Reply With QuoteThe ASTRON.
Despite liking mechanical and analogue watches, the watches I wear most are my G-Shock GW-5000 if I'm being casual or my Ventura Sparc RX if I'm being smart.
The G-Shock can handle pretty much anything and has wonderful features that aren't necessary but are nice to have: solar, radio, auto backlight. This is on top of the stopwatch, alarm etc. It's not pretty, although it has a certain functional charm.
The Ventura is beautiful, smart and well-built. It's the opposite to the G-shock in that it only tells the time (without seconds) and the date by flicking a dial. It does have the magic power supply, though.
What's the latest and greatest quartz digital watch? I'd like something that combines the tech of the G-shock with the beauty and quality of the Ventura. Preferably priced between the two.
Is the only realistic choice still the Seiko SDGA? The Ventura Spark MGS looks a bit wild, and probably costs a bomb. The Seiko SBPG Power Design doesn't look good enough to me.
What other choices are there with excellent, modern, tech-laden quartz?
The ASTRON.
Citizen Appleseed XIII
I have the SDGA003 and its a fantastic watch.
If I hadnt bought that, I would have been tempted by the Sparc RX which is an equally fantastic watch in its own right.
I really like them both for various reasons.
The looks of both are fine, with the SDGA being understated and with the SPARC being a future design icon IMO.
I bought the SDGA for the technology, for the Solar and 'radiowave' functions, which I really like.
Still very tempted by the Sparc, but having the SDGA it would be a tad extravagant for me to purchase it.
I might buy the ASTRON in order to have an advanced analogue Seiko to compliment the digital SDGA.
I see no problem with the above watches being used as well as my mechanical watches.
The thing is the quality of the display.
The latest reflective LCDs have come a long way and the new LED-like Omega Z33 seems promising if the price comes wáy down, but for the time being EPD is wáy ahead of anything else at the same price level.
I own both an SparcRX and EDP which Watchscout mentions and have done a review in the review section.
The EPD display wins hands down. The RX ditto for the design and quality of build but then when it came out almost 10 years ago it already it cost 2500 Euros. Subsequent prices are a product of the brand going bust and not representative.
If you want something smart not costing a bomb, you might want to look at the Diesel OLED offerings. Better than all but highest end reflective LCD and not such a power drain as LED.
Per example:
ASTRON vs Appleseed
Originally Posted by WatchScout
From 'mycroft' over on 'that other forum:'
Quick impressions:
1.Design: I like the Citizen design better - it looks cooler - looks like a floating pebble (design inspired by a rendition of Atlantis); Seiko probably designed by engineers - functional, conservative but uninspired artistically
2.Citizen gives more concessions for design over function - the green coils in the periphery of the bezel is a useless design artifice
3.Display: Citizen displays date, day, month; Seiko only shows date
4.Seiko has very bright Lumibrite indicators and less bright luminous minute and hour indicators; Citizen has phlegm/pus-coloured green indicators which are not luminous at all - how stupid is that!
5.Citizen only shows 1 timezone. Seiko has 2
6.Seiko has potentially confusing sub-indicators at 10 o'clock; Citizen has a cleaner dial (even with more date functions)
7.Function - GPS fix: Seiko GPS sync is very fast (10sec 1st sync time) even in full cloud cover; Citizen has a 90% sync failure rate at the same spot - forget about syncing in less than full sun or under dense cloud cover
8.DST setting: Seiko DST can be turned on and off
9.Leap second: Seiko will take into account leap second adjustments
10.Functionally, the Seiko is more advanced - able to sync via GPS fix both time signals (1 satellite needed only) and time zone via GPS location fix (the world is divided into 1 million segments and assigned time zones) with 4 or more satellites. Citizen only syncs time on those occasions when sync is successful (large minority of attempts)
11.It appears that either the Seiko GPS chipset or GPS antenna (embedded in bezel like the Citizen's) or combination of both is clearly superior in deliverable functionality that is beyond what Citizen can, beyond its pretty face.
12.Size-wise, both are 47mm diameter but Seiko is 16.5mm thick and Citizen is 20mm (if I remember correctly) - evident in the side view pictures
13.Materials: Seiko comes in High intensity Ti (whatever that means!!) with ceramic bezel and Citizen comes in Ceramic bezel and lugs but has a coated Stainless steel midsection for the case.
14.Pushers are smaller and more discreet in the Seiko and very ornately stylised in the citizen
15.Citizen does not have a bracelet option. Ultimately the strap will crack and break up. Seiko has a Ti bracelet
16.Both have solid case backs
17.Sapphire Crystal: Citizen is domed and beautiful; Seiko is flat
18.Anti-reflective Coating: Citizen - none, hence domed crystal is full of reflections and also difficult to photograph well; Seiko has the best anti-reflective coating that I have ever seen on a watch (previous best was Sinn U1) - it is clear, colorless and really looks like there is no crystal over the watch face at all (except for some extreme angles). Few if any coatings are truely colorless, most have a bluish green tinge to it.
19.Water-resistance: Citizen - 30m; Seiko - 100m, with a screw down crown (pushers have no screw down protection)
20.Power reserve: Citizen quotes 2.5yrs; Seiko quotes 6 months running and 2 yrs with power-save 2 option activated immediately after full charge
21.Both are complicated watches to set and few will be able to fully remember all the steps and trouble shooting settings required beyond simple adjustments. I don't think that either one is clearly simpler in this area.
The Astron looks like a good option for analogue. It's a shame the choices seem fairly limited for digital.
I had hoped that Casio could do a digital Edifice or something like that.
The Suunto Ambit looks interesting, but I guess that battery life is very short.
The problem with the EPD watches is the lack of seconds on the display - which limits the useful functions.
The OLED display is fun but not functional.
LCD still offers the best of both of the above. So the Seiko Spirit SBFG003 offers all of the G-Shock's good points in a more dressy style.
I think those might be the SBPG, not the SBFG, but I can't say I'm sure of the difference. (One is the Power Design, the other is the Spirit, according to Seiya).
The photos make it look better than the ones on Seiya's website, though.
Despite a lot of comings and goings in my collection I've had this SPBG001 for over three years now. It's pretty much all the watch you need imho, as long as you like the looks.
A few pics.
Importantly for me it's very intuitive to use, unlike a lot of other multi-function watches. Makes a great holiday watch too as it has a 100m depth rating and has a good alarm function.
Cheers,
Gary
You are probably right, the pic came from a google image search. I particularly like the black one though.
Left button and presto; seconds.
It would be no problem to have it in 1/1000th sec stopwatch. It would just take a short moment before the exact digits are displayed. The measurement itself would be as exact as one can press the buttons.
There is no dispute that LCD is faster. That displays the digits a lot faster. Not that this is makes all that much sense as we cannot see anthing faster than about 1/20th of a second anyway.
Whether running 1/100th or 1/1000th is more functional is thus open to discussion.
EPD is truely freeform wich is quite functional for a display as it can thus represent time in ány formaat.
EPD offers vastly superior legibility and you pay for that.
LCD in its classic form is rather bland, not very sharp, does not provide a display oozing quality.
That is why the negative display is prefered at the higher end of it. Reflective backing makes it look better still. Not quite EPD though. The Z33 one is getting there but at a price; both in money and energy.
Why?
How come?
I have a Diesel Oled, demo here:
Because it takes a lot of energy compared to an LCD or EPD to display, it's not on permanently, you have to press a button to make it display.
Here I have to admit I've not experienced the EPD 1st hand, so concede your point.
The upcoming Morgenwerk looks interesting : http://www.ablogtowatch.com/morgenwe...-mobile-phone/
- TC
- GPS
- Digi/Ana (top model only)
- reasonably priced
Less than LED and both those have very high display quality.
Way beter than LCD which is a display function.
Press for time is indeed a feature. A drawback for some.
I do not see that as unfuncional though.
I occasionally wear LED and that has a VERY high end quality to it.
I often wear LED too, maybe 3 days out of 7, either my Synchronar or Omega TC2. It's my favorite display type, but only the Synchronar overcomes the power consumption issue through it's solar power source.
Maybe a Junghans Mega?
It is a pity that there is no such modern version.
With modern electronics, the power consumption can be seriously reduced and today´s solar cells provide far more energy for a lot better accumulators.
The draw back for some that it eeds to be switched on can be solved with an inertia switch like Pulsar fitted in the end. Those too have seriously evolved.
For the discriminate wis who has no fobia for electronics or digital displays, the LED is still thé highest quality display in all but sunny conditions.
Some excelllent ones mentioned already (EPD).
I have and really like these Braun digitals, released last year I think. Got mine earlier this year.
(Picture from 'net)
Really like the look of the Seiko SDGA - where is the best place to get one? Seiya?
Citizen looks more Avant-garde than the Seiko
Which was the point I made to Jesper about its design more befitting the technology.
The Seiko can house a 4R15, an sd an 8F whatever; it is a véry well made thirteen a dozen desígn belying the avant-garde innards.
I would prefer Seiko to make a sleekly avant-garde style solar powered satellite one with a inertia switch activated frugal LED. Anyhing else I would not consider a technical step up from SDGA EPD
The Braun is a good call. Much more sensibly priced versus the Venturas. Presumably the Braun has cut down on some things when using the Ventura tech, but if the display is as good then it's a bonus. The LCD on my RX beats the G-Shock's hands down and I believe some other Venturas (Alphas etc) use even better displays (more elements, better font etc) and the Braun looks more like those.
A backlight too is super.
I'm still probably tending towards a Seiko so I get the full tech and it will be more different to my RX.
A modern LED would be fun, I agree, especially if it was in a more "normal" design unlike the Synchronars etc. I don't think I'm cool enough for those "futuristic" designs.
Or a Sparc-or Kinetic- style mechanical accumulator gizmo? On the one hand it would be silly to spoil a high-tech GPS quartz watch with something mechanical, but it would mean it could look better without the solar panels. The "inertia switch" will be built in too with that weight swinging around!
(All assuming that the power generation abilities are good enough.)
You don´t have to see those anymore and LED offers lots of space around the actual LEDs.
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