What can mechanical watches do that quartz can't?

[staplejj33]

Originally Posted by Bullyterrier

Surely that is what has happened to mechanical watches over the years? You can get a mechanical watch anywhere and very cheaply! Unfortunately time passes everyone by whether you have failed at life or made it..And the only thing in life you can guarantee is death. And you will be put in the ground or burnt like the guy with a timex on his wrist! Unfortunately this is the snobbish attitude that I think stinks in this modern materialistic world today.

first of all, i'm the OPPOSITE of "the modern materialistic world": i don't want things to have things, i want GOALS to motivate my IMAGINATION to achieve my aspirations. and you're on a forum made specifically for people who collect things they don't need. come ON man, live a little! oh yeah, you're not into that:

point 2, you're right, the only guarantee is death. but don't you want to do more with your life than DIE?

third of all, it's not what you take with you when you die, it's what you leave behind. you've probably heard that quote before. the guy who said it is pretty famous. and dead. yet his wisdom lives on! like shakespeare or rosa parks or the All Blacks. i rest my case.

finally, you can't call me a snob and then cheers me! but i hear ya brotha! down with successful people! and materialism! burn all the luxuries like extra bedrooms and motor vehicles and electricity and text-enabled cell phones and a refrigerator full of food you couldn't POSSIBLY eat in one day. one day, you'll be 6 feet under like that homeless guy on the corner who doesn't even have SHOES, so take all your materialistic wares and toss em in the furnace!

or, you know, just enjoy them. you earned them.

[Bullyterrier]

I just cant believe you can come out with... "and i think really cool things should be really hard to get, and i think quartz watches exemplify the opposite of that philosophy making really cool things really cheap and widely available. you can be a complete FAILURE and still get a Timex - quartz made it ok to not achieve anything and still have a watch"

So you are saying if you haven't achieved certain things in life you shouldn't own a watch?
yes I have a Rolex, but it doesn't mean I have 'made it' in life, but if I never had one I would not say I was a failure as well. And sure sailors that explored the seas many moons ago used mechanical watches, but have a look now they will be using quartz, all cockpits are full of electronics because it is more accurate.

[Timber Loftis]

Originally Posted by Esquire

Aside from "beating" because a mechanical has all moving parts, not a single post has quantified a difference between quartz and mechanical.

Well let me try. When I gave my wife her DJ and told her she'd never have to bitch about going to the mall and paying some idiot $15 for a new battery again, she was ecstatic. She puts the watch on her wrist, she never winds it, it never runs down, she beats the hell out of it, and it never stops ticking.

I look at her stack of unloved, now thankfully unused, quartz watches from Seiko, Anne Klein, etc., and know that she will never have to suffer through them again. She has one watch, she beats the hell out of it, and it's hers forever. She comes to me once a month to change the date on it for her. It's always accurate within a few seconds.

Now, maybe you can find a quartz that can do all that, but in my years I never have.

[urbanterrier]

Create envy.

[JBat]

I get the whole battery changing thing, but I think it's over-blown. I have two battery powered quartz watches at this time, a Seiko analog and a Casio G-Shock. Both are over six years old and still using the original batteries. Both are also lethally accurate. I'm sorry, but changing a battery once every 6-7 years is hardly inconvenient, especially when you factor in 5 year service intervals for mechanical timepieces, which entails being without your watch for an extended period of time and forking over as much as $500-600 or more.

All this typed with my Sub on my wrist.

[mcubed]

I do think that part of the allure is based upon history and industry choices. The existence of the Oyster Quartz proves that a quartz watch movement can have just as much craftsmanship and beauty in it as an automatic, but cheap ones can be made SO cheaply that they really allowed the "cheap fashion watch" revolution. This leads to the logic "I can get a quartz for 3 bucks, why pay 1,000 for one" mentality which assumes that all quartzes are created equal (something we KNOW is not true in mechanicals). The other issue even the cheapest quartz can run for a decade or more, so issues of design and quality don't seem to be that important to function, like in a mechanical. So this is how it is, but this does not mean that finely crafted, serviceable, quartz movements with replaceable parts could not occur (Patek makes one), there is nothing inherent in a quartz design that makes it more or less disposable than a mech, but that is just not where the industry went.

As an aside, I had an old (from the late 90s) swiss army officers watch with a dead battery sitting in my drawer. Pulled it out, sent it to Victorinox for a battery change, Came back running with new gaskets and pressure tested to 100m. Total cost, including shipping? 23 bucks. My Submariner CANNOT do that.....

[Timber Loftis]

Originally Posted by JBat

I get the whole battery changing thing, but I think it's over-blown. I have two battery powered quartz watches at this time, a Seiko analog and a Casio G-Shock. Both are over six years old and still using the original batteries.

Depends on the watch. My wife's former quartz watches required battery changing every couple of years. I've got a swiss army that seems to run on a 3-4 yr. schedule.

[staplejj33]

Originally Posted by JBat

I get the whole battery changing thing, but I think it's over-blown. I have two battery powered quartz watches at this time, a Seiko analog and a Casio G-Shock. Both are over six years old and still using the original batteries. Both are also lethally accurate. I'm sorry, but changing a battery once every 6-7 years is hardly inconvenient, especially when you factor in 5 year service intervals for mechanical timepieces, which entails being without your watch for an extended period of time and forking over as much as $500-600 or more.

All this typed with my Sub on my wrist.

[mcubed]

Don't forget we now have Seiko Kinetics and Citizen Eco Drives, not to mention 10 year batteries and G shock atomic solar, all of which eliminate the need for frequent battery changes. Not sure why the swiss have been so resistant to these new technologies.

[staplejj33]

Originally Posted by Bullyterrier

I just cant believe you can come out with... "and i think really cool things should be really hard to get, and i think quartz watches exemplify the opposite of that philosophy making really cool things really cheap and widely available. you can be a complete FAILURE and still get a Timex - quartz made it ok to not achieve anything and still have a watch"

So you are saying if you haven't achieved certain things in life you shouldn't own a watch?
yes I have a Rolex, but it doesn't mean I have 'made it' in life, but if I never had one I would not say I was a failure as well. And sure sailors that explored the seas many moons ago used mechanical watches, but have a look now they will be using quartz, all cockpits are full of electronics because it is more accurate.

i know sailors use quarts NOW - it's the military! we always buy from the lowest bidder! that's kinda my point...

and congradulations on your rolex. obviously, that wasn't a goal for you. everyone has their own goals. mine is to be able to purchase a high-end mechanical watch one day. i'm not saying everyone else has to have the same goal, but i don't think people should settle for the lowest bidder either.

[staplejj33]

Originally Posted by mcubed

Don't forget we now have Seiko Kinetics and Citizen Eco Drives, not to mention 10 year batteries and G shock atomic solar, all of which eliminate the need for frequent battery changes. Not sure why the swiss have been so resistant to these new technologies.

i'll quote tyler durden: "sticking feathers in your butt does not make you a chicken."

the swiss are embracing new technology. just not cheap technology.

[Saxon007]

Originally Posted by zseriessub

Candles are for light? I thought they were to make your home smell like pumpkin spice.

What's up with that? How come there are no candles that smell like bacon?

[Omega_Precision]

I am late on this thread so I will chime in......a quartz watch is not perpetual and eventually that thing is going to stop working, with or without batteries, my opinion only.

A mechanical watch can always be serviced and run, but a quartz watch is throw away, at least this is what the company wants you to think or do, so they can sell you more watches.

A mechanical piece, spring driven, is a way to tell time dating back to the ages. Traditional time keeping.

[foobar]

Originally Posted by ippon20

I like the idea of having a watch that relies on me as much as I rely on it. It forms a bond between myself and the years of innovation and craftsmanship of watchmaking.

Well said

[Esquire]

Originally Posted by Timber Loftis

Well let me try. When I gave my wife her DJ and told her she'd never have to bitch about going to the mall and paying some idiot $15 for a new battery again, she was ecstatic. She puts the watch on her wrist, she never winds it, it never runs down, she beats the hell out of it, and it never stops ticking.

I look at her stack of unloved, now thankfully unused, quartz watches from Seiko, Anne Klein, etc., and know that she will never have to suffer through them again. She has one watch, she beats the hell out of it, and it's hers forever. She comes to me once a month to change the date on it for her. It's always accurate within a few seconds.

Now, maybe you can find a quartz that can do all that, but in my years I never have.

You're right; you'll never have to suffer through the painstaking task of taking a trip to the local mall to speak with a watchmaster to change a battery once every 2-3 years at $10 a pop. Instead, you'll have to send the watch off in the mail every 5 years to receive a service that takes roughly 5-6 weeks at $500 a pop.

[staplejj33]

seriously. we all should be doing more to promote this bacon candle thing.

[Bullyterrier]

Originally Posted by staplejj33

i know sailors use quarts NOW - it's the military! we always buy from the lowest bidder! that's kinda my point...
.

No a sailor is someone that sails, a general term for yachtsman, not just the Navy and Popeye! Have a look in the cockpit of a Vendée Globe yacht.

[Bullyterrier]

Originally Posted by staplejj33

i'll quote tyler durden: "sticking feathers in your butt does not make you a chicken."

the swiss are embracing new technology. just not cheap technology.

The Swiss make quartz watches

[petespendthrift]

Its always a compromise. A high quality Quartz is more accurate but has it's downsides - mainly it costs as much as an Automatic to buy and service. A cheap Quartz is good for a couple of battery changes but is ultimately disposable.