weren't even 30 years ago.

The fact is quartz doesn't really cut it in these areas. Funny enough one area they don't is longevity, or rather true hand down to your family level longevity. Yes, I have 50 year old quartz watches and they're beautifully made, in some cases far more "hand made" and "in house" than a modern Omega, but one day they will die. Something will fade out and unless I find working spares that's it, game over. If I have a Rolex Submariner even if it gets dropkicked by Godzilla it will pretty much always be repairable. Worse case someone will be able to hand fabricate a gear or other parts, but good luck in hand fabricating and tuning an 8Khz quartz crystal, or a 1970 Motorola chip. My dad's 1930's Zenith mechanical will be around and working for far longer than his late 70's Seiko quartz. Because of that alone mechanical watches have a "specialness" that quartz can't match.

My take anyway.

*they were very expensive watches when the tech was new and all the rage so were top of the range with attendant quality. Now way cheaper than contemporaneous lower in the range mechanicals.

micks_address

Interesting topic - there's automatic and manual.. i love when you get an automatic or manual that can be very accurate.. for me quartz or digital is pretty easy to get working in terms of moving parts.. i often just hold my speedmaster (manual) to my ear to listen to the movement.. its also a bit of a ritual to get up in the morning and wind it.. knowing if i don't it will stop.. i do like quartz as well though purely from a grab and go perspective and you can often end up with a lighter slimmer watch with less cost of ownership involved.. changing a battery is usually cheaper than a movement service.. ive had a gran seiko quartz and it was beautiful.. and super accurate.. actually what i find interesting about quartz is that they arent 100% accurate.. until a few years ago i just assumed they were but they can be out a fair bit over a month or a year… not life changing amounts but some automatics can beat them.. ive had a few high end seiko divers that were pretty much bang on per day… but then lower end that were hugely out..

Cienciano

Something about automatics or manual winds. I think a few quartz is vital for the collection though, so handy to grab. The accuracy isn't an issue imho, back in the 50s my grandad had to sit by the radio waiting for the time announcement. Now we all have multiple Internet devices that are accurate

banie01

Perusing this forum was where my interest in mechanical timekeeping was piqued. I'd long held a historical interest in the Harrison clocks. In the creation of accurate timepieces and the effect such timepieces had on trade and the growth of North European empires.

The improvement accurate mechanical timekeeping had upon the world, might not have been as dramatic as Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs & Steel thesis but, it certainly aided in the expropriation of immense wealth and it's relatively safe return to Europe.

I am constantly amazed at the accuracy attained by lumps of metal, attached, and subject to the same rigour, force and impacts that our bodies are and that can still stay accurate.

A well regulated mechanical watch is accurate to within 3secs per day. That is incredible, it approaches 99.9964% accuracy. That's approx a 5 sigma accuracy rate and outside of timekeeping and other niche processes is an unattainable level of accuracy.

And we get to wear that precision, in a snazzy, shiny or sometimes even bedazzled case on our wrists.

1 of the things that always sticks in my mind regarding the accuracy of mechanical timekeeping, comes from a former professional life. The cost of accuracy, of precision and of quality is generally quite high. The more precise you want something? The more expensive it will be. Precision is hard, all processes have inherent variability.

Ensuring that a product is precise and accurate? Makes quality control and expensive proposition, not just in implementation of a QC system but also in waste generated via rejection rate.

Somehow, mechanical timepieces have evolved over the years to meet those challenges and I honestly, am often amazed when I think of the causal chain of interlinked mechanical gears and mechanisms that have been developed just to allow me to tell time on my wrist.

Its akin to alchemy and if you've ever worked in process control and quality management? It really does spark a little wonder (for me, at least)

cnocbui

I bought one decent automatic for the aesthetic, despite hardly ever wearing a watch, which is mostly when driving when I want to keep an eye on the time to some appointment. Trouble is, it's always powered down, so when I am in a rush, which is fairly typical, the time it takes to waggle it a bit, unscrew the crown, pull it out to the right click, pull out my phone and tap the screen to see what the time is, set the hands, push the crown back in, screw it down, put it on - despite taking little time it's still often too much. There's an irony there.

What I do most times is grab the perpetual calendar Eco-Drive off the window sill and whack that on, which even has a deployment clasp to make it even that bit quicker.

So while my heart acknowledges the aesthetic and testament to human ingenuity of the mechanical movement, my head knows that a perpetual calendar Eco-Drive is the best watch from a functional point of view, that humans have yet come up with. I have another eco-drive I bought in '93 that has run continuously without neeeding batteries or winding, or servicing, or parts, for 31 years. No Rollex is as good as that and no Gypsie/muslim/Bulgarian is going to want it so much they are willing to plunge a dagger vertically into my shoulder to sever the nerve connections to my arm to kill that whole limb forever so they can more easily remove and steal it.

CiDeRmAn

The one Automatic in my collection, a humble Orient Mako, needs to be reset every time I take it out to wear it, but I do like that sweep of the second hand.

The Bulova Computron is at the other end of the spectrum, and is quartz but deliberately anachronistic, with it's odd design and it's red LED display.

Somewhere along the way is the Casio GW M5610u, which is a masterpiece in accurate, no fuss time keeping.

Sure, in 20 years something might go wrong that can't be fixed, but it can just be replaced or, if I'm very attached, the movement/module swapped out, and off it goes again.

I do want to pick up a Bulova Accutron at some point, as I like the idea of a idiosyncratic electric movement in this day and age.

blue5000

Simple answer; it ticks.