What time is it? Watches and horology

Lass at work dropped £4k on a quartz Cartier under the pretence that it was an investment.

I just couldn't bring myself to break it to her.

One born every minute...

because it's a quartz?

Still going strong but does gain a minute or so each month but loathe to spend the dollars on a service at the moment.

I've got a 2003 explorer which was recently serviced. Happy to swap it with you :)

Nothing wrong with a quartz Cartier, it's not going to hold or increase it's value but it'll be a decent watch. Is it a tank of some kind?

Would you drop £4k on a quartz watch?

Maybe a Grand Seiko. Maybe.

It's a Ballon bleau of some sort. It's actually quite nice but for that money I just can't see past the fact it takes a battery.

Yeah, that's totally different.

Hi

very funny! Unfortunately I will have to decline;)

As worn by the Duchess of Cambridge.

You're missing out... :)

If I had the money I would happily drop a few K on a Cartier Tank

They don't survive forestry work I can reveal, you'll no doubt be shocked to hear.

I still don't get the mechanical > quartz thing, and the higher value given to mechanicals.

I realise this is probably opening a giant can of worms, but why is that the case?

I understand more labour can go into a mechanical movement, but why does that make it worth more?

To use an analogy that may not be the best fit for this forum; for me it's no different than attempting to compare carburettors favourably to fuel injection systems. While it's nice to watch the mechanical parts at play, ultimately it's less able to carry out its role (assuming the role is to keep accurate time.)

I'm not trying to stir up a debate, I realise that my metrics for valuing a watch are very different to many of the folks here. I'm just curious as to what it is that's deserving of the significantly higher value that mechanical watches are given.

If looked after the mechanical will work forever.

Quartz when it dies, it dies. And you basically need new innards.

Also when the zombie apocalypse finally happens, and batteries are no longer available, the mechanical watch will still tell you it's just after 11am! Viral in a zombie apocalypse.

I think there's just something inherently more attractive about a mechanical.

But there are still a good amount of 70s quartz Seikos going around, so it's tricky to gauge the lifespan surely.

Solar powered quartz watches solve that problem surely, at least for the first 20-40 years at least. Trying finding a watchmaker in the zombie apocalypse ;)

P.S. I'm guessing "viral" was a Freudian slip there?

I hear this a lot, and I'm not disputing it (again, not trying to stir things up, different strokes for different folks). Personally I don't see it, which is why I'm interested in hearing what it is.

To use an analogy that may not be the best fit for this forum; for me it's no different than attempting to compare carburettors favourably to fuel injection systems. While it's nice to watch the mechanical parts at play, ultimately it's less able to carry out its role (assuming the role is to keep accurate time.)

I'm not trying to stir up a debate, I realise that my metrics for valuing a watch are very different to many of the folks here. I'm just curious as to what it is that's deserving of the significantly higher value that mechanical watches are given.

If you don't rely on your car for work then you can have a 1970's 911 running on carbs.

I'd have one over my 996 if I could afford one - but the 996 is £15k and the long-hood is £150,000.

So I have the Swatch, as it were.

I don't rely on my watch for work, either - so I can have the carb'd version.

Predictive text gave us viral. Funny though.

Watchmakers and batteries. It's why I was being ironic.

I'm not against quartz at all - always partial to a gshock or Seiko or anything that's had a bit more thought put into the movement than just some ETA out of a catalogue that's the right size to fit your latest over-priced piece of jewellery that's being marketed as some legacy "time piece".

Cartier should be better than that. Especially for that money.

On the quartz/mechanical debate, can anyone name this. I think it's a Seiko meca quartz but I'd like to know the specific model.

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Don't know, but I like it and am on the look out for a Seiko Chrono. And, just to add to the quartz/mechanical discussion, I really like this.

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