Sorry watch noob here! Whats the difference between mechanical and quartz?
Quartz watches are powered by batteries and they rely on the vibrations of a quartz crystal to keep time. Quartz watches are normally very accurate in that they hardly gain or lose any seconds over a period of time. Quartz watches are quite a recent innovation, only appearing in the last 40+ years.
Mechanical watches on the other hand rely purely on wheels and springs to keep time. There are no batteries involved as energy is stored in a mainspring which needs to be wound. Some mechanical watches require you to manually wind the mainspring by turning the crown (a
manual watch) while other mechanical watches automatically winds the spring when you move your wrist (an
automatic watch). An average mechanical watch will not be as 'accurate' as a quartz watch, gaining or losing a number of seconds each day, variation depending on the quality of the movement and other factors. Mechanical watches have hundreds of years of history as the earliest watches/pocket watches were mechanical. And you can leave your mechanical watch untouched in your drawer for 10 years and it will probably still work when you finally pick it up and wind it (although a servicing would probably be a good idea).
Mechanical watches are typically more expensive than quartz watches due in part to the greater complexity and craftsmanship of the movement. The most expensive watches are almost always mechanical ones. So why would anyone pay so much more money for a (mechanical) watch that is less accurate (than a quartz watch) ?
Crazy as it sounds, I think one reason is that being able to tell super accurate time is not important for a watch

! You can use your smartphone for that. Instead, you wear a mechanical watch like a piece of jewellery - you appreciate the effort and craftsmanship that went into the manufacture of the watch movement. And it is indeed amazing - the human ingenuity that goes into a movement - how a collection of wheels and springs can keep time so accurately without any modern electrical power. To be able to keep time to within say 15 seconds a day requires a very miniscule error rate. And such a variation is good enough for most watch wearing people.
Folks who have a keen interest in watches would often see quartz watches as fuss-free but uninspiring because they are so easy and cheap to manufacture, whereas they would see mechanical watches as amazing pieces of machinery; and are willing to pay for them.
It all depends on what you want out of that device on your wrist
