So far I own four of these type of watches and can fairly give some comments about the good and bad of them.
Firstly, the battery powered quartz, analogue or digital. Well, they are very cheap to produce, so cheap, you can own many of them. Quartz movement, being simpler, are also thinner, making them very suitable as dress watches. Besides, the quartz is a very accurate timekeeping material compared to most entry level mechanicals. For mechanical watches to achieve the same level of thinness and accuracy would be very costly.
The downside is, battery needs to be changed. Some quartz watches that have the combination of digital and analogue indications run on two batteries. And they last for about two years perhaps. It's cheap if you change yourself but cost about RM15 per battery (including labour) if changing them at watch shops. Some Casio watches boast 10 years of battery lifespan but these are normally fully digital watches. You can save some money by changing battery yourself but some digital watches especially G-Shocks are not easy to open up its back case for battery change. Best to leave this to professional.
Another thing about quartz is that its second hand runs on a tick-by-tick movement which is less smooth compared to the sweeping second hand found on mechanicals. I am actually fine with the ticking movement but some people stress too much on this feature somehow. Anyway, there are a few quartz movements that have sweeping second hand but they are very expensive, although wall clocks with sweeping second hand are quite affordable. Some people claim that Seiko produces sweeping second hand quartz but they are actually chronographs where that sweeping hand functions as a stop watch. It still doesn't sweep as smooth as mechanicals actually.
Quartz movement doesn't last as long as mechanicals and will die within 5 to 10 years, depending on the quality. Because of this limited lifespan, quartz movement watches are not suitable as heirloom watch and don't command high resale value compared to mechanicals. Although the movement is cheap and you can simply replace them when it dies, it will loss the originality of the watch. It's like a classic car with a modern engine, it just doesn't feel classic any more.
Solar powered watches like Citizen Ecodrive and Seiko Solar have the same attributes as battery powered quartz, except that its battery last a lot more longer as it is constantly being recharged by the solar power. To get enough solar power, these watches can't be kept inside the drawer all the time. Hence, you may leave them on the table most of the time, causing a mess on the table. As in everything else, rechargeable batteries don't last forever and a replacement battery cost about RM70, the last I heard.
Now come to mechanicals. I believe the above has also covered a fair bit about mechanical watches. The cost to make a quartz is cheaper than mechanicals simply because the mechanical movement has to be assembled by humans, although its components are mass produced these days. One exception is perhaps the Swatch Sistem51 which is claimed to be fully made by robots. Hand assembled movement will always be more expensive than quartz movement which is essentially a mass produced circuit board.
Before further comparing the manual and self winding, I just need to emphasise about a common marketing talk about mechanicals. Although there is no change of battery needed, they are also not cheap to maintain. Mechanicals need to be regulated after some years of usage and especially if you have dropped them. My Seiko 5 Superior is running faster by 5 minutes every week while my wife's Seiko 5 (4206 caliber) is out by 1 hour in every 12 hours! Although you can clearly see the +/- screw from the see thru case back, regulation setting should better be done by expert and this cost money. Apart from regulation, mechanicals need lubrication after some years of usage, as the rotor can be quite noisy and squeaky.
Needless to say, mechanicals can be passed down from generation to generation. Some simple repair and regulation are all they ever needed to get it going.
Between pure manual winding and self winding (some with the option to wind manually like the Swatch's Sistem51), you will often find that pure manual winding are much thinner, making them more elegant and suitable as dress watches. The collection of manual winding watches I have are all less than 10mm of thickness. Unfortunately, I doubt you can still find any pure manual winding watch these days.
Anyway, the thickness is expected as self winding mechanicals need to accommodate for the rotor and this probably increase the thickness by a few mm. Nonetheless, modern watches with good water resistance also contributes to the thickness.
Obviously, manual winding watches need to be winded manually, everyday before wearing them. Self winding mechanical will harness the power from your wrist movement to wind the mechanics. It will normally has sufficient power from wearing the watch for one day to power the watch for another one day without wearing it. Swatch Sistem51 boasts a power reserve of 90 hours but I am interested to some verification from real owner on this claim. Anyway, that watch cost about RM560 which is made of plastic while the same amount of money can get you an Orient Bambino.
So there you have it. All of them with the pros and cons. By the way, as a watch enthusiasts, it's not about having the most expensive watch to brag but wearing the right watch to go with the clothing or activities. It will always look odd wearing an expensive Rolex diver to match with a suit. Quartz watches like Skagen or Obaku will go well in formal business wear compared to thick automatic diver.
