About
Analogue quartz watches are very precise compared to mechanical watches (best mechanical chronometers drift within 4 seconds per day while quartz watches drift within 20 seconds per year). They use piezoelectric oscillation of quartz crystals for timing, but the rest of the mechanism is often pretty much the same as in mechanical watches (there also exist watches where the hands are driven by an electrical motor—stay away from these due to lower durability). Consequently, features such as perpetual calendar or chronograph are expensive and make the watch larger. While more inherently shock-proof than mechanical watches due to the absence of a tuning fork and wound spring, quartz watches have gears that can become stuck or dislodged and are not nearly as sturdy as the indestructible digital LCD watches.
The quartz watch was invented in Japan. After much resistance, one can get outrageously priced Swiss quartz watches, but why? Seiko and Citizen make better pieces and continue to innovate. They also price their watches more sensibly. Regrettably, Japanese watches marketed in North America are not as good-looking as watches the Japanese companies sell at home or even in Europe.
Seiko is the Japanese watch-maker number one. Citizen is number two. Forget about the rest.