So I'm looking at a few Swiss Army watches, and I notice that 2 are exactly the same...except one is labeled "Automatic" and costs 2x as much.

What does that mean?  In the specs, the cheaper one says it's a "quartz movement", and the more expensive one says it's "automatic wind".

Help?

no battery or winding needed.

Does that mean it's a kinetic watch?

It's a self winding watch. Based on a jewel movement. I have a few automatics myself and I love them.  :)

it depends. the automatics use kinetic energy, so in a sense, yes. but a true automatic is going to be fully mechanical. many of the modern "kinetic" watches (sieko, for example) convert the kinetic energy to electricity, store it, and then use it to power the movement.

is one "better" than the other? it depends on what you are looking for in the watch and what aspects of design, manufacturing, and tradition appeal to you. either is more than adequate for daily timekeeping, but the mechanicals are more involved internally and cost more as a result.

I also love automatics.  I've heard that they can be shock sensative though, so you shoulnd't wear it while shooting, jackhammering, etc.  Is that true?

Anyway, the Quartz movement will be cheaper over the long run (less servicing), but there's nothing like an automatic!