Why mechanical watches are so cool

[2035cc16v]

Very good article here...

http://www.tested.com/44288-precisio...nd-so-pricey/#

[autotragik b3attlewagen]

bingo.

[Tinker Toy]

Great article. It tells pretty much the whole story including associating mechanical watches with status which is what the Swiss have done with great success to preserve their mechanical watch business.

Here is a site that leans toward favoring accuracy in timekeeping. http://chronocentric.com/watches/accuracy.shtml To my way of thinking, a watch that keeps perfect time or nearly so is more desirable. Price is not a guarantee of accuracy and with some good luck of the draw, I can and have gotten a quartz watch better than the typical + - 1 sec per day from WM for about 12 or 14 dollars including stopwatch, alarm, dial light and calendar features. That is an impressive achievement from the watch industry!

It quartz watches were invented first, it is possible that nobody would have bothered to invent a mechanical watch. Who would want one? They are not as good at timekeeping, are expensive to make, need winding of one sort or another, and require expensive periodic cleaning and oiling.

[Big M]

It quartz watches were invented first, it is possible that nobody would have bothered to invent a mechanical watch. Who would want one? They are not as good at timekeeping, are expensive to make, need winding of one sort or another, and require expensive periodic cleaning and oiling.

I agree.

I've heard the argument that a mechanical will not have a battery suddenly die on you while you're on a deep dive, flying a plane, climbing a mountain, on a military mission, etc. That made sense once upon a time. But now you can always get a quartz watch with a battery life indicator. And if you're in that big an adventure, you should have a back up or alternative, anyway.

The best reason to have a mechanical is just because you like it. Frankly, mechanicals are jewelry. You don't need a reason.

[Turq]

I agree.

I've heard the argument that a mechanical will not have a battery suddenly die on you while you're on a deep dive, flying a plane, climbing a mountain, on a military mission, etc. That made sense once upon a time. But now you can always get a quartz watch with a battery life indicator. And if you're in that big an adventure, you should have a back up or alternative, anyway.

The best reason to have a mechanical is just because you like it. Frankly, mechanicals are jewelry. You don't need a reason.

The mechanicals will still work after an EMP.

[Tinker Toy]

The mechanicals will still work after an EMP.

It is possible that a quartz watch could also keep working after an EMP if the case would function as a Faraday cage. After an EMP event, you would have no working TV, radio, cell phone, land line phone, car or electric power but you would know the time.

[Turq]

It is possible that a quartz watch could also keep working after an EMP if the case would function as a Faraday cage. After an EMP event, you would have no working TV, radio, cell phone, land line phone, car or electric power but you would know the time.

Actually, an old mechanically injected diesel, or points-based distributor gasser car will still be running, too.

[2035cc16v]

If quartz watches were invented first, it is possible that nobody would have bothered to invent a mechanical watch. Who would want one? They are not as good at timekeeping, are expensive to make, need winding of one sort or another, and require expensive periodic cleaning and oiling.

It is possible, but the biggest reason they have remained is the sheer fascination at the mechanics of them. I cant speak for everyone but I have my mechanical pieces because of their guts... a quartz crystal is far less interesting...and my schedule isn't planned to the second anyway

[Aonarch]

It is possible, but the biggest reason they have remained is the sheer fascination at the mechanics of them. I cant speak for everyone but I have my mechanical pieces because of their guts... a quartz crystal is far less interesting...and my schedule isn't planned to the second anyway

Same I could careless about even being a minute off.

[mauslick]

the quartz watch is now a relic as cell phones have taken the place of a watch for the younger generations........."what do you need a watch for, I have a cell phone'.

so most of you are showing your age by talking 'mechanical vs quartz'..........

I sold watches for some years back in the 90's and at that point they were man's jewelery.
the women got to burn the money on gold, diamonds, platinum, etc. the men bought expensive watches............

it's like the match and the lighter.............one you use once and throw away, wow that's cool now i don't have to refill the lighter any more


to this day you still can't drive your bentley into a business meeting, but you can wear a patek phillippe..........and those who know get it..........you've got serious money

[Turq]

the quartz watch is now a relic as cell phones have taken the place of a watch for the younger generations........."what do you need a watch for, I have a cell phone'.

so most of you are showing your age by talking 'mechanical vs quartz'..........

I sold watches for some years back in the 90's and at that point they were man's jewelery.
the women got to burn the money on gold, diamonds, platinum, etc. the men bought expensive watches............

it's like the match and the lighter.............one you use once and throw away, wow that's cool now i don't have to refill the lighter any more


to this day you still can't drive your bentley into a business meeting, but you can wear a patek phillippe..........and those who know get it..........you've got serious money

If you've got -that- kind of money, you probably -could- drive your bentley into a business meeting. Who will tell you no?

[mauslick]

no one has done it yet, but yes with that kind of money you could probably do it.........

[sonicGLI]

Can't remember who it was, but there was a famous watch maker who said something to the effect of: "If you value a watch based on how accurate it is, then you don't get 'it'."

In the article posted above, Gibson had a great summary of the appeal of mechanical watches:

"Each one is a miniature world unto itself, a tiny functioning mechanism, a congeries of minute and mysterious moving parts. Moving parts! And consequently these watches are, in a sense, alive. They have heartbeats. They seem to respond, Tamagotchi-like, to "love," in the form, usually, of the expensive ministrations of specialist technicians. Like ancient steam-tractors or Vincent motorcycles, they can be painstakingly restored from virtually any stage of ruin." - William Gibson

[20aeman]

A quartz does not translate the "concept" of time appropriately. Time is flowing, like a river. Time does not increment forward abruptly and then remain static on a second by second basis.

[Big M]

A quartz does not translate the "concept" of time appropriately. Time is flowing, like a river. Time does not increment forward abruptly and then remain static on a second by second basis.

Could just get a quartz without a second hand.

[Saabstory02]

Could just get a quartz without a second hand.

But then what's the point of being "so accurate" in the first place? You have no second hand, so you aren't accurate to the second anymore regardless