There’s a romance about gears and springs that doesn’t translate to a watch that uses a battery to make a quartz crystal oscillate at 32,768 hertz, he explains. It’s akin to cheating.

Sure, you could use your phone to tell the time, but a watch lets you be more present without losing track of the day. Plus, ...

In an age of smartwatches, an analog watch might seem a little old-fashioned. Whether it’s powered by springs or a battery, though, the machinery that spins those little hands is pretty fascinating.

The collection of affordable automatic steel sports watches and even more affordable quartz alternatives helped open up the ... The solar cells are placed on the crystal with a barley-visible mesh.