Quartz vs Mechanical watch

by ian tham

Traditional mechanical watches had their origins in the 14th century. The mechanical watchis powered by
a wound spring and the balancewheel regulate the time. The invention of thequartz watch in the 70s has
however dominated the watch market . Today , 90% of all watchesmanufactured are quartz watches.
Quartz watches are cheaper, more accurate and reliable andrequire less maintenance. Quartz watches are
60 times more accurate than mechanical watches.A quartz watch lose or gain 1 second a week while a mechanical
watch may lose 1 minute a week.

This translates to bigger inaccuracies for longer period of time. In a month you would lose 4 seconds for a quartz
watch while a mechanical loses upto 4 minutes in a month. The quartz crystal is accuratebecause of its extremely high
oscillations of up to 32,768 cycles per second.

Quartz watches have few moving parts. Moving parts causes friction and wear and tear and as a result
they are more prone to breakdown. By having less parts quartz watches do not have breakdown as
often as mechanical watches. Also , the gear train of mechanical watches is under constant load from
the mainspring. whereas the gear train in a quartz watch is not under any load.

Mechanical watches also require servicing every three years to keep the watch working in good condition
and tell the time accurately.

Mechanical watches required winding up which provide power reserve of 40 hours. There are automatic
watches that relies on the movement of the wrist to power itself. But still, if you do not wear it all the time
and just wear occasionally, you will find the time on the watch has stopped and you need to adjust the time .
A quartz watch powered by a battery is constantly powered and tells accurate time all the time and do not
need time adjustment. Of course you do need the change the battery after two to three years.

Mechanical watches have a longer lifespan that that of quartz watches. Mechanical watch can last indefinitely
with proper care and servicing. Should it break down , parts are always available for repair. Mechanical
watches can become collectibles and they can fetch high resale value due to its rarity. Quartz watches on the
other hand features electronic circuitry that have limited lifespan. You cannot repair it because the electronic
components for them would be obsolete by then.

Lastly, a mechanical watch is not as sensitive to extreme cold temperature as quartz watches. In extreme cold,
the mechanical watch still keeps working while the cold will temporarily shut down the battery of the quartz watch.

The writer is the webmaster of understanding technology which explains to you the use of technology in your regular life.