Too often, quartz is disregarded as a cheap, passionless way to tell time. While mechanical watches are put on a pedestal as complicated high art (and to be fair, in many cases they are), quartz is labeled timekeeping’s easy answer. You can see how the perception takes root. High-end mechanical movements come from clean, brightly lit manufactures in the verdant Switzerland countryside; quartz-powered watches can be found for $50 at your local Big Lots.
But quartz watches shouldn’t be looked down upon. Many of our favorite affordable watches are made by well-regarded brands using great quartz movements. Even the high-end price range is home to some incredible quartz watches — spend four figures or more and you can have a watch that is not only more accurate than a similarly priced mechanical watch, but also comes with new features, and in impressive shapes. To put it bluntly, when watchmakers push the boundaries on what quartz movements can do, the result is some of the most technologically advanced timepieces you can buy. These five watches prove it.
Max Bill Mega
CourtesySome of Junghans’ Max Bill-designed watches quietly sport some of the coolest quartz-powered technology around: radio-controlled quartz. These otherwise understated Bauhaus watches feature a special movement that constantly checks itself against radio time signals the world over to maintain an accuracy of +/- 8 seconds a year. What’s more, they’re solar-powered, meaning they sport a power reserve of up to three years, and the date will remain accurate until the year 2400. Not bad for a dainty little dress watch, eh?
Price: ~$974+
