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      12-13-2013, 07:31 AM   #4
tony20009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mb135is View Post
Great post. After diving into the automatic watch realm, I don't think it's for me. I find myself turning back to my quartz watches. I thought I'd be enamored with the movement, technology, art, beauty, etc... But I'm not. I'm like one of those people who views cars as mere transportation. Still, I like a watch to look good.

Thanks for your tips.

I'm very much a fan of EDOX quartz watches, too, thanks to you!
I love mechanical watches. But I have to be honest, if a watch doesn't have a second hand and isn't one having more than a date complication, buying mechanical isn't really necessary unless that's all that's offered in one's desired look. Take the Patek 5120. Unless you hold it to your ear, there's not one thing that'll tell you it's mechanical. Even if the watch has a second hand, if one doesn't mind that it stops on each second rather than flowing smoothly around the dial, quartz is still fine. Occasionally, one can find a quartz watch that has a 28.8K or higher 'heart beat," in which case (no pun) the second hand will flow smoothly.

If one just wants to have "so and so's" brand name for the cache of having it, each and every one of the high end makers still makes a quartz watch. They don't like to make that a well known thing, but they did and do. Most of them, however, are sized for women's wrists or are slathered in gemstones. Indeed, most women's watches are quartz and it's all but impossible to find high-end women's jewelry watches that aren't quartz. For reasonably priced (reasonable being a relative term) watch from the top tier brands, quartz is a good alternative.

That said, I'm something of a watch geek in that I like beautiful watches and I find interesting how the things are engineered. I also think some movements can be incredibly beautiful visually as well as mechanically. There is certainly something of an art to a well crafted movement, but if one doesn't care about that art, one'd be nuts to spend the money for it.

Why one buys mechanical is similar to why one would buy a BMW. If one cares more about luxury, gizmos and nifty features than one does about handling, and if the car's looks don't force one to a specific choice, any number of other cars make more sense financially, even MB, Porsche and Audi. If handling matters more, the BMW is usually the better choice. Of course, like buying any premium product, once one exceeds a certain price point, there's nothing at all rational about the buying decision; it's purely an act of self indulgence.

When you get right down to brass tacks, regardless of what folks say about movements and their fascination with them, the only real reason I can come up with for buying mechanical is just to set oneself apart from folks who don't buy mechanical watches. And that doesn't necessarily have a thing to do with status because there are plenty of inexpensive mechanical watches that watch geeks buy.

All the best.
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Tony

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