Automatic vs. Manual-Wind vs. Quartz Watch Movements

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Taking a look at some of the most popular types of watch movements: automatic, manual-wind and quartz.

[@DibIrken]

Quartz requires zero maintenance (except for the battery replacement) and tells the most accurate time. My Casio F91W will probably outlive me and still be running.

[@msfjn130]

👍👍👍👍

[@jeebusmcfries8114]

bro got 7 years to live 💀

[@PVJK-tm7oy]

​@@jeebusmcfries8114mine is 11 years and still running😂

[@ChrisWolf75]

Yes, but there are automatic watches kicking around that are hundreds of years old still functioning . The one I carry from my great grandfather was made in 1888, and it still keeps accurate time as long as you wind it every 2 days. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge GShock guy, but quarts watches will never outlive automatics or have the heirloom appeal that quality automatics do.

[@MohitKumar-pl1hp]

🤣 It will certainly outlive you if you're on your death bed or old as fuck. 😅

[@provuksmc6619]

You forgot the spring drive, the eco-drive or solar movement and the atomic movement. Also there is technically the pendulum but lets count that as mechanical.

[@LockheedMartinF22Raptor7]

Eco-Drives are classified as Quartz movements, which takes artificial lighting and natural lighting and stores it in a power cell, much like a battery. Atomic movements are either quartz or electrical.

[@provuksmc6619]

@@LockheedMartinF22Raptor7 so?

[@nashooo5903]

I'd love to see a pendulum watch 😂😂😂

[@provuksmc6619]

@@nashooo5903 You know shit like google images exists right?

[@nashooo5903]

@@provuksmc6619 I know, I'm messing with you since there's no such thing as a pendulum watch. You meant a pendulum clock.

[@stevenXCV]

You forgot the most important one, the bowel movement. I just absolutely love the way the dial plays with the bathroom light. Ok, ciao!

[@johnfadds6089]

It doesn't show the time though. But who cares about that, everyone has a phone.

[@jeebusmcfries8114]

hublot uses those

[@ChrisWolf75]

The minute, I read that all I could think about was Nicco Leonard and Hublot 😂

[@rivalifritdarc2481]

I appreciate automatic watch and it's craftsmanship, but for me, accuracy is the most important thing for watches

[@SectorS7VEN]

Same for me, accuracy for your value. Like I love my Seiko 5’s craftsmanship, but I can’t rely on it when its 10seconds off per day.

[@tobiasnaylor]

Actually mechanicals seem to be more expensive in my opinion, there are alot more cheap automatics (seiko miyota) but mechanicals seem to be generally rarer and more expensive in the lower price range.

[@friskjidjidoglu7415]

I’m confused…

[@Ryann9]

@@friskjidjidoglu7415me too, how does adding a feature, automatic winding, make the watch cheaper?

[@supremeleader5516]

Automatics are also mechanical

[@tobiasnaylor]

@@supremeleader5516 i know, but theres no need to be awkward about naming conventions. Hand winding watches are called mechanical, Self winding watches are called automatic. That’s just what people have decided to call them

[@Uno_Floydd]

@@Ryann9 would you rather have a lotus evora or a tesla?

[@marioragaz6257]

I really love the tuning fork movements!:)

[@suratunbegum7506]

Casio watches are the best

[@richardstiles6370]

I really like mechanical watches, it's the interaction with the watch I like. Automatic s are cool too. 👍

[@americanpaisareturns9051]

Quartz is the one for me. Why? Because I’m lazy. Set it and you forget it. 😂

[@menadionnassertamtama379]

but you still have to replace the battery..automatic watch go on and on with no maintenance if you want to

[@Uno_Floydd]

@@menadionnassertamtama379 solar quartz is the best

[@Uno_Floydd]

@@menadionnassertamtama379 but its not that classy which is the draw back. Its like saying a tesla is faster but its an electric car so it has no soul

[@ChrisWolf75]

​@@menadionnassertamtama379They all require maintenance eventually. I get my automatics serviced every 5 years as a rule. Servicing can also be a joy if you develop relationships at your local watch place. I love sitting around talking watches at my local shop.

[@ThESoaiBAbdullaH]

Meanwhile people from 1950s : we didn't know we are rich

[@noah-j00]

Quartz for me .

[@markiangooley]

Photovoltaic cells under the dial plus a sturdy low-voltage capacitor eliminate the need for a button cell. Also, in a big watch, a conventional quartz movement combined with a big lithium cell like a 2032 can let the watch run for five years or longer. Those things store a lot of power.

[@Ano25547]

Literally have that exact orient Watch it is so pretty

[@midnightfun1277]

Just some pro tip. Its okay to have a quartz watch you may actually wear ur quartz more in your collection. Its very convenient and it looks good. Good quartz movement are the tissot prx, citizen eco drive, victorinox inox to name a few. And ofcourse the casio and swatch.

[@mathiashallstrom4982]

Tissot prx etc is not watch movements but watch models, a Watch movement is something like the selitta sw200 that is found in alot of Automatic watches. If you are gonna talk shop, learn it properly, just a tip

[@midnightfun1277]

@@mathiashallstrom4982 "with" good quartz movement.

[@bizmonkey007]

I’m new to the whole watch hobby, but the hate for quartz watches, moreso if said quartz watch is over a few hundred dollars, among some watch enthusiasts still surprises me. It’s a superior technology compared to the more traditional automatic but they act like they’re getting scammed.

[@hydroxide5507]

paying big cash for cheap tech is crazy. i appreciate an affordable quartz tho.

[@patch1459]

Idk t hate on quarts I have one but for me it’s just something about having a mechanical that makes it feel more luxury (for a lack of a better term). I like hand grinding my own coffee beans and don’t like wearing a digital watch for the just about the same reason

[@thebeardoflife1939]

Kinetic, tuning fork, digital

[@mohammadrpirayesh4170]

I'm so in love with sinn 856

[@user-ux3eu7cf1u]

what about the solar power Citizen Eco Drive & the Electromatic Seiko Kinenetic.

[@Fo4assaultriflefan92]

So many watches here are depicted 10 past 10. I just saw a video 3 shorts up explaining how watches are displayed at 10 past 10 and if its a rolex its just a display with no mechanism ect.

[@ChronometerCheck]

The 10:10 thing is interesting. Brands often use it in ads/shops/etc. as supposedly the symmetry looks better, and a bit like a smiley face (not sure about that one, ha) and more likely to buy. For Rolex, the myth is that if you see a watch in a Rolex store specifically set at 10:10, it might not have a movement. I've been in a Rolex store recently and plenty of the watches were running, so maybe they only do it with their rarer pieces? Not sure.

[@CACOPHONIE]

​@@ChronometerCheck without movement watch's second hand should lay down to 6 O'clock position due to not having angage with the initial torque.

[@melody3741]

​@@CACOPHONIE d lmao if this was true then the hands would fall out. It's a dummy movement. It holds them.

[@jamesfair9751]

Also notice the date is always the 8th

[@Watch_Mechanic]

In your first clip for your "quartz" movements you showed an ESA 9162/84. That one is a tuning fork movement and not quartz. Might want to add those to the list of movements cause you showed one.

[@osark2487]

What about the spring drive? Mecaquartz ? And the electrostatic movements ?!?!

[@chazlyle41]

Quartz chronograph all day every day!

[@emanuele20x]

That orient dial color is magnificent

[@realistic_delinquent]

Champaign on the Bambino or syrup on the diver? Either way, yes!

[@Adamz17]

What about solar watch

[@A-Warthog-dh2rx]

I really need someone's unbiased opinion, how good really are those sugess mechanical chronograph watches?

[@sahinraihaanabdul5499]

Bro can i buy the benyar watch in Amazon or Flipkart which looks like rolex Daytona for Rs2700 is that good one pls tell me bro

[@PixelPatience]

Anyone have a genuine recommendation for quiet watches?

[@JPLink-bj3mj]

Good

[@friskjidjidoglu7415]

I wish you didn’t introduce manual-wind/hand-winding mechanical watches just “mechanical”. I’ve noticed a lot of watch people do this and I think it makes things very confusing newcomers, especially since we don’t talk about the movements this way. Most uploaded comment here is a good example of how misusing “mechanical” makes things ambiguous. Do they mean that all mechanical watches are more expensive or sur manual-wind ones? It was difficult for me, a watch person, to tell Similarly, I’ve noticed the problem of watch people overusing the term “automatic” almost synonymously with “mechanical watch”, ex. “Quartz and automatic”.

[@ChronometerCheck]

Fair point!

[@Hashashin_420]

I am new to all this and I was wondering. Why don't you watch KZbinrs add spring drives to this list. Are they considered automatic?

[@ChronometerCheck]

It's one of the best types of movements, but it's quite niche (only exists in Grand Seiko) so more appropriate for an extensive video rather than a brief high-level (IMO!)

[@melody3741]

Yeah they are VERY unique.

[@Chou005]

I switched to quartz watches....because of my job

[@riothero313]

If you have even a slightly decent sized collection just go for the hand wind watches. The cases are smaller, the watches are lighter and the movements look better. Your auto is going to be dead anyway if you have a decent collection.

[@paceyombex]

I don't see any spring drive here🤔

[@jorgemendoza5074]

Technically? No, all automatic are actually and literally mechanical. Why are people saying mechanical and automatic are two different types of movements. I really don't get this. 🤔

[@friskjidjidoglu7415]

This. It makes talking about automatic movements and hand wound movements very frustrating, cause it makes things needlessly ambiguous. No one talks about the movements like this only the watches, which is very frustrating

[@Istillhaventgotanameforthis]

I swear by mechanical

[@ChronometerCheck]

I prefer it

[@PUZZLETV22]

I have atomatic watch

[@eddiethecounsel]

Solar powered over battery powered watch every day

[@Rod-bp8ow]

The features of three types of watches are good, the battery type can last up to 10 years depending on the battery, while wind and mechanical-quartz/automatic are also precision based designs, including balance, making it as accurate and genuine.

[@keithchegwin1222]

I want one with a sweeping second hand, are all automatics sweeping?

[@OriginalLoLRandom]

All automatic and hand-wound movements have a sweeping seconds hand, yes :)

[@keithchegwin1222]

@@OriginalLoLRandom Thanks 👍

[@ChronometerCheck]

Yes!

[@ChronometerCheck]

You got it. :)

[@Uno_Floydd]

Im confusion my watch is quartz because its using batteries but its also mechanical because I have to set the time with a dial and its solar powered so the battery never runs out. Super confused its the Seiko v158 0A0B rail road approved watch I had to buy working for Metro in LA

[@ChronometerCheck]

Sounds like it's solar. Solar powered watches are battery powered, they just use a solar powered battery.

[@Uno_Floydd]

@@ChronometerCheck which last longer than conventional batteries or solar powered?

[@ChronometerCheck]

@@Uno_Floydd Solar

[@Uno_Floydd]

@@ChronometerCheck thank you. Its just quartz solar you are correct

[@julx1787]

Spring drivee

[@srikantamohanty4214]

Smart watch is now most popular.

[@michaelbcohen]

really? most of Patek's highest end watches, like most of the Grand Complications are hand wind.

[@SirMillz]

Eco Drive

[@thekingdomofosman7817]

Solar?

[@kevinsonnenberg2868]

Eco drive by Citizen.

[@thebeatboxguy]

You forget to mention digital watch

[@pravnav]

That’s quartz..

[@walther9161]

Quartz watches are also mechanical even though not classified as such but they do have a setting function and drive train as well but are only powered by a battery and quartz. No mainspring …

[@BananaSchoolBus]

The classification system refers to how the movement receives power. Since a battery has no moving parts, a quartz watch would not be said to be mechanical.

[@derikandreoli5177]

This is all wrong. Conflates how energy is stored and how time is kept. You have batteries (be they replaceable or solar recharged), springs (be they manually or automatically wound), and capacitor (see Accutron 2020 spaceview). Then you have quartz movements (digital or automatic) and escapements. Then you have things like Seiko's Spring Drive, which stores energy in a spring, but the time keeping comes from a quartz movement.

[@inigo7780]

Quartz movement doesn't have to be powered by a battery.

[@ChronometerCheck]

Such as?

[@salty-chips]

​@@ChronometerCheckThey might be referring to watches like the Seiko Kinetic which has a rotor that is coupled to a generator which charges a capacitor. Other than that there's the famous Grand Seiko Spring Drive. Both involve a quartz crystal buts it's a far cry to call them quartz movements.

[@friskjidjidoglu7415]

@@ChronometerCheck solar

[@kirk5091]

Wt about eco drive??

[@antaeus716]

Quartz but the battery is charged via solar

[@ChronometerCheck]

It's a type of quartz movement. An awesome one!

[@ChronometerCheck]

Exactly! Thanks sir

[@leonschumann2361]

handwound automatic is the best for sure

[@haping1]

3 main types of watch movements? You mean: electronic, quartz and mechanical I guess...

[@friskjidjidoglu7415]

Quartz is electronic

[@qoium2478]

digital watch crying in the corner

[@finns23653]

It's really dumb that manual-wind watches are just called mechanical watches the term mechanical does nothing to differentiate it from an automatic, why not just call them manuals and automatics?? The worst part is that the nonsensical nomenclature is used by horologist/watch enthusiasts ... one of the only examples I've seen in all the hobbies and fields I've dipped my toe into where the true enthusiasts of a subject matter all accept something that's just objectively wrong

[@tedgeronimo5034]

Gay?