If you’re considering buying a steampunk watch, you need to understand the pros and cons of mechanical vs quartz watches. A quartz watch is a battery-powered watch that uses an electronic quartz oscillator to measure the passage of time. On the other hand, a mechanical watch uses a mechanical movement consisting of an intricate series of springs and gears working together to produce, store and release the energy to power the watch.
There are two types of movement (also referred to as clockwork or mechanism) found in mechanical watches: automatic (self-winding) and manual (hand-wound). An automatic movement is powered by the kinetic energy created by the wrist and arm movements, while a manual movement need to be powered by winding the crown every 24 or 48 hours. Mechanical watches are usually preferred over quartz watches because of their skeletonized appearance, which allows their wearer a peek at the working machinery of the watch. It’s a one-of-a-kind sight for a lover of all things mechanical.
Compared to quartz watches, mechanical watches are generally more fragile, more expensive and less accurate timekeepers. A mechanical watch (even from a luxury brand such as Longines, Breguet, TAG Heuer, Philippe Patek, Rolex, Tissot or Seiko) will typically gain or lose a few seconds a day. As far as maintenance, mechanical watches need servicing about every five years, while quartz watches typically need new batteries every 2 years. Depending on the model, you may have to bring your quartz watch to a watchmaker or a jeweller to get the battery changed.