Here’s an easy way to tell quartz and mechanical watches apart

Eyeing a new watch? Here’s something you need to know

Given that most people have phones that do almost everything now (including AI and scheduling your pet’s grooming), owning a wristwatch might seem a little archaic. Still, there’s something about them that has outlasted the relentless march of megapixels and screen resolution upgrades from the tech scene. 

Much like your phone, what you wear on your wrist is a deeply personal choice. But you don’t need to be an expert to start collecting. All you need is a bit of knowledge on how watches work. And if you read through to the end of this, you’ll be able to tell the difference between quartz and mechanical watches—and ultimately decide which one’s for you.

Mechanical versus Quartz

At the very basic level, each watch is run by a movement—a tiny piece of machinery that acts as the watch’s “engine.” But how these movements are made is where the key difference lies.

Mechanical watches are powered by a thin strip of metal called a mainspring. Without getting too technical about it, the mainspring stores kinetic energy when you wind it by hand (using the crown) or by moving your wrist (in the case of an automatic movement, which uses a rotor for this function).

As the mainspring uncoils, it releases that kinetic energy, which travels across the gears and other bits until it reaches the hands. It’s all a very precise, technical craft. And while much of the materials and technology that go into their manufacture have changed over the centuries, the basics remain the same. 

Quartz watches, on the other hand, have a movement powered by a battery and use an electronic chip and a quartz crystal to regulate the time. Given the electronics involved, quartz watches are far more accurate than their mechanical counterparts.

So, in a nutshell: Mechanical = Springs, Quartz = Batteries.

The difference between mechanical and quartz doesn’t seem too important these days. Basically, any watch you have will serve its purpose. But back in the 1970s, when the hyperaccurate quartz watches slowly gained ground in the industry, they nearly forced traditional watchmaking into extinction. Things got so bad that the era was called the Quartz Crisis. But that’s another story entirely.

For now, let’s get you started on how to tell the difference between the two at a glance, which is something you might need when you’re buying a watch.

Check the seconds hand

So how do you know whether the watch you’re eyeing is mechanical or quartz? The good news is, there’s one fairly simple way to tell them apart, at least when it comes to analog watches (the ones with the traditional hands on the display).

The seconds hand on a mechanical watch moves across the dial in a smooth motion. This is called a “sweeping seconds” hand.

Meanwhile, a quartz watch’s seconds hand jumps and stops at every second, creating a tick-tick-tick motion as it moves along the dial.

Now, there are some exceptions to this, but they’re exactly that—exceptions. And if you’re looking to get started, you don’t have to worry about that just yet.

So which one should you get?

You might be asking which one is better, and the answer lies in which one suits you more.

A mechanical watch will never need a new battery. It will, however, need some maintenance from a watchmaker every few years (you can easily find one in malls or service centers around the city). You’ll also need to adjust the time manually every so often, as mechanical watches lose some accuracy at certain intervals.

Many of today’s most popular watches (the Rolex Submariner, the Omega Speedmaster, the Seiko Prospex series, and so on) all come in mechanical variants. They have a sense of the old traditions in them. So if you’re looking for heritage, a connection to watchmaking’s centuries-long history, this might be more up your alley.

A quartz watch will need a fresh battery every now and then (again, malls are your friend here), but it’s dead accurate, and you’ll rarely have to adjust the time. And there’s something to be said about that kind of convenience. Just wear it and forget that it’s there. You can also leave it in the box, and it will keep on ticking as long as there’s juice in the battery. Note that the battery may leak if you leave it in for too long, causing damage to the internals, so you might need to check on it once in a while.

If you’re in a line of work where precision really matters—say, videography or the restaurant industry—you might want to go with one of these.

Whether you’re in the market for your first diver, a timepiece for fieldwork, or a dress watch you can wear to a wedding, a mechanical or quartz movement will do equally well. Learning the difference between what makes each one tick won’t exactly make you popular at parties, but it will help you pick which one you’d rather put on your wrist.

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