This is the story of a love-hate relationship with one (1) mechanical watch.
The complaint about big dials is familiar, watches trend big these days, but literally everyone who wears a watch has preferences for what they want to wear, this has no bearing on a watch being mechanical. I don't have many watches, but the largest dial is 40mm.
I'm at a bit of a loss about the bit where mechanicals stop running after awhile. ...yes? The watch in question is an automatic, so the author could get a winder if they don't want to reset the date.
Nothing at all wrong with a bargain Seiko, that said springing for sapphire is a great way to avoid having to baby a watch. The bit about feeling unsafe wearing it in the rain is pure neurosis, however: a 30m resistant watch can be worn in the shower, bath, pool, nothing bad will happen. Just don't dive with it.
So if you're reading this: you like Seiko, you don't like glass, you don't like resetting the date, and you worry about water resistance. Get a nice sapphire Seiko, put it on a winder when you aren't using it, and calm down about water, Japanese engineering is more than up to the task.
Edit: worth pointing out that for a Seiko 5, there are sapphire crystals which a professional can install, so that's another option.
> Like other analog products that persist in a digital age (see vinyl, print media, and board games), much of the popularity of mechanical watches can be attributed to nostalgia. Quartz watches are superior in almost every metric: they cost less, tell better time, pack more features, and are far easier to repair. Yet it's mechanical watches that are the world's most sought-after, expensive timepieces.
This is a fascinating point. When it comes to our hobbies, romanticism trumps pure utility, and I think that's a lovely thing.
I really enjoy having a mechanical wrist. I could have the exact same watch in Quartz and it would be cheaper, more reliable and more accurate, but there is something about having something 'non-electronic' on me that is a pure marvel of engineering that gives me joy.
I think your word 'romanticism' is right - there is a sort of semi-magical quality of a mechanical watch for me about how a vanishingly small series of weights, springs and cogs manages to keep time with zero electronics.
It's not to say that there isn't a bit of magic in a quartz watch - but that type of magic doesn't feel as magical in a world of iPhones and laptops. Putting my watch to my ear and hearing ticking that sounds like a victorian automoton however feels like an entirely different type of magic, and one which is far less common.
Seiko’s “Spring Drive” is a really cool bit of technology that sort of bridges the gap between quartz and mechanical watches. It’s basically a movement that mechanically generates power but has a quartz regulator that makes it exceptionally accurate. Still expensive, but at least they’re breaking some boundaries.
I would disagree its about nostalgia when it comes to mechanical watches. I like them because they are a thing of engineering beauty. I even watch youtube videos of people taking them apart because they are just so amazingly intricate. No nostalgia for me, just a pure appreciation for a really well made thing.
I think the main thing here is to get a watch that matches what you want to get out of it.
I have a mid-range watch, an Omega, that I got new. It's automatic (meaning it's mechanical but it automatically winds as I swing my arm from walking). I wear it nearly every day and almost always just works. I don't mess with it "every other day" like OP, I mess with it every other month when I have to reset the 31 day date window on my watch because the month only has 30 days.
This matches my use better than even a smart watch, which requires more charging and maintenance than my automatic watch. Of course, I could buy like 10-20 apple watches for what I paid for it :)
The watch is 5 years old and it only loses around a second a day on average (it's rated for +-2 seconds). Incredible that it's completely mechanical, and it's part of why I think it's such a cool device to have.
I would tell anyone buying a mechanical/automatic watch to also buy a watch winder.
Complaining about the fragility of (in this case) cheap consumer products is also, unfortunately, self-defeating. I have a Tag Heuer that I've been in a (semi-serious) car accident with - which came out with a bent buckle & still works fine to this day.
It's akin to buying a bottle of Lagavulin & complaining about the smoky taste.
Or to stick with a daily driver. If you wear the same watch except for special occasions it should be fine overnight in a drawer unless something is wrong with the mainspring.
A winder is going to cause wear and tear on watches, so it should only be used if you really need to swap watches daily and have a large collection.
Totally agree with the quality comment. If you think your cheap watch is fragile, perhaps you shouldn't buy cheap watches. I'm a big fan of bulova and they've all been built like a tank.
> My Seiko has only 30m of water resistance, which in the watch world is pretty much akin to not having any at all. I don't even feel safe having it on in the rain.
How is rain even remotely the same as >30m submersion?
Does “in the watch world” only apply to fancy watches? I have a $200-ish Seiko Kinetic and have never worried about rain, washing my hands, or even taking it in a pool. I don’t even remember what the rating is — I just know I looked at it once and decided not to worry about it because I never go below a few feet underwater.
For me it's having just one thing I own not be disposable, and built like it. My favorite watch has a sapphire crystal and ceramic dial. I bash that thing into walls and doorknobs constantly and after many years I still can't even tell it's even happened once. I'd be fine if it was quartz, but it would have to be some kind of quartz movement that I knew could be repaired or replaced in 20 years. Despite what watch nerds say, I'm pretty sure that's entirely reasonable, but it's just not the norm for some reason. Grand Seiko is the exception, but I'm far too casual a dude for that brand.
My son is into mechanical watches but he's also into shooting a black powder muzzle loader. Before he got into that I thought you'd be crazy to shoot a gun without cartridges but I found it was pretty fun when I tried it out.
Constraints bring out creativity, and that is often fun. Film photography is more fun than digital photography. Driving a manual transmission is more fun than auto. But obviously if you had to do either for a living, you would pick the less fun but technically better options. :-)
Winding my watch and setting/checking the time is a morning ritual. It also helps me set my own inner clock. Usually I know what time my watch says before I look at it.
Likewise a timer. The motion of the hands gives much better sense of the movement of time than numbers changing on a digital readout, and a screen rendition of hands moving is so clearly an illusion, my subconscious regards it as a fantasy.
Why would I want a digital watch? Just another set of annoying updates and notifications and battery needs charging and system updates and ....
> Why would I want a digital watch? Just another set of annoying updates and notifications and battery needs charging and system updates and ....
Depends on the watch. I've got, on my hand right now, a $15 casio that was purchased in 2011 and it is still on its first battery.
OTOH, for dress matches, it annoys me no end that when I open my watch drawer and pick a quartz watch (whether digital or not) and find that the battery is dead and I cannot use it for that specific occasion.
At least with the mechanicals I can wind it there and then, set the time and use it.
"Mr. Ibe set about creating 'the unbreakable watch' based upon a triple 10 philosophy. It should be water resistant to 10bar, have a minimum 10 year battery life and most importantly, survive a minimum 10 metre drop."
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The complaint about big dials is familiar, watches trend big these days, but literally everyone who wears a watch has preferences for what they want to wear, this has no bearing on a watch being mechanical. I don't have many watches, but the largest dial is 40mm.
I'm at a bit of a loss about the bit where mechanicals stop running after awhile. ...yes? The watch in question is an automatic, so the author could get a winder if they don't want to reset the date.
Nothing at all wrong with a bargain Seiko, that said springing for sapphire is a great way to avoid having to baby a watch. The bit about feeling unsafe wearing it in the rain is pure neurosis, however: a 30m resistant watch can be worn in the shower, bath, pool, nothing bad will happen. Just don't dive with it.
So if you're reading this: you like Seiko, you don't like glass, you don't like resetting the date, and you worry about water resistance. Get a nice sapphire Seiko, put it on a winder when you aren't using it, and calm down about water, Japanese engineering is more than up to the task.
Edit: worth pointing out that for a Seiko 5, there are sapphire crystals which a professional can install, so that's another option.
This is a fascinating point. When it comes to our hobbies, romanticism trumps pure utility, and I think that's a lovely thing.
I think your word 'romanticism' is right - there is a sort of semi-magical quality of a mechanical watch for me about how a vanishingly small series of weights, springs and cogs manages to keep time with zero electronics.
It's not to say that there isn't a bit of magic in a quartz watch - but that type of magic doesn't feel as magical in a world of iPhones and laptops. Putting my watch to my ear and hearing ticking that sounds like a victorian automoton however feels like an entirely different type of magic, and one which is far less common.
I have a mid-range watch, an Omega, that I got new. It's automatic (meaning it's mechanical but it automatically winds as I swing my arm from walking). I wear it nearly every day and almost always just works. I don't mess with it "every other day" like OP, I mess with it every other month when I have to reset the 31 day date window on my watch because the month only has 30 days.
This matches my use better than even a smart watch, which requires more charging and maintenance than my automatic watch. Of course, I could buy like 10-20 apple watches for what I paid for it :)
The watch is 5 years old and it only loses around a second a day on average (it's rated for +-2 seconds). Incredible that it's completely mechanical, and it's part of why I think it's such a cool device to have.
Complaining about the fragility of (in this case) cheap consumer products is also, unfortunately, self-defeating. I have a Tag Heuer that I've been in a (semi-serious) car accident with - which came out with a bent buckle & still works fine to this day.
It's akin to buying a bottle of Lagavulin & complaining about the smoky taste.
A winder is going to cause wear and tear on watches, so it should only be used if you really need to swap watches daily and have a large collection.
Totally agree with the quality comment. If you think your cheap watch is fragile, perhaps you shouldn't buy cheap watches. I'm a big fan of bulova and they've all been built like a tank.
How is rain even remotely the same as >30m submersion?
What is true is that a 30m resistant watch has no business being 30 meters underwater. That's puffery.
Prolonged submersion and heavy rain? Not a problem.
Likewise a timer. The motion of the hands gives much better sense of the movement of time than numbers changing on a digital readout, and a screen rendition of hands moving is so clearly an illusion, my subconscious regards it as a fantasy.
Why would I want a digital watch? Just another set of annoying updates and notifications and battery needs charging and system updates and ....
Depends on the watch. I've got, on my hand right now, a $15 casio that was purchased in 2011 and it is still on its first battery.
OTOH, for dress matches, it annoys me no end that when I open my watch drawer and pick a quartz watch (whether digital or not) and find that the battery is dead and I cannot use it for that specific occasion.
At least with the mechanicals I can wind it there and then, set the time and use it.
"Mr. Ibe set about creating 'the unbreakable watch' based upon a triple 10 philosophy. It should be water resistant to 10bar, have a minimum 10 year battery life and most importantly, survive a minimum 10 metre drop."