Quartz vs. automatic vs. manual wind: Which watch should you choose?
For anyone starting to explore the world of watches, the first question sometimes isn’t what brand to buy, but what type of watch movement fits you best.
Watch movements are the “engine” that keeps time. They generally fall into three categories: quartz, automatic, and manual wind. Each has its own story, appeal, and practicality.
The wristwatch itself is just over a century old. In the early 1900s, men still carried pocket watches, while wristwatches were largely considered fashionable accessories for women. World War I changed that perception: soldiers found it far more practical to wear watches on the wrist rather than fish pocket watches out of their coats in the trenches.
By the 1920s, wristwatches had become a common accessory, and watchmakers were experimenting with ways to make them more reliable and easier to use. Early watches started adding practical features like small seconds, luminous hands, and protective cases, making them more functional for everyday wear.
These improvements also paved the way for the three main types of watch movements we still see today: manual wind, automatic, and quartz. Each movement offers its own way of keeping time, with its own personality and appeal, giving people different ways to enjoy wearing a watch.
Manual wind: Where it all began
Manual wind watches were the first chapter in wristwatch history. Before batteries and self-winding rotors, every watch had to be wound by hand. Turning the crown tightens the mainspring, which slowly unwinds to drive the gears and hands. For decades, this was the standard. In local parlance, you’ll hear a lot of older folks refer to this mechanism as “de-susi,” which refers to the necessary hand winding of the movement that keeps the watch running.
Many Filipinos may remember parents or grandparents winding older Omegas, Longines, or Seikos each morning. Manuals aren’t as common today, but they remain deeply appealing. Part of the experience is the connection: winding your watch becomes a small daily ritual that slows you down, an interaction with your timepiece. Because they don’t need an automatic rotor, many manuals are slimmer and more elegant, perfect for dress watches.
And beyond practicality, they represent the purity of watchmaking—stripped down to its essentials, letting you appreciate the craft in its most traditional form. For a budding watch enthusiast, wearing a manual is like owning a piece of living history.
Automatic: Mechanical convenience
The automatic, or self-winding watch, emerged in the 20th century as a solution to the daily winding ritual. Using a rotor that spins with wrist motion, automatics wind themselves as long as you wear them. This innovation made them incredibly convenient, and by the 1950s and 1960s, they became the standard for everyday wear.
In the Philippines, Seiko 5s and Orient Bambinos served as the gateway into mechanical watches for many, while Swiss brands like Omega and Rolex cemented the automatic as a symbol of heritage and success. Automatics strike a balance that appeals to both newcomers and seasoned collectors: they carry the same mechanical charm as manuals, but without the need to wind every day (although many of these automatic watches also allow for hand-winding). You even get to enjoy the smooth sweep of the second hand—so different from the tick of a quartz watch—and with proper care, an automatic can last for generations.
Enthusiasts often describe them as having “character,” since they don’t keep perfect time, but instead run a little fast or slow—quirks that make them feel like a living machine.
Quartz: The revolution that changed everything
The 1970s brought about the quartz revolution, and with it, a complete shift in how watches were made and worn. Powered by a battery and regulated by a tiny quartz crystal vibrating at a precise frequency, these watches were not only far more accurate than mechanical ones, but also significantly cheaper to produce.
Japanese makers like Seiko and Citizen led this disruption, and soon, quartz watches dominated the global market. Their popularity surged in the 1980s and 1990s so much so that the Swiss call this particular moment in history the “Quartz Crisis”.
In fact, many will remember owning a Casio G-Shock for school, a Timex digital for everyday wear, or a Seiko quartz gifted for a graduation or first job.
Quartz watches earned their place because of their reliability: they keep time to within a few seconds a month, only need a battery change every couple of years, and are rugged enough to withstand the chaos of daily life. For beginners, they remain the most practical entry point into watch ownership—affordable, accurate, and available in every imaginable style.
Watch it: which movement fits you best?
Each type of movement is not just about time, but about the era and the people who wore them.
Manual wind watches connect us to the earliest days of wristwatches, when interactions with the crown was a ritual that made timekeeping personal. Automatics represent innovation and convenience, bringing mechanical ingenuity into daily life without the need for constant attention. Quartz watches, meanwhile, reflect the revolution that made accurate timekeeping accessible to everyone, turning watches from a luxury into a practical, reliable companion.
For anyone deepening their appreciation of watches, understanding these movements is the first step in discovering what appeals to you most—whether it’s the tactile satisfaction of winding a manual, the living heartbeat of an automatic, or the no-fuss precision of quartz. Choosing your first serious watch is more than picking a way to tell time; it’s selecting the piece of history you want to wear on your wrist, which becomes uniquely yours.
