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Comment by kqr | Hacker News Reader

I agree on all points, except I prefer my watches mechanical, rather than electronic.

So I got one of the cheapest Seiko automatic watches. Being mechanical it's obviously going to cost more and keep time much less accurately than a quartz watch. Other than that, I identify with your comment.

The cheap automatic Seiko is always there, and it always works. Don't have to worry about putting it away and then needing to replace its battery – it has no battery. I can bang it about and while I'm sure it might break at some point with the way I treat it, it won't be too painful to get another one.

It's no-frills, keeps the time as accurately as I need it to, and doesn't take a lot of space on my wrist. Couldn't be happier.

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Citizen is another Japanese watchmaker and the eco-drive solar technology has been around for about 30 years.

You can get a low-end Citizen Eco-Drive for about $100, sometimes even less on sale. Solar powered, very durable, and they look great. Most are water resistant as well.

I've had one model running continuously for 11 years. I love never having to charge it or change the battery.

My roommate is a watch collector and made me almost buy an eco-drive watch so many times. I really like the idea of them, but after not wearing a watch for 20 years it just feels uncomfortable to wear one. PDAs and cellphones ruined my ability to wear watches.

I can only chime in and support this claim about Citizen. I have had one of their Eco-drive models for about 15 years now and it has had months in drawers or laying on shelves not being used, but it has never stopped working. I am so impressed with that watch!

yes, I love mine too. However, after a very dark december mine stopped (and I was very confused by it ;)). Had to put it on the window sill for a few days for it to work again.

My personal advice for anyone looking would be the following triumvirate: solar ("eco-drive"), sapphire glass (never mineral glass!), radio controlled. It just works - you don't have to do anything ever again (except maybe if you have a december like me...).

Recently, I bought another watch that fits your description + it's absolutely gorgeously looking - Casio Oceanus T200. It's a dress watch with a mesmerizing dial and a beautiful case with some superb polishing that is done in the same factory where they produce cases for Grand Seiko. As an additional gimmick you also get Bluetooth - the watch can connect with your phone every night and seemlessly adjust the time, so it's basically always spot on. They sell it in Japan for around 400$.

I recall reading that the radio time signal is being decommissioned in the us

There was a proposal in 2018 to do so (as the argument was GPS was a better alternative), but there was enough outcry by people with radio watches/clocks as well as industrial equipment that uses the signal to delay the shutdown for the foreseeable future.

I accidentally damaged the spring on the balance wheel while adjusting my Seiko 5. I then bought a new Chinese NH36 movement for 30$, which can also be wound by hand and is hacking (movement stops when adjusting). I also had to transplant the dial/day dial and get a new crown.

I love mechanical watches and would definetely be a watchmaker if I was born before the quartz revolution.

Yes, the “auto-only” base Seiko movement is pretty annoying, if you’re not wearing it everyday. For anyone who hasn’t experienced one, imagine that when you want to wind your watch, you have to turn it dial up in your hand and rotate the whole watch for 30 seconds (the so-called seiko shake) such that you spin the rotor inside.

I ended up swapping my SKX movement out for a hacking / hand-winding movement too, much better.

That sounds terrible lol. And then you have to find some other clock to reset it after you rotate it. Is 30 seconds always enough? I'd be nervous of it running slow.

Yeah, it was just annoying enough to cause me to learn how to do surgery on my watch. It’s the only downside of [some of the] low-end Seiko’s.

30 secs was usually enough for me, but depends on how active you are afterwards—-if just typing at a desk, you’d probably have to do the shake longer than that.

Edit: actually answered the question

I thought it would be annoying, but for me it's not been a big deal. i wiggle it a little on my way to the bathroom in the morning and then it's fine.

Also it's something I only have to do when I haven't worn it in a few days, so there's a limit to how much of it you have to do. (Worst case is if you wear the watch for one day every three days or something. Any less or more wearing and you have to wiggle it less often.)

Where did you get a NH36 for $30?

On Aliexpress. I bought it in May, 2020.

I guess they are more expensive now because the sellers must now front the VAT to the customs of EU countries.

They're nigh on indestructible, mine is still working after five years of heavy use, working with power tools (including a jackhammer for a bit, because I forgot to take it off, I was pretty sure that it was ruined but it didn't even drop in accuracy).

I had a F-91W for years, I still have it and it still works, but like you I moved to an automatic Seiko 5 (the smallest I could find as my wrist is quite thin), for two reasons I wanted something more good looking, and I didn't want to worry about batteries (although they last years)

I did the opposite. Wore a Seiko 5 for a while until I got tired of not trusting it, then switched to an F91w. The Seiko is very good for an affordable automatic, but it’s hard to beat a quartz for “it just works”.

It sounds like yours needed regulation. Properly regulated you can trust them just fine.

It wasn't out of spec, I'm just referring to the general weaknesses of automatics. If I spend the weekend doing physical activity where I don't want to wear a watch, Monday morning I'll be resetting my Seiko 5. With my F91w, I can take a long vacation, and spot check a system clock to the second when I get home.

Ah, I see, that's what you mean with reliability. Ok. I wear mine pretty much all the time so that's the reason I'd never have that problem. I thought you meant accuracy. Thanks for the clarification.

On the note of cheap automatic watches, Starking is shockingly good (and good looking) for a $60 automatic watch. It has a lot of issues when put under a microscope, but it's accurate enough for daily wear.

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