Best way I've heard it put.
Quote:
A quartz watch is an instrument that tells you exactly what time it is. No magic, no romance, just the proper time. For many people that is more than enough. Even for me, some of the time, that is enough.
A mechanical watch, on the other hand, is precision machinery that has been carefully adjusted by an expert to the point that it keeps accurate time, despite temperature changes, despite being kept in different positions vs. gravity, and despite being carried around on your wrist, bumping into walls, etc. I think a mechanical watch is a small bit of evidence of man's triumph over the forces of chaos, of skill and precision, and of intelligent design.
All that, and it tells you what time it is, more or less...
My work continually involves me with high technology, electronics, computers, etc. I like to rebel against this world in certain small ways--wearing a mechanical watch, using a fountain pen, etc. Small things, but they are a source of joy amidst the problems of balky computers, lazy mailservers, overloaded DNSs, inaccurate test equipment, out of spec components, loused up shipping arrangements, etc. etc. ad infinitum.
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