Watches that Never Need a Battery Replacement

As long as I have been over 10 years old I have worn a watch. And for the last 18 years I have worn watches that never needed a replacement battery.

Why?

The reasons are several. First of all, it is relatively easy to make a quartz watch with a replaceable battery. I don't want to wear something that is easy to make. There is (arguably) little craftsmanship involved. The results (quartz watches of the same model) are uniform. There are few gears, springs and other part that belong to a real watch.

Also, I dislike the expense and hassle of having to replace the batteries. And it is not good for the environment either to do so.

What did I wear all these years? 

I wore automatic watches. Most Orient 3-star automatic watches, but also the Invicta Pro Diver Automatic Watch 8926A and the Invicta Pro Diver Automatic Watch 8926C. Automatic watches are mechanical watches that wind themselves when you wear them, from the movement of your wrist. They work well and never need winding as long as you wear them daily.

With my mom's watches, I ran into a problem. She does not wear the watch frequently enough so an automatic Orient would stop. But I got her a Citizen Eco-Drive EW3030-50A that is a quartz watch, but one powered by light so that you never need a replacement battery but don't even need to wind it or wear it. You only have to expose it to light one in a while.

Results

Not only do we never have to replace batteries, but our watches keep almost perfect time,  look nice and should last a long time. My first Orient 3-star lasted 17 years without a single cleaning. It could last longer if I cleaned it, but I just bought another one for less than $50.

I also bought a Citizen Eco-Drive CA0331-05A Chronometer for myself.

Reviews for the above watches:
Citizen Eco-Drive Watch EW3030-50A Review
Invicta Pro Diver 8926 200m Automatic Wrist Watch Review
Invicta Pro Diver 8926C (a.k.a. 8926OB) 200m Automatic Wrist Watch With Coin-Edge Bezel Review

         
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