From when Quartz was cutting edge.................and very expensive.

[keitht]

The race to produce the worlds first production quartz wrist watch is well documented and known to most...as to who won, you either side with Seiko or CEH, and nobody really remembers the others. ( Ronda springs to mind )

That is somewhat of a shame, but as with most things, its the winners we remember.
But who won is not reallythe point for me, its what came next that I find the most interesting.

The direction & diversity of the quartz movements developed and produced in those early days is staggering, and we are not talking about no jewelled plastic 10p rubbish, we are talking marvels of precision engineering.
Such is the quality of these early quartz its hardly surprising the price of the early quartz was so high in comparison to ( most ) of their mechanical & electric counterpart as the development costs alone must have huge.

2 companies stand out when it comes to prolific development and production of quartz calibres in the early seventies...

Omega and Seiko, and with Seiko seemingly competing against themselves as well through the Daini and Suwa factories they surely are the kings of that early era.

I have recently aquired one such example of the above.....
The Seiko V.F.A 3932-5010.
Totally over engineered, beautifully put together, and boasting one of the most useless features ever to adorn a watch.
Conflicting sources put introduction of these models at between 72 & 74, mine is date stamped 04/73 so either could be correct.


Housing the very unique Daini made 3932a.
Several features make this movement and model very different from any others that Seiko produced.
Most obvious is the LED on the top right of the dial, this flashes to indicate each second...( hmmmm...like i said most uselss feature ) but the main interest is the movement itself.
4 bridge plates to mount the gear train, twin coils, and no stepper motor.
Instead this movement uses an electromagnetic escapement much like the Omega Cal 1500 series, though with only a one armed pallet and something akin to the index finger on a tuning fork movement, though it is of course far more complicated than this.

All this produces a very commendable, even at todays standard, -/+ 5spm.

The 3922/3 was part of Seikos V.F.A range, ( very fine adjustment ) these were the range toppers and the quartz versions the dearest of all. The construction is absolutely amazing, with a quality to the finish that would be hard to surpass.
The faceted mineral crystal is a solid peice and must be 7mm thick at the peak, and the quartz script is cut into the back and then coloured, its details like this that set these apart.

Marketed at the time as ' Superior ' because they truly were, and as such a designation that would soon replace the title V.F.A to single out Seikos finest.

This particular model was around 100,000 yen in 1973 , and Suwa's offering at the time the 3822/3, which utilised a stepper motor, cost a whopping 150,000 yen, so not a watch for the average man on the street.

(Disassembled and movement pics are from a previous example I have had.) And apologies my pictures do not do it justice.

[foselo]

Interesting article - thank You for sharing
regards
Terje

[Carlton-Browne]

Thanks, Keith, that's very interesting; I really like the look of these and particularly the crystal. As a matter of interest how often between battery changes?

[JonRA]

Thanks Keith - I love reading these pieces about the history of quartz

ATB

Jon

[paskinner]

I enjoyed reading that, not least because I use a contemporary GS quartz movement...which continues the tradition of those 70s designs. The '9f' GS quartz modules are pretty special. Accurate to less than one second a month, and sealed in modules which Seiko predict will need no servicing for 50 years. Their torque is such that they can drive heavier hands than other quartz watches; the divers 115/117 watches have the same hands as the mechanical models. My 117 arrives from Japan tomorrow.
I do hope that we see more high accuracy quartz models over the next few years; the industry has been so busy marketing quartz as cheap and cheerful that they have been caught napping by the rise of the smart watches.. Firms such as Breitling and Citizen are doing a decent job; at some point Rolex and Omega may not be able to resist this trend. Mechanical watches are wonderful, but so, potentially, are some quartz designs. There's room for both in the market. Each has a distinct role.

[Mitch]

Interesting temperature adjusted movement.

It seem very well engineered throughout.

A pity about the flashing LED it does spoil the aesthetics a bit and crucially, it will be running them batteries down quite quickly.




Mitch

[Tony-GB]

Great write up and sharing of knowledge, thanks. Wish there was a video of the watch showing the LED which is an extremely useful feature in the dark!

[wookie]

Cheers Keith, Nice write up.
I've always fancied adding one of those 39's to my collection. And although pretty pointless the little red light is quite cool to my eyes.
I have a few early Seiko quartzes my favourite being this 3883 GFA, another expensive model in its day and rated to 2 seconds a month which it still manages amazingly. They seem to be getting a little more interest and value over the last couple of years but bargains from the 38 series can still be had very cheaply, I'd recommend one to anyone who fancies dipping their toe into vintage quartz but does not want to break the bank.
wook