Quote:
Originally Posted by
romafan 
This is true. I've replaced the battery several times (and the crystal once), and gone through a bunch of bands. Is a quartz movement any more/less desireable than a mechanical movement (if that's the right word - the kind you need to wind)? What about the one that winds itself when you move your wrist (self-winding?)?
All depends on what you want. Mechanical movements are generally preferred by watch aficionados for aesthetic reasons, and most people who collect watches collect watches with mechanical movements. But they don't keep time as well as quartz. In fact, the introduction of the quartz movement drove most of the Swiss watchmakers into bankruptcy in late 70's & early 80's.
If you are even asking this question, you probably aren't a watch aficionado, so no real reason for you to move away from quartz. A functioning mechanical watch will cost you at least $500 new, and a good one will cost you at least $1500 new. An Omega or Rolex will gnerally cost much, much more.
That said, there are big differences in quartz movements. When most people think of quartz movements they think of the cheap ones in low-end Chinese watches (Fossil) that have gears made of plastic. There are high-end quart movements as well--good Japanese ones (that you generally can't buy in the US) have an accuracy of -/+ 20 seconds a year, cheaper ones -/+ 20 seconds a month or worse. A top-notch mechanical movement (new/in good repair) will generally have an accuracy of -/+ 3 seconds a day at best, but usually worse. There now also a lot of quartz watches with radio control as well, meaning they are set automatically each day by a radio signal.