Quartz vs Mechanical

A buyer in search of a good watch, often feels puzzled what type of a timepiece to acquire. First of all, to make the task easier it is advisable to find out more about types of watches' mechanisms.

Let us divide all the timepieces available on the market into quartz and mechanical ones. At present day quartz watches are considerably more wide-spread than mechanical ones.

Quartz watches are powered by a battery that supplies the necessary energy. The process of timekeeping is maintained due to a piece of quartz that as a rule oscillates at the rate of 32,768 times per second. The majority of quartz timepieces feature an analog display, meaning a dial with rotating hands. Other quartz watches are provided with digital displays, very often LCDs (standing for liquid crystal displays). However, a customer may also come across quartz watches with both analog and digital display. Such timepieces, nicknamed 'ana-digi', simultaneously display different units of information.

Mechanical watches are powered by the mainspring. It gradually unwinds and supplies the necessary energy. An oscillator - the balance wheel - moves to and fro really quickly - in most cases 28,800 times per hour. The balance spring (also called the hairspring) controls the oscillations.

Mechanical watches are divided into automatic (also known as self-winding) and manual-wind ( known as hand-wound or wind-up).

It is not required to wind an automatic watch if it is worn for about 12 hours per day. Due to the watch's owner motion the mainspring is kept wound. If the owner does not wear an automatic watch for a few days, it stops running. Then the crown is used for winding it up. Sometimes a watch owner may keep an automatic watch on special watch winders powered by electricity. These winders rotate the watches for a few hours. It is an easy way to avoid hand-winding and time and date resetting.

A manual-wind timepiece should be wound regularly - usually every day - with help of the crown.

The difference in mechanisms of a quartz and a mechanical watch implies the difference in their performance. Quartz watches turn out to be more accurate than mechanical ones. It is explained by the fact that a quartz crystal oscillates faster and steadier than a balance wheel. An average quartz watch will be 10 seconds faster or slower per month, while a mechanical watch is usually off a few minutes a month.

Although it is not necessary to wind a quartz watch, from time to time a quartz watch's owner is required to change the batteries. Silver oxide batteries as a rule serve for 2-3 years. In some cases watches are equipped with supremely durable lithium batteries that serve for about a decade.

At present day you will even find quartz watches with batteries being recharged by light or the same way as automatic watches - by their owners' arm motion. Light enters a light-powered watch through its dial. Beneath the dial there is a special solar cell responsible for transforming the light into electricity stored in the cell.

As for a motion-powered quartz watch, it is provided with a tiny rotor that spins after motion and thus generates electricity.

One more significant difference between a quartz and mechanical watch, is taking care about them.

If you own a mechanical watch, you will have to take it to a watchmaker for lubricating and cleaning every 3 or 5 years.

Quartz movements do no need much attention. They consist of fewer parts and are exposed to less stress. However, in some cases dirt appears on the gears of an analog quartz movement and makes the timepiece lose time. A watchmaker will solve the problem by cleaning the movement.

If you considered the factors mentioned above, you will most probably wonder why so many people in the world give preference to mechanical watches if quartz watches are more accurate and require less maintenance.

The answer is easy - these people get fascinated by old-time craftsmanship put into creation of mechanical timepieces and their more complicated nature. Ticking of a mechanical watch pleases its owner's ears.

Then the prestige factor is also very important. If your colleagues, business partners, friends or just passers-by notice a mechanical timepiece on your wrist, it will make your social status higher in their eyes. Most prestigious watch brands, such as Patek Philippe, Rolex and Girard-Perregaux, are concentrated upon mechanical watches' production.

As the conclusion, the type of a watch you are going to buy depends on your interests and mainly on what you expect from a timepiece.

At our site you will find qualitative quartz and mechanical replica watches. Both types of timepieces are characterized by supreme reliability. Browse through the replica watches catalog to discover a watch that will best suit your aesthetic and technical preferences.