![]() ![]() Since these are common terms you'll encounter in your search, let's just clarify what they're all about. You should probably mostly stick to Japanese mechanical watches (or those with Japanese movements) at this level. Experienced collectors might be able to better evaluate and experiment with the likes of affordable Chinese or Russian movements, but it's a bigger risk for first-time buyers. You'll notice that most of the watches on this list have Japanese movements. First, even though you can maybe find some cheaper examples, we don't recommend going below the Seiko 5 and Orient watches that usually start just south of $100. Going affordable is a great way to get into mechanical watches, but if you're a newbie (and we assume that some people reading this will be) there are a couple of things to be wary of. If you want more accuracy, it simply means you'll have to spend more for a mechanical watch - or buy quartz. That said, many people enjoy their affordable mechanical watches and even find them perfectly useful and accurate enough. If, say, deviations of 40 seconds per day add up over time without correction, you can find yourself minutes out of step with the time everyone else is following. Mechanical watches at the lowest end of the spectrum can be significantly off. We mostly just need to know the approximate time within a few minutes and watches largely just function as a kind of quick reference. The appeal of mechanical watches is predicated on the notion that you don't need your watch to be hyper-accurate. You should first understand that even the fanciest, most expensive Rolex or other mechanical watch doesn't compare in accuracy to the dirt-cheap quartz watch you can pick up at Walmart. Know Before You Buy Accuracy of affordable mechanical watches Yes, you can get a very cool hand-winding or automatic watch for not a lot of scratch, but there are a few things to know and some questions you should ask. We're talking watches from those brands themselves, like Seiko and Citizen, but also from smaller boutique brands that make use of the movements as well as sourcing other components and labor. While producing a mechanical wristwatch can be an expensive proposition, large-scale production from Japanese brands focusing on basic and affordable movements means that just about anyone can afford a mechanical timepiece. But we're among those smitten with anachronistic tech of springs and gears, and even those at the cheapest end of the spectrum can be incredibly fun. It's grown substantially over the last couple of decades, and especially in the last several years - even when smartwatches more or less offer a computer on your wrist. In an age when quartz watches offer dirt-cheap time-telling and superior accuracy, the popularity of mechanical watches is curious. ![]()
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