Whether an automatic or a quartz watch is the better buy is an age-old question watch nerds have argued about since the '70s when quartz first made a splash. The answer is actually simple—don’t let it worry you. The convenience of a quartz watch being always ready to go when you put it on may outweigh the pleasure of seeing the lovely smooth sweep of the second hand on an automatic.
Below a certain price there will always be more quartz watches than automatics, but as automatic movements get more affordable and micro-brands work to gain attention, you’ll probably be surprised at just how much choice you have. If you like a particular watch and discover it’s quartz and not automatic, I don’t think it should put you off. Both tell the time, after all.
It’s similarly easy to get caught up in only wanting a Swiss watch. There’s no question a Swiss-made watch is something special, and the majority of the best watches in the world wear the Swiss-made tag, but limiting yourself this way will mean missing out on so many other pieces. Japan will come to most people’s minds as a watchmaking powerhouse after Switzerland, but the fact is, superb watches come from all over the world, including Germany, Italy, the UK, the US, and China.
What I'm saying here is, don’t get swayed by the hype around “Swiss-made,” and don’t get caught up in the thought that a quartz movement is somehow inferior to an automatic. Find the watch that speaks to you, and don’t fret about the rest.