[MRM]

All mechanical watches are kind of like buying an air cooled rear engine/rear drive car. It's taking yesterday's technology to the next level. On the other hand, like buying an air colled Porsche, a Rolex mechanical or similar watch, carries some advatages over the more modern technology.

First, there is no battery. That means it runs as long as you use it. When do bateries fail? When you need them the most. With a mechanical watch there's no dead watch just as you need it most. Second, for not having to keep a battery updated, Rolex and some of the other top end watches offer the most accurate time possible. I don't even know how accurate my Rolex and Omega are because I inevitably let one or the other run down before I am able to do a serious test on them. For the purposes of your average person, a Rolex/Tag/Omega/ etc. is as accurate as an atomic clock. Third. Rolex and their ilk are far more rubust and waterproof than any mass market quartz. Omega makes a quartz Seamaster and it's about the same price as the mechanical version. Any Rolex Oyster is waterproof to 300 meters, some specialty models are waterproof to a thousand meters or so and have helium release valves. Just in case you find yourself in a diving bell half a mile under the surface of the ocean. Any Tag/Rolex/Omega can take being run over by a car, dropped, kicked, pretty much anything and still run. And to bring them back to new you only need a service that polishes the crystal, polishes or replaces the band and bezel.

And finally, they are mechanical. That means engineered to a degree that few things in today's world get engineered. They are works of art from the inside out. The engineering problem necessary to create a perpetual mechanical watch is stunning. It's about like creating an air cooled engine that meets today's emissions standards.

As an aside, Rolex did manufacture a quartz line from about the late 70s through about the late 80s or early 90s. They packaged them with brochures that featured the hottest Porsche of the day - the 928. Most Rolex afficianados consider that very appropriate. The 928 is to the 911 what quartz watches are to the mechanical Rolex.