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Home / Guides / Watch Buying Guide

Watch Movements

Goldsmiths Guide to Watches

Watch Movements

Goldsmiths Guide to Watches

In the broadest terms, there are basically two kinds of watch - those with quartz movements powered by batteries; and those with mechanical movements that are powered by energy generated by the motion of your arm, or by winding the crown.

Batteries in quartz watches will need replacing after a period of time (we recommend a battery change every two to three years), but the watch should maintain its accuracy until the battery starts losing its charge. Quartz movements are a lot cheaper to produce than their mechanical equivalents, which is why a lot of fashion watches and watches in the lower price brackets are usually powered by quartz movements.

Mechanical movements don't have batteries - instead they have a barrel (a small cylindrical box) that contains a mainspring (a thin metal coil). In an automatic mechanical watch, the swinging of a rotor attached to the movement winds the watch, creating tension in the mainspring, which becomes the power source. The same process occurs in a hand-wound watch, only the winding has to be done by hand by turning, or winding the crown.

During the 1970s and 1980s, quartz became very popular and people stopped buying mechanical watches, but over the last 25 years there has been a huge resurgence in mechanicals. Today, mechanical watches have more kudos than quartz watches. They're considered statements of taste and discernment - and as a result, they usually cost more than their quartz equivalents.

Tip: if you're not sure whether a watch is quartz or mechanical, look at the seconds hand. If it ticks, it's quartz; if its sweeps, it's mechanical.

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Goldsmiths is a trading name of Watches of Switzerland Company Limited. Registered Office: Aurum House, 2 Elland Road, Braunstone, Leicester, LE3 1TT, Registered in England and Wales, Company number 00146087. Registered VAT Number 834 8634 04.


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