When you think about watches and especially about what makes a watch tick, you most probably think about automatic watches or quartz watches. Chances are that maybe some people never heard or even imagine about watches that are not automatic but neither they have the need to change its batteries after some time, I am talking about solar powered watches for men and what makes this type of watches so useful and an essential type of watch that every man should have in its collection.
Convenience
Collecting watches is something that a attracts a lot of people and to be honest is something that watch collectors don't do because they have the need to read the time from their watches, because on this modern day's everyone looks more at the time on its cellphones than on a wristwatch, but watches are more than just a time telling tool they are a nice accessory for the person that wears one. Like a woman compliments her style with jewellery, watches are the same for men, they are our complimenting jewellery.
But when owning more than one watch sometimes keeping them always in time and running can be a little bit complicated. Like the automatic watches that after not using them for more than two to four days, in most of the cases, and leaving them laying in your wardrobe or desk they can stop ticking because they need to be winded constantly and that can be more inconvenient than convenient when you are in a rush and want to have your watch in time and ticking at the time of putting them.
So, after reading the last paragraph, you might say that a solution for that "inconvenience" might be to have a simple quartz watch that will be always ticking without needing you to wind it every determined period. And the answer is yes, but also no. Because quartz watches can be always ticking even without wearing them for a week, but there is a slight chance that after that week without using it, the battery of your watch might be dead and you will need to take it to the jeweller to change its batteries. Yes, that is something that has a very low probability chance, but it can happen.
Nonetheless, I have a possible solution for that, and that is a solar powered watch. Because these type of watches use the sunlight and also any other type of light that they can catch, even man-made light, they will be always charged and ticking unless you leave it in a place where there is no source of light entering like a drawer or box. But if that is not the case, well you are going to have a watch that will be always ticking, on time and ready for action when you need it the most or when you are in a rush and need something that is convenient and working for giving you the time on your wrist.
Reliability
Unlike the normal quartz watches, the solar ones don't need to a battery replacement after a couple of years or less, depending on the watch, they only need a service after 10 years or so from the date of purchase if new. Besides that you will get a timepiece that will be maybe the most reliable of your collection in terms of being always working and accuracy, because solar watches are in essence quartz watches but instead of getting the energy from a battery they will get the energy from the light, so you will be getting the accuracy that quartz movements are known for but with a little extra from a conventional quartz.
Also, you can rely on always having an option within your collection that will be there and get the job well done whenever you need it. So I think that these type of watches can be the most reliable and convenient watch that you can have and count on in your collection.
You will never run out of energy sources
Let's face it, sunlight and man-made lights are everywhere and available for you, so that means that the possibilities and options for charging your solar powered watch are almost infinite. Of course that if you try to charge the battery entirely by using only the light of your reading lamp its going to take forever to completely charging it or at least a lot of time, but don't worry you will always have the sun for doing that job in much less time, unless you live in the North pole, where you can have entire months of night only days, but in most cases you will have the sun available every day to charge your watch.
Also, because during the day, no matter if its cloudy or not, there is always some sort of sun rays that will be charging your watch without you needing to point it to the sun, only by using it during the day, your watch will be automatically charging and for me that is one of the most convenient features of these type of watches.
Some examples of brands with solar powered watches
Not all the brands in the market offer this type of technology for its watches, I would say that maybe only some of them do, and I will give you some examples of brands which offer this type of watches that I think are relevant when looking for a solar powered watch.
I would like to start with one of my favorite brands regarding this segment, Citizen, this brand has developed a very well known technology for solar powered watches in the market, called Eco-Drive which I think it works exceptionally well and which I have experience with. The power reserve for these watches can be up to six months without the need to charge it, which is insane, especially when comparing with automatic watches that normally after some days without winding them they stop ticking.
Another brand that I know that offers very good solar powered watches is Seiko, which also has a broad range of solar watches which they work really well and only needs a couple of minutes of sunlight to charge the sufficient amount of battery that will give an entire day of battery and after three hours the watch can be with full battery which is very convenient, in my opinion.
Other brands that offer solar watches in its range are Casio, with some watches of the G-Shock line and also in the other Casio lines. Also, the Swiss brand Tissot, which is one of the best "entry level" Swiss brands, offers some of its watches which a solar power technology.
Conclusion
As we can see, owning a solar powered watch can be very convenient and useful and it can also be a very good addition to your collection. Some people may say that they don't like these type of watches because they have a quartz movement and that they prefer an automatic movement and that's ok, because every person has its own tastes and preferences, but if you ask me I would always recommend to have at least one of these watches or try to have one and you will see that you will not regret it because of the convenience of having one.