Are Automatic Watches Reliable? What Breaks and What Lasts

People sometimes worry that a mechanical watch is fragile, fussy or unreliable compared with quartz. In everyday life a decent automatic is very dependable. Its weaknesses are real but predictable. Here is an honest picture.

The short answer

A well-made automatic watch, worn and serviced, will run reliably for decades. Many watches from the 1950s still run today. What it won't do is match a quartz watch for accuracy, and it does need occasional maintenance.

What actually goes wrong

  • Magnetism. The most common problem by far. The watch suddenly runs fast. Easy and cheap to fix. See automatic watch running fast.
  • Dried oils. After many years without a service, timekeeping drifts and parts wear. Prevented by a service every five to seven years.
  • Water getting in. Usually from an unscrewed crown or old gaskets. Screw the crown down and have the water resistance checked if you swim with it.
  • Hard knocks. Modern movements have shock protection, but a serious drop can still disturb the regulation.

What lasts

  • The movement, if serviced. Unlike electronics, every part can be cleaned, adjusted or remade.
  • A steel case and sapphire crystal, which shrug off decades of wear.
  • Repairability. A widely used calibre can be serviced by almost any watchmaker, anywhere, for a very long time.

What makes one automatic more reliable than another

  1. A proven, widely used movement. The Swiss Sellita SW200-1 we use in the Elemental and Air Force, and Japanese calibres such as the Miyota 82S5 in our field watches, are used in large numbers worldwide, and parts are easy to find.
  2. Real water resistance with a screw-down crown for anything over 100m.
  3. Sapphire crystal rather than mineral glass.
  4. A brand that names its movement. If it doesn't say what is inside, ask.

Automatic or quartz for reliability?

For pure accuracy with no effort, quartz wins. For a watch you can keep running and repair for generations, an automatic wins. Full comparison: automatic vs quartz vs solar vs kinetic.

Back to blog