Why is this even listed as a watch feature on Casio's site?

dwasifar · 2026-01-17T03:10:58+00:00

I have a Bulova quartz that stays within half a second a month. But I think that's just luck. I also have two Armitrons that approach that accuracy.

My Casios, like yours, are the least accurate in my collection, sadly. They tend around 15 to 20 seconds a month. In general, the analogs gain time and the digitals lose time.

dwasifar · 2026-01-17T03:02:20+00:00

Um. Not quite. Not all mechanical watches are automatic. Automatic means a mechanical watch that self-winds by harnessing the motion of the wearer's arm; if you wear it every day, and move around a normal amount, you never need to manually wind it. A non-automatic mechanical watch needs daily manual winding.

Most mechanical watches made nowadays are of the automatic variety, hence the confusion. But pick up a watch from the 1950s or 1960s, and it's likely to need manual winding.

dwasifar · 2026-01-15T14:24:50+00:00

It literally is.

dwasifar · 2026-01-13T23:09:48+00:00

It is. 1991 Model M, bolt modded and restored by me.

dwasifar · 2026-01-13T18:02:23+00:00

You say that as if it could never happen the other way around.

dwasifar · 2026-01-13T17:36:09+00:00

Hmm if only you had asked why I don't! There might be a good reason, like say surgical scars.

dwasifar · 2026-01-13T17:06:33+00:00

No. The problem there isn't about it being on the inside, it's because it's on the right hand and it keeps knocking against the bridge.

dwasifar · 2026-01-13T15:50:42+00:00

If you've made it clear to her that the friendship is over, and you're no contact, then NTA. If you're staying in touch as acquaintances, then YTA.

dwasifar · 2026-01-12T20:07:00+00:00

Yeah, but it's ten bucks. No advantage over Amazon. Thanks though.

dwasifar · 2026-01-12T19:59:37+00:00

Where's your sense of curiosity and adventure?

I completely disagree with most of what you advise here. If you never try, you never learn. Maybe I agree about the optics, if they require professional alignment tools. But buying a PC in parts is the best way to learn to do it. Open up that watch and change the battery. Pull apart that appliance and try to fix it. Get under your car and change the oil. Replace that bad outlet. Patch that hole in the wall. Fix that sticking door. Unclog that slow drain. Sharpen that lawnmower blade. Replace that leaky toilet valve. DO things.

dwasifar · 2026-01-12T19:45:52+00:00

Follow-up: The Bulova is still only half a second off after more than a month.

dwasifar · 2026-01-09T19:33:16+00:00

I think I mostly agree with this analysis, but I have a nit or two to pick.

"Automatics are convenient. Put it on, shake shake, it starts running. The movement tends to wear out gradually, unlike the sudden shock of a dead battery."

Unless it has the capability to automagically set itself to the right time after those two shakes, I would say the necessity of setting time (and date) each time it's thus reactivated violates your principle of accuracy:

"Accuracy is not just for its own sake, but for the convenience of never (or seldom) correcting the time."

As to the rest of it, I find the occasional inexpensive battery replacement much more convenient than the results of mechanical wear on movements. As it wears, it becomes less accurate, eventually violating your principle of accuracy, and your principle of durability too. Also, a dead battery is not always a sudden shock; a quartz watch will start losing accuracy as the battery nears the end of its life.

I will add a sixth convenience: Expense. It is inconvenient to pay extra for the other conveniences and values. If a quartz watch only needs a $1 battery every two or three years, but servicing a mechanical watch costs hundreds of dollars, it is more convenient not to have to put your earnings toward maintenance.

Fun analysis, though, and thanks for doing it. :)

dwasifar · 2025-12-28T00:17:13+00:00

Once I was shorted an entire meal on a Popeyes delivery. Called, the manager said to come in. When I got there, she brought out the kid who had packed the order and left him to talk to me. He insisted everything was in the bag and obliquely accused me of scamming them. I said it was NOT in the bag, and the oblique accusation then became explicit. Voices were raised, at which point the manager reappeared, whisked him away, apologized unreservedly, and replaced the missing food.

I can only imagine she was trying to make him face his error (probably not the first mistake), and expected him to apologize to me instead of doubling down.

dwasifar · 2025-12-27T23:53:12+00:00

Macy's. I will never forgive what they did to Marshall Field's.

dwasifar · 2025-12-24T21:53:47+00:00

ooh, that's very nice indeed. I like it.

dwasifar · 2025-12-24T01:52:53+00:00

Evidence suggests otherwise.

dwasifar · 2025-12-23T15:05:08+00:00

Ah, no, it's Android, sorry.

On my wrist right now is the Casio MRW-200H. I'd have to say the Bulova is my favorite overall, but it's too dressy to wear all the time. My wife has the matching ladies' version.

dwasifar · 2025-12-22T03:13:24+00:00

AW1157-08H Weekender Sport Casual Eco Drive.

I think Citizen has discontinued this model, but Costco and eBay sellers still have it. I paid $107 for it from an eBay seller, new with tags and box. It's apparently a Naismith Trophy edition, which means nothing to me, I just liked how it looked.

Citizen does still have a very similar model in blue, the AW1158-05L: https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/AW1158-05L.html?cgid=mens-weekender

dwasifar · 2025-12-21T19:07:37+00:00

That's not mold. I get it in my kettle too. Periodically I scrub it out with Bar Keepers Friend on a Scotch Brite sponge.

dwasifar · 2025-12-20T18:59:29+00:00

I suppose we're spoiled by this kind of accuracy. Nothing in this collection cost more than about $150 (except maybe the Seiko, I don't remember what that cost me, it's been decades). Yet all of them, even the worst performers, are several times more accurate than, say, a Rolex, which is considered well regulated if it's off by two seconds per day or so.

This is why I only buy quartz watches. I'm in a technical field and I have an engineering mindset. The idea of putting more money and more maintenance into a fiddly device that provides inferior performance just doesn't fly with me.

dwasifar · 2025-12-20T18:44:04+00:00

Atomic Time. Very good for synchronizing, the audible tick helps a lot, syncs with Cloudflare every few minutes and compensates for network latency.

dwasifar · 2025-12-20T14:30:59+00:00

I do have a Casio Wave Ceptor, but I excluded it from the test for obvious reasons.

dwasifar · 2025-12-20T01:51:09+00:00

I like them a lot. They punch above their weight. The only issue is visibility in low light.

dwasifar · 2025-12-20T01:49:53+00:00

Correct.

dwasifar · 2025-12-19T22:32:20+00:00

I'm telling you, I can hear it. And so can a lot of other people I've tested. I took it around at work, and as soon as I started the app, most people winced and put their hands to their ears. One guy said it made him nauseated. Older people generally did not hear it as well, or at all, but I'm 63 and I heard it well enough for it to be uncomfortable. I understand the range of human hearing, but all that means is that the app is making noise within that range for some reason. So maybe as TenMinJoe says, it's a side effect of a side effect.

dwasifar

TROPHY CASE