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Random q: Are analog watches quiet?

Because... with 99.9% of analog clocks the *tick tick tick* drives me crazy! XD

I am wondering if anyone knows - if I bought an analog watch... would I not hear it at all or only when it's very quiet, or?

Thanks :D
 
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Legion

Staff member
Quartz ones are pretty much silent.

Automatic ones of quality you can only really hear if you put your ear to them.

Some cheaper and manual watches make a bt of a tick that you can hear if you are wearing them to sleep.
 

Messygoon

Abandoned By Gypsies.
Its all about the movement, or engine, that runs the hands. Quartz or Citizen EcoDrives will be silent. Quartz requires batteries, EcoDrive requires sunlight. Many analog Timex watches “take a licking but keep on ticking.” Automatic (aka self-winding) watches - my favorite - have second hands that appear to sweep and generate a fast tick audible only if held very near your eardrum.
 
Most watches are pretty quiet. I just went and pressed my ear against a mechanical Seiko SARB and could not hear anything. I tried with a good quality Seiko classic quartz (40mm) and with some focus I could barely make out a faint tick when my ear was pressed against the glass. It was the first time I had ever heard it tick.

A watch that you will notice is a Timex Weekender (38mm quartz). I would occasionally notice mine ticking while on the wrist. If the room was quiet and I wanted to focus on it I could always hear it. I nearly found the ticking noise impressive in that the original battery lasted a long time, must have been 8-10 years but I cannot remember exactly when I bought it...and all that sound was being powered by that small battery. That if so much of the power was not being wasted as noise, maybe it would have lasted many years longer.
 
Personally, I enjoy listening to my automatic watches tick. The beating of each watch is its heartbeat. That heart is powered by me, either in winding it manually or from wearing it. It's a reminder of the connection between my watch and me.

Incidentally, the ticking sound of automatic watches is much faster than that of the wall clocks. Where wall clock generally tick once per second (1bps), modern automatic watches generally tick six times per second (6bps for 21,600 bph movements) or faster. As a general rule, the higher the bph, the smoother the sweep of the second hand.
 
My Casio and Luminox watches are quiet. My Timex has an audible tick, but it's barely noticeable.
I had a Victorinox field watch that was really loud, so I had to trade it.
 
Most mechanical movements for wristwatches are „ticking“ 8 times per second it’s not comparable to the 1 second clicks of wall mounted or alarm clocks. For me it’s closer to the sound frequency of a sewing machine as it is quite fast and high pitched. As others said you can only hear it when you put your ear to it.
 
Don't buy a Swatch. My daughter has one and you can almost hear it in the next room!

My Timex makes enough noise to disturb my wife when she's trying to sleep, I have to keep my wrist under either the duvet or pillow, but you don't notice it at any other time.
 
You will have to check it out in person. Though most quartz movements are silent I have had ones (swatch) which were not.
Most mechanical movements will make some sound.
Hybrid movements like the kinetics are usually silent since the actual movement is quartz combined with either a dynamo and or solar panel.

Putting the watch on a towel at night instead of a hard soundboard table helps.
You can always buy a digital watch if it’s a problem.
 
Automatic or hand-wound watches where the second hand "sweeps" you should not be able to hear (unless you put it up to your ear, and even then). A decent quartz watch that "ticks" also should be quiet, with a few exceptions (Timex, Swatch). Like people have said, it all depends on the movement and the case.
 
I only wear analog watches. Mostly quartz, though I happen to be wearing my first/only auto today. I've never had an issue with hearing them during wear. Unless I am TRYING to hear it. My fully unscientific study this morning showed that I could hear the Invicta against my ear, and then continue to hear it (while really trying to) until it was about a foot away. This is in a room with the only other sounds being the hum of my computer monitor and the click of the analog wall clock. Which, incidentally, has stopped keeping time but still continues to "tick". At least the damn bird noises stopped....
 
Thanks for all the great replies so far everyone they've really helped!

For now I've snapped up a couple of retro digital watches on ebay but... I'll almost definitely start buying some analog ones once I can work out which ones will be quiet enough to not bother me.

I like both I guess. Smart watches are fine and all too but I'm not really buying these for functionality particularly I just want interesting, creative and classic watches :)
 
My Timex Expedition is almost a foot from my head and I've been listening to the ticking all day. And then I saw this thread. Too funny. Take Timex off your list. But the ticking doesn't bother me.
 
My Accutron watches have a 300hz hum from the movement. I only notice it when I out it up to my ear, and sometimes in a quiet room if it is put on a wooden nightstand.
 
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