Quartz Watches versus Mechanical

There are two main categories of watches: Mechanical and quartz.

A mechanical watch is powered by the store energy in a wound main spring. The spring must first be initially compressed, and then the spring is slowly released causing the hands to move for a period of time, typically around 40 hours. The differences in mechanical watches is the method for how the main spring is compressed. This is either done by winding the winder by hand, or by rotation of an internal rotor caused by the movement of the wearer's wrist. Either way, all mechanical watches are made purely from mechanical parts.

A quartz watch is powered by a watch battery and feature electronic chips which translate the pulses from the quartz crystal into steady and accurate movement of the watch hands. Quartz watches are currently the most common type of watch, and are employed by nearly every major brand including Rotary, Tissot, Accurist, Citizen and Sekonda.

The decision of which type of watch to purchase is a personal one. A quartz watch is generally more accurate than a mechanical watch. They are also cheaper to produce, and therefore have a lower average price tag. A typical quartz watch can be as accurate to half a second per day, while a mechanical watch is usually several seconds out of synchronisation by the end of the day. However, for most people, this accuracy is not a signifcant factor when making a decision. The attractiveness of mechanical watches is often the knowledge that the watch is a traditional, crafted machine which has a far greater difficulty of being assembled than a quartz watch - they also have historic value. Several watch brands take advantage of the looks of the internal assembly by having a skeleton view of the dial (a glass back and / or front where the wearer can see the moving parts of the watch). Some people will find mechanical watches inconvenient, as they must be 'wound' every day to ensure the watch does not stop and have to be reset. The main downside to quartz watches is that the battery must be changed every few years. However this is generally a quick, cheap and painless process which involves leaving it with a jeweller for a while.

In terms of long term durability, because of the greater number of moving partz in a mechanical watch, they often have to be serviced more often then a quartz watch.

Other types of watches include Citizen Eco-drive which is powered by light and therefore does not need a battery change.

In general, for someone who is after a good looking watch that is used to look good and tell the time, we recommend either quartz or Citizen Eco-drive. For those who prefer more traditional and classic looking watches we recommend mechanical.

Royal London Watches

We are now an official stockist for Royal London Watches. Produced by the Condor Group, the range features various different styles from classical to modern, all at affordable prices.

As well as product watches, Condor is a well known producer of high quality leather straps and watch bracelets.

All Royal London watches come with a 2 year guarantee against workmanship faults and an attractive presentation box..

Watch Shop UK - a brief overview

We at Watch Shop UK are official distributors of brand name watches. This includes fashion watches, designers watches, and watches for every day wear. We feature various watch brands including Citizen, Rotary, Seksy, Tissot, Police and Accurist.

Because our watches are sold online our overheads are lower. This means that we are able to pass on huge discounts to the customer - you will find our prices surprisingly cheaper compared to high street stores- making us your number one source for cheap watches.

We sell both mens and ladies watches and have a huge range to provide you with a huge selection. All watches are shipping directly from our stock - so you can buy in the confidence that you will receive your watch in a timely and organised manner.

Sekonda - best selling watch brand in the UK

Unlike most common watch manufacturers, Sekonda is a british company. Established in 1966, Sekonda began making mechanical watches. After quartz was introduced Sekonda moved their production facilities to Hong Kong. A combination of fashionable designs, wide-scale marketing and exceptional guarantees and support has led Sekonda to become the best selling watch brand in the UK. It achieved this title in 1988, and has kept it ever since. Out of all the watch brands available in the UK, Sekonda sells the most units.

Since 1988, the world has experienced a introduction of many fashion brands, such as Police watches, D&G and Guess watches. This period saw the fashion brands introducing a manner of different styles backed up by the strength of a well known (usually clothing) brand name.

To compete with these brands and help maintain Sekonda as the number one selling brand, Sekonda launched a range of ladies fashion watches called Seksy. Seksy was introduced in 2004 and has become one of the largest and most well known fashion brands. This was achieved by producing watches aimed at the 20's women which were extremely fashionable, attractive, colourful and also importantly: extremely good value for money - as well as having a memorable and ingenious name (a combination of the words Sekonda and Sexy). Seksy watches have become the largest ladies fashion brand in the UK. Advertisements for Seksy watches are displayed throughout the UK - on posters in shopping malls as well as on television.

Due to the huge success of Seksy, Sekonda introduced the equivalent mens fashion brand: Sekonda ONE. This has also become a hugely successful and popular brand for Sekonda. Sekonda ONE represents some of the most fashionable mens watches currently on the market.

Sometimes Sekonda is overlooked because of the low price tag - but Sekonda have never sacrificed quality: A huge selling point of the Sekonda brand is their excellent standards of quality control. The return rate is less than 1%.

We are a proud official stockist of all Sekonda watches - in their own words : Beware of expensive imitations.

Tissot Watches

Tissot is a watch brand that was established in 1853 and is a member of The Swatch Group. Tissot was the first company to ever make a watch from plastic, and wood, as well as rock. All the movements in Tissot watches are genuine swiss movements. Tissot offers both quartz, automatic and mechanical watches.

Tissot is a sponsor of many sporting events including Nascar and MotoGP. In recognition of these sports and events, they create commemorative watches such as the Tissot T-Race Nascar and MotoGP editions.

Recently, Tissot has become famous for one of its pioneering technology based watches: the Tissot T-Touch watch. This type of watch features touch screen technology, enabling the wearer to operate a variety of functions such as compass and altimeter by touching the crystal of the watch, as opposed to pushing buttons. The Tissot T-Touch watch has been featured in films such as Tomb Raider.

Our current most popular line is the Tissot PR50 and PRC100 watches.

Tissot is a brand which represents excellent value for money for a genuine swiss made time piece which has style and flare.