You managed to get yourself a job and even a nice signing bonus, and now you are browsing some forums related to watches wondering how exactly they can cost such a lot of money, even more than Honda Civic. You’ve just entered the world of wristwatches. It is an odd world, but the world where we live. First discussion you will face is related to the heart of your watch, i.e., whether you should choose Mechanical marvel or Quartz masterpiece.
Answer is rather straightforward and evident. If you care about precision to the point that someday you do not want to be late to your next meeting with your Vice-President, Quartz watch will suit you perfectly. There is nothing you could compete with from the standpoint of physics. With the help of a battery, a stream of electrons reaches a tiny crystal in your watch. Crystal oscillates in a very special way, driving seconds hand.
But for many people, precision is not the main point why we keep checking our watches during a very long Zoom call. Mechanical watches are a kind of steampunk magic, which you can use every day to work. They work on the basis of springs, gear and even your limb kinetic energy. In other words, you are wearing a small engine on your wrist, feeling a primitive joy from that.
In such a case, you may consider Quartz watch an iPhone. It is a great tool as long as you have a charged battery. However, when something goes wrong with its function, you just replace a battery and continue. Mechanical watch is like a record player. Of course, it is inferior to Spotify in terms of performance. However, you have to wind a watch, set the date each month without 31 days and wear it every day.
The thing that no one wants to tell you as a new employee is that mechanical watches are notoriously inaccurate. For example, cheap Casio G-Shock beats Rolex Submariner in precision, despite the fact that the latter watch is a mechanical one. People prefer to use mechanical movements not because they think these watches are precise, but because of the technology behind them.
It is essential not to mistake Quartz movement with being cheap and suitable only for beginners. There are Spring Drive movements, which are actually Quartz watches produced by Grand Seiko. They are technological wonders that can easily cost you thousands of dollars. On the contrary, not every mechanical watch is a technological wonder. Many of them might be just rattling and hard to maintain at a high price.
So, it ultimately depends on your preferences. Quartz watches are used for utility and digital aesthetics. Mechanical watches are used for tactile experience and romance of history. Frankly speaking, I would recommend a $200 Seiko 5 watch as a nice choice for a new hire who still has some student loans to repay.
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