What is the difference between quartz, automatic and hand-wound (mechanical) watch movements?Updated 9 months ago

Hand-wound (manual) movements are mechanical movements comprised of gears, wheels and springs housed within the watch case. The watch is powered by winding the crown which stores energy that the watch uses to turn the hands. The power stored though does run out and requires winding daily in order to keep the watch ticking.

Automatic (or self-winding) movements are similarly mechanical movements but do not require daily-winding (though most can still be hand-wound). They are powered by the movement of the wearer’s wrist throughout normal everyday activity. The movement of the wrist turns the rotor which winds the mainspring and the stores the watches’ energy.

Quartz watches are battery-powered movements versus mechanical power. The quartz crystal in the movement is powered via an electrical current from a battery. Quartz movements are very reliable at keeping time and may only lose a few seconds a month compared to several minutes of a mechanical movement.

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