Quartz VS Automatic watches

Once again you ask a subjective question.

When plunking down big buck for a high end watch you really aren't going for accuracy or some other time keeping ability. You are going for intangibles. Utilitarian purchase you wouldn't be talking about an expensive watch.


Answer this question, WOuld you buy a Grandfather clock with a battery/electric internals?




It about your personal preference. Mine is Automatics because I like the mechanical aspect of the watch.

Although I do like this: Synchronar 2100 one of the first solar watches. As A kid i remember it advertised in the back of Popular Mechanics.

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Paul
 
"The inevitable Road Warrior or Castaway situations we will all encounter call for automatic movements.
Batteries die, kinetic and solar are unreliable."

I have'nt heard of Citizen Eco-Drives being unreliable.
Some can even go over a year (on a full charge) without even being exposed to light.

Allen.
 
EricO said:
Blue Jays, you wrote, "A quartz should be purchased with the understanding that it's a disposable item and even the nicest ones will be discarded in about twenty years or so after the circuitry is spent." Please, could you elaborate on this statement as it's the first time I've heard something like this. It's downright scary :( . I have an Omega Seamaster Professional quartz, two tone (gold/stainless), small face, circa early 90's that I bought before I got into watches. I would most likely purchase an automatic now. However, I'll be appalled if what you say happens to be true, especially with an Omega quartz movement. Please...................say it isn't so :confused: .
EricO
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I'm quite sure i read somewhere that Omega guarantees there will be replacement parts for at least 15 years from when they stop production of a particular watch.

So most probably that quartz is going to last a good 20 years. And most probably they'll still be able to repair it. Cost however may be an issue.
 
I've several watches...the most commonly worn are:

Rolex GMTII (worn about 90% of the time but I work in an office)
Fortis Pilot Pro (specific for flight time)
Seiko Diver (specific for dives)
My Dad's General Motors gold Lord Elgin (dress gold watch situation)
Nice old Zodiac (dress silver watch situation)

All of these are automatics except for the Zodiac...

I always have some sort of throw-away quartz "Ironman" sort of thing for yardwork.

It all comes down to buying what you like I think...
 
exactly, that's why pcnorton stated it's another subjective question.
The article even seems a little biased in my view.
 
allenC said:
I have'nt heard of Citizen Eco-Drives being unreliable.
Some can even go over a year (on a full charge) without even being exposed to light.

Allen.
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I cant really speak for the higher end, but the mid-priced ones($200-$400) had alot of problems. I worked for a Dakota Watch Company for about a year(2003-2004) and I probably got one or two of these a month where nothing could be done by us. We were never able to pin point the issue, and Citizen wasnt willing to disclose the necessary information to repair, but I wouldnt reccommend them.
 
I took over my father's '67 caravelle and it was going well into this millenia when it was stolen. Service every 10 years and was going well. The autos are a tad too heavy.
 
AcesAndEights said:
We were never able to pin point the issue, and Citizen wasnt willing to disclose the necessary information to repair, but I wouldnt reccommend them.
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Bear in mind, however, that Citizen does repair them in-house.

--Bob Q
 
bquinlan said:
Bear in mind, however, that Citizen does repair them in-house.

--Bob Q
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This is quite true, but no watch that is less than a year old should need movement repair of any kind. It shows either poor QC or bad craftsmenship. I respect that it was relatively new tech, but wait til it is reliable enough to not need significant repair for several years(10+ preferably).
 
Accutrons from both Bulova and Omega and Hamilton electrics are about mostly dead these days
 
GarageBoy said:
Accutrons from both Bulova and Omega and Hamilton electrics are about mostly dead these days
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That´s true, but apart from using batteries these tuning fork watches do not have all that much in common with quartz watches. They are more mechanical, and they do not have the (comparatively) complex circuits/chips of quartz watches. Thus they fail for different reasons.

Also, Bulova ran out of spare parts in the eighties and stopped servicing and repairing tuning fork watches years ago, whereas Omega still has the parts to do so. Not sure about Hamilton, tough.

Kristofer
 
There are guys who repair Accutrons scattered around the world, and some Accutron collectors hang out at www.timezone.com

As long as there's a demand someone will provide a supply. :cool:
 
Blue Jays said:
A decent automatic from companies like Omega, Sinn, Fortis, Tutima, or similar will easily last a hundred years with periodic scheduled maintenance. Figure on servicing an automatic with detailed cleaning and lubrication every five to six years.
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I used to write about watches for TimeZone, and I spent a lot of time studying them. IWC published their findings (in their in-house magazine) about how high-beat ETA movements like the ones found in these brands, and which IWC started using in the 1970s, are more-or-less worn out after a couple of decades of use - even with regular servicing.

Rolex has better fundamental watchmaking than any of the mass produced ETA calibres outside of Omega's co-axial, and the most durable movements of any brand, and they cap the lifetime support for their movements at 35 years I believe.

I agree that JLCs and the like have a long future ahead of them, if they are cared for.
 
Holy smoke Carlos!

That kind of information would get you tarred and feathered on the "I hate Rolex" fora (most of them) over at TZ. ;) :D

Interesting though.
 
tortoise said:
That kind of information would get you tarred and feathered on the "I hate Rolex" fora (most of them) over at TZ. ;) :D .
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Are they still acting that way? :barf:
 
Oh to be sure. It's odd, but probably predictable.

The regulars, on all the brand fora I read, seem open to all, with preferences for their favorites. -Perfectly reasonable.

It's the more junior brand-posters and the public forum that get a trifle off. There the recurring theme is that it's the Rolex forum that is unwelcoming and anti-anything but Rolex, which has not been my experience. In "Public" or on several (ETA-engined) brand fora, information such as posted here would be attacked vehemently as "propaganda."

On some brand fora there's a palpable level of defensiveness about who can afford what, what is a better "value" and the like. Naturally, Rolex is the most frequently attacked as "overpriced" "not worth it" and "no better than ETA." Many posts might as well end with "You think you're better than me because you have a Rolex, but you're not!" and an angry smiley, because that's the underlying message. Such posts are invariably directed at some general "Rolex buyer" and some imagined insult. I have never actually seen anyone from the Rolex side make any such implication.

-And oddly enough, ;) you never read this kind of stuff from the Patek, Lange, VC, etc. crowd. There's definitely a class war over there. It's blamed on one side but from what I've seen, is waged almost entirely by the other.
 
I have a quartz ESQ watch that is about 4 years old. I know it isn't really high end, but it has sentimental value and I like how it looks. Occasionally it will stop working, and then start up again by itself. Is this a problem with the watches internals or does it just need a new battery? I think the battery hasn't been changed in several years. If there is a problem with the watch, I would like to have it repaired. Is this possible with a cheaper watch like this? Thanks. I'd like to get some higher end watches, but not while I'm in college.
 
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