Just a joke. A dumb one, but Jackie, who likes variety, is looking for a watch that is “cheap, analog, easy to read and does not require a battery.”
I wouldn’t expect anything less!
I’m intrigued by these: nurse watch on amazon.
Yeah, they’ll eventually need the battery replaced in four or five years, but for nine bucks, just buy a new one every time the band gets dirty.
I find myself constantly poking around thrift shops looking for old mechanical watches and camera, usually to be disappointed. About 95% of the watches you’ll find are battery-powered quartz watches, mostly already needing new batteries.
Of the maybe 5% of mechanical watches, almost all of them have been abandoned to the thrift environment for the same reason: they need a service and they don’t keep good time.
Still, I persevere, if for no other reason than I once read a blog post about a guy that found a $20,000 vintage Navitimer and picked it up for 50 cents.
Same. I’m tall and thin and have very thin wrists. Those large watches look ridiculous on me.
Same. I loved the looks of the Seiko 5 I got but it only lasted a few years before it was losing time, then totally stopping until I bonked it. It’s now sitting in a drawer because I feel bad throwing it away. The Garmin watch I purchased keeps perfect time and only needs to be charged every two weeks. And I no longer need to bring my phone on walks, hikes, runs and rides.
What’s wrong with batteries? I think most of their shortcomings have been resolved.
An automatic watch for $20 (analog, no battery)?
Not gonna say they don’t exist but I would be surprised to find one.
You can get them for a little money. They do not have to be expensive. But $20 little money? I’d be surprised if you found one except from a drug addict willing to sell one for his next fix.
Nothing in particular unless the Zombie Apocalypse happens and batteries become scarce.
And as for automatic watches they can be annoying since you have to wear them all the time or they stop after a day or three (depends on the watch). They will start again after wearing them for a few minutes but then you have to reset the watch.
That or you can find a watch winder (attach your watch and it spins occasionally to wind it). Even that is a bit of a fuss though. Not much fuss but batteries just work…till they don’t but usually years.
Battery powered watches are considered a bit low-brow for watch fanatics but who cares? They work.If telling time is what you want then great! They do that well. Get a quartz watch and you are golden (if interested, read up on the Quartz Crisis where these cheap watches almost ended high-end watch making for good).
If the goal is to know what time it is then for almost everyone a watch is worthless (especially analog watches). You have a cell phone in your pocket which keeps time far, far better than any mechanical watch in history ever has (because your cell phone gets time updates from the cell provider who gets the time from an atomic clock…really).
Best to think of a watch as more like jewelry.
If you do not have a cell phone and need a watch to tell time and want to pay as little as possible get a quartz watch. Accurate (as wrist watches go) and about as inexpensive as you get. When the battery dies either replace the battery or just buy a new watch. At that point I’d say it is a toss-up cost-wise.
They couldn’t brag about the accuracy of their timekeeping anymore when they got beaten by $5 watches from Walgreens.
You have to replace them, of course, and you may notice that at an inconvenient time. It will likely mean a trip to the electronics kiosk and if it is a really cheap watch it may be even, as others have pointed out earlier, uneconomical to bother with the replacing, besides possibly ruining the waterproofing to do so.
On the mechanical watch side you can expect a respectable-brand entry level piece will run you in the no less than the $200s though you will find Orients for sale below that and some Vostoks for just under $100; and yes, it will require maintenance at some point, it is after all made of a whole buncha tiny fiddly bits oscillating at a surprising rate.
The thing to understand with mechanicals is that as far as timekeeping is concerned no mechanical watch however high-end beats a quartz movement, you will always have to be correcting it every so often; and as far as taking hard knocks none beats a Casio G-Shock. That said, my $250 mechanical watch serves me perfectly fine according to my expectations, and so does my $40 quartz Timex field watch.
I have always worn a watch and still like to so I don’t have to pull my phone out. Plus, I don’t always carry my phone (I mentioned that). I had a Timex for a gazillion years till I smashed the crystal. Then I had a Victorinox (gift) that was great looking but ended up dying a hard death as well. The Seiko was a bit of an impulse but it didn’t last that long and still looks great.
The Garmin has been a great replacement since I Strava my activities pretty much every day. Not sure why I waited so long to get one. Not sure how long it will last I love not taking my phone with me. It’s hard to get away from work and others and enjoy my walks/hikes/rides/runs without getting the seemingly non-stop notifications. And yes, I did use airplane mode, but the watch is so much easier and less weight.
Same here. I know I have far more accurate time on my cell phone but often I just want to know what time it is (with no need for precision beyond a few minutes either way) and a glance at my wristwatch takes one second. Easy-peasy.
Indeed, when I am not wearing my watch I find myself often glancing at my wrist out of habit and have a bare-moment’s bit of surprise it is not there.
I very much like wearing a wrist watch. If I win the lottery I have often thought the one really egregious thing I would treat myself to would be a very, very nice (read expensive) watch. And a trip. Then try to be responsible.
Just me though. I really like watches but I get they are mostly jewelry these days.
Same. I would like to buy a “nice” watch but I’m such a frugal person (cheapskate), I can’t justify it. I most likely will at some point because I’m pretty sure I’m going to die with a lot of money. What’s the point of that? 
This makes no sense to me. I have an analog quartz watch, and it’s easy to read and keeps time very well. I reset it every time i change time zones (which is typically a couple of times a year) but that’s it, and it’s never off by as much as a minute, unless i was sloppy about setting it.
I have an analog clock face on the front page of my phone, too, with a sweep second hand. It looks a lot like my wristwatch. I find that an easy way to see the time.
Quartz watches keep great time. Arguably the most accurate analog wrist watches there are (and maybe better than digital too…not sure).
It remains though that all watches, no matter how good, run a little fast or slow and that adds up.
Most watches (at least good watches) will advertise how much time they gain/lose over a day. Usually a few seconds. Not a lot but it adds up. Which means you need to reset your watch every month(ish) to be on the right time. Not a big deal but a bit of a hassle.
Your cell phone does this automatically. It can keep time without a cell signal but then it, too, will drift from the actual time. Once reconnected to the cell network it will adjust itself to the actual time which is about as accurate a time piece as any of us will ever have.
ETA: Cell phones are not all constantly updating time. They check on some interval so occasionally you will see two phones showing a different time but they are close.
With a battery that lasts 7 years that isn’t an errand you are going to have to do very often.
How long can a Casio F-91W last?
AI Overview
The Casio Classic Digital Watch F-91W boasts a legendary lifespan. Its CR2016 battery officially lasts about 7 years, but users frequently report it running for 10 to 15+ years. The watch itself can last decades with simple battery and strap replacements.
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The Breakdown of its Lifespan
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Battery: Casio guarantees about 7 years of life (assuming daily alarm use for 20 seconds and the light for 1 second). However, low power consumption means many users report 10 to 15 years on a single factory cell.
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Resin Band: The weak link. The original black resin strap typically cracks and breaks after 3 to 6 years of daily wear. Replacements are very cheap and easy to swap.
[image]Reddit
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Case & Movement: The quartz Module 593 is incredibly robust. With a standard replacement battery (a CR2016 costs roughly $1), the watch is known to run for 20 to 30+ years.
[image]Wikipedia +4
Real-World Durability
The F-91W features a modest water resistance rating for everyday splashes, but the LCD screen and rugged body can generally withstand decades of heavy abuse. You can check community consensus and detailed user experiences in discussions on WatchCrunch or Reddit.
And it truly is iconic.
My cell phone drifts noticably when it’s offline, even on a long airplane flight. I reset my watch at the start of the flight to avoid that error.
Seriously, when i traveled less, my watch stayed within a minute of accuracy for about a year. That’s a little lucky (the crystals vary), but it’s not wildly unusual. That’s probably good enough for anyone.
Yeah…since the cell phone is built to correct the time on a regular basis it seems none bother to work at making them accurate without a cell signal. Usually not a problem (plane is a perfect example as you said). Who cares if it is three minutes off after a six hour flight (which would be horrible accuracy for any wrist watch)? The phone will fix itself once it talks to the cell network again. Manufacturers won’t waste money making that better.
FWIW Seiko makes an analog (no battery) quartz wrist watch which, AFAIK, is unique in the watch world. That said, it is part of their Grand Seiko line (upscale…read expensive). Several thousand dollars. Still, pretty cool (IIRC they spent 20 or more years perfecting it before one was sold).
You can get them in that range from Aliexpress. How long they run, who knows? But they’re cheap!
Every automatic watch I’m aware of, including the three that I own, can be wound manually. And that’s what I do. I have a winder, but I don’t bother with it.
Second the recommendation to check out second hand stores. I bought a vintage Gruen wristwatch at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore location, of all places. It was sitting on a shelf next to where some power tools were donated. I checked out the condition and fit, and to see if it was working, I wound it a bit and wore it for 20 minutes. 20 minutes later the time was correct, so I bought it for $20. ShopGoodwill is an online site with many such options.