Enter the world of high horology quartz watches

Quartz watches can be luxurious high-end timepieces as well, especially these Swiss and Japanese watches

- Bibek Bhattacharya

For someone who loves mechanical watches, I must say that I own quite a few quartz watches. They are the usual suspects, from Timex, Casio, Seiko, even an old Sonata and an HMT. The thing is, I have them for a reason, and that reason is that they are very cool watches.

I have never been one for anti-quartz snobbery. I'd rather celebrate the smooth movement of the seconds hand of my mechanical watches without denigrating the ticking seconds of quartz.

It's equally true that none of my mechanical watches are anywhere close to the accuracy of my quartz timepieces. Then again, while I value accuracy (I mean, why else would you wear something that tells the time?), I equally value the romance of a mechanical device that I have to interact with occasionally to keep it running. It's like having an intimate relationship with time.

Another big factor for me when it comes to choosing a watch is its design and aesthetics. For example, I love GMT watches that can tell the time in two (and sometimes three) time zones. It's not just about the functionality, it's also about the looks. But a good mechanical GMT watch will cost many tens of thousands of rupees (mostly above a lakh), and that's very much out of my budget. So, when I got my hands on a gorgeous, retro-looking Q Timex GMT with a quartz movement at a fraction of the price, pulling the trigger on a purchase was a no-brainer.