Reply With QuoteThanks for that illuminating post. I very much enjoyed reading it.
Another cool Quartz,
..
The quartz watch is often accused by enthusiasts as being "soul-less". A mass-produced disposable merit-less trinket of zero horological interest. I may have thought so too, at least once upon a time. But I think it is actually an area of incredible variety and interest. Human ingenuity and engineering at its best.
Taking nothing away from the mechanical wonders we enjoy, here are a few I find or found worthy of thought. Just don't expect to see $ value or rarity necessarily promoted as interesting. There is much more to enjoy than bragging rights in this area!
First, let's calibrate ourselves with a standard quartz watch. Here, a simple and functional Tissot:
The movement is nondescript, tiny, generic, and has to wear a plastic spacer like a small child desperately clutching a life-belt:
Perfectly likely to give its owner (me, as it happens) long, economical and trouble-free service.
For watch fans, though, perhaps the epitome of boredom, and maybe watches like these are the source of the "soul-less" reputation.
Moving quickly on then, to a 1978 Omega. It came to me broken and dirty...
50 (1) by Japanpaul, on Flickr
I cleaned it up and fixed it:
As you can see, the movement fits the case without a plastic spacer, and is both beautiful and beautifully engineered. Very similar in quality to mechanical Omegas of the period.
The enclosed drive train is exposed for cleaning and oiling here, showing that "quartz" does not imply "not mechanical".
The time is set by pressing in the very centre of the crown, the hands being smoothly powered around the dial until the pressure is released.
The electronic circuit design is sufficiently well thought through that it functions today on the more environmentally friendly but lower voltage cells than it would have originally been fitted with.
While similar on the outside to the Tissot, on the inside this is an excellent, thoughtful design. Well engineered and executed.
Which brings me nicely to another 70s offering. One of the few expensive quartz models I obtained:
The Rolex Oysterquartz Day Date, released in 1977 with in-house Rolex movement 5055. Movement picture from Oysterquartz.net:
From the same site we take this information, upon which I cannot improve:
Exactly! A lovely thing and these (along with their non-daydate cousins) remain serviceable by Rolex.The drive mechanism for the 5035/5055 is very similar to the design of a traditional mechanical watch escapement. The pulse motor drives a pallet fork which in turn moves a pallet wheel. The loud "tick" you hear every second are the pallets engaging the pallet wheel....
...this movement still remains one of the most "over-engineered" quartz movements ever produced and clearly carries on the Rolex tradition of solid engineering, superb finishing, and understated beauty.
Moving back to earth somewhat, and on to the early 1980s I offer this Seiko 7548-7000:
Interesting because the watch was an upgrade from the much-admired (these days) automatic 6309 and the movement shares the base design.
It is also, I believe, a "twin pulse" quartz movement, Seiko's approach to pushing the seconds-hand around the dial without that common "wall-clock" effect of the wobbly seconds-hand bouncing. An issue with analogue quartz watches due to the relatively low torque (to save battery power) provided, compared to mechanical movements powered by a spring.
I can highly recommend Martin's tear-down of one of these to witness the engineering. It is a site full of information and superb pictures, freely offered.
To the 90s then and these titanium Seikos. A particularly innovative period for Seiko. Pre mobile phones. Seiko were at the height of their powers, developing movement and casing technology, at prices within reasonable reach.
Clockwise from bottom left, a Seiko 8F56, Seiko Landmaster (Ohba limited edition) and Seiko Landmaster 5M45. The 8F56 was Seiko's all-singing all-dancing high-accuracy (less than 20s/year) high-frequency (192KHz) perpetual calendar, GMT movement with a 10 year battery.
Just read that again! What a technical tour-de-force.
The Landmasters I have waxed lyrical about on here many times before, but suffice to say that Seiko were innovating with case materials (using titanium for diving watches before anyone else, the patented L-shaped as opposed to round gaskets, and front-loading movements in monocoque cases) and here they added all of these together with their kinetic movement. Much derided in modern times by watch aficionados but fully deserving of a re-appraisal:
Seiko, Casio and Citizen continued to experiment with new ways to measure time, beyond just the re-arranging of cogs, escapement and a spring. Solar LCD, Solar/capacitor (Eco Drive), Kinetic, Spring drive. Seiko even released a watch powered by thermal energy of the wearer's wrist. Some of these lasted, including the kinetic. It is a miniature marvel of micro-engineering.
If you appreciate mechanical watches for the engineering and craftsmanship aspect, a kinetic (or Spring Drive) movement surely offers even more for your consideration.
These things are not born whole. Teams need to consider, design, and manufacture them successfully. That Seiko continue to do so, and provide kinetic watches at reasonable prices, is a small gift to everyone who appreciates horological variety. The "Journey in Time" book gives an account of the kinetic development, and is well worth a read, as is the Landmaster history here.
From the same era we have this from Citizen:
Eco Drive PMX56-2591
The interest here is the combination of one-piece "Duratect" hardened titanium case with Citizen's Eco-Drive movement. Always accurate, minimal maintenance at least until the capacitor/battery needs to be replaced (Citizen's estimate is 18-20 years) and reasonably priced.
No "interesting quartz" discussion would be complete without a mention of Grand Seiko. Seiko, who grow their own quartz crystals and even for their cheapest watches, produce everything in-house, never stopped refining the quartz movement. Their current thermo-compensated twin-pulse 9F movements are rightly considered some of the very best available. This earlier 8F movement is also interesting in that it offers an independently movable hour-hand, unlike the 9F.
(cover removed)
The rarer 9F82 is a slightly thinner version of the popular 9F62, making this one of my most svelte analogue watches:
Echoing back to the 7548 Seiko dive watch, the more recent models sport the 7C46 movement, such as my Marinemaster 1000m:
This combines Seiko's one-piece case in titanium, a ceramic shroud, sapphire glass and those L-shaped gaskets to achieve its 1000m water resistance without excessive weight nor requirement for an helium release valve.
The high quality 7-jewelled 7C46 movement is no longer twin-pulse but has boosted torque to drive those large hands, yet still manages a battery life of 5 years. The same rugged movement powers my 300m Tuna, too:
Somewhere between these things and the run-of-the-mill movements are the analogue-digital mechanisms. In my opinion it is difficult to harmoniously integrate a digital display with an analogue dial, but I find this Hermès model has achieved a reasonable look:
It uses an ETA movement, also fitted to older Omega and TAG models. Interesting in that the entire watch, including analogue and digital functions (stopwatch, countdown timer, alarm, dual time) can be controlled by the single crown.
I find the thought that someone, or some team, had to sit down and work all this out and bring it market right first time (no "software update") as intriguing as any tale of mechanical watch development. The smart person's smart watch, perhaps.
I hope this little review of not particularly rare, expensive nor idolised models was interesting. Please feel free to post your own interesting quartzes!
Paul
Last edited by Tokyo Tokei; 17th October 2020 at 07:20. Reason: fixed lost images
Thanks for that illuminating post. I very much enjoyed reading it.
Another cool Quartz,
..
It certainly isOriginally Posted by quietly
A couple more
Brilliant topic Paul, thanks, really enjoyed reading that, I wholeheartedly agree with you, a good Quartz watch is easy to enjoy.
Cheers..
Jase
Thanks for a fantastic and informative post. There's so much to appreciate about a quality quartz watch.
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Love this! What model is it?
Excellent post, many thanks! I wish there more like this recently.
I once had a Seiko 6M26 from the mid nineties - the quartz movement was a virtuoso: time, annual calendar, chrono, countdown timer, alarm, all displayed solely on the main dial.
Unfortunately, like so many interesting Seikos, integrated bracelet.
As below - an excellent post.
Here's my one quartz - the Citizen F100 Satilite Wave. It contains Citizens Eco Drive movement as detailed in the OP, which packs a perpetual calendar along with GPS time syncing.
All of this is housed in a beautifully crafted (IMO) titanium case with integrated bracelet. Thanks to the Duratec coating, after one years ownership there isn't a single mark on it (although it gets the least amount of wear - damn those mechanicals!)
Couple of pictures below - one (poor) one of mine, and one borrowed from the internet that far better shows the quality of construction than anything I could possibly take.
(IMG)(IMG)
I so enjoyed your writing.
Thanks!
I also have that other family of quartz; the solid state ones. From LED via LCD to EPD.
Have a prioneering tech watch obtained from the co-inventor of LCD p.e.
The summit is for me my SDGA001 of the O0 serie.
In a way it is the ultimate mechanical too: Physical particles from the sun drive an electron pump to generate the power which keeps a quartz cristal tuning fork oscilating. The display is made legble by phisically moving nano particles of pigment.
Imo about as mechanical as it comes; just at a microscopic level. Hardly something to be sneezed upon because one can't see it with the naked eye.
As if that is not enough, is synchronizes with an atomic clock through a radio signal bouncing off against clouds.
All that is a VERY rugged package.
I am at the point of getting a next generation watch; I consider the smartwatch a watch.
Imo combining the smart tech with an EPD is the answer to a real world functional smartwatch.
It surprises me a bit that Casio is the only one of the Japanese big three who has recently adopted this tech.
As there is no sight yet on Seiko launching one, I will probably buy a Pebble watch to hook up to my IP-68 spec. mobile.
The Next Generation:
Great post!
I love the Omega - a lovely simple and elegant design
Quartz watches are just as awesome as mechanical ones (especially when you think that they break down a lot harder and the accuracy is a lot better).
With that in mind, I do prefer having a watch with a REAL quartz movement. I like that first Casio but I don't like the movement though... Those little plasticy things are not my thing (even if they're made of metal).
Thanks Paul for a thoroughly enjoyable post and those are some beautiful examples of an often unappreciated genre of the watch collecting world. I have a couple of mechanical watches remaining in the collection but quartz is where my passion for watches lies. It all started as a child growing up in the late 70's and early 80's when my dad bought me a Seiko digital watch which sadly I seem to have lost many years ago. That however sparked my interest in both watches and particularly quartz models and its never entered my head that they may lack "soul" as some might say and a great watch is a great watch to me regardless of what's inside.
Most of my interest seems to lie in Seiko models from the late 70's to early 90's probably for reasons of nostalgia rather then anything else but I also like certain other makes that contain interesting quartz movements.
This is my only kinetic in the collection and I've had it many years. It's small by modern standards at around 36mm but I'm very fond of it as its super-accurate and the luminous dial glows like a torch.
I love the older Seiko quartz divers and have had many 7548's with 3 currently in the collection and it's replacement , the 7C43.
I picked this SBCM023 here on the forum last year and it's a great package once you adjust to the slightly smaller size.
The 7Axx series are also interesting to me and much appreciated by collectors for their accurate and durable movements. I have a few 7A28's a 7A38 and a 7A48.
A mid 80's ana-digi that I'm very attached to.
An early 90's 7T59 and I've owned several and sold them for some reason but this one is staying put.
Let's not forget Eddie's great and vey interesting quartz offerings and I have 3 currently , a 17c , an 18 quartz and the fantastic Seafire with the second hand that "moves like a mechanical".
And finally a trio of swiss models.
This Tag 2000 was my first "expensive" watch in 1996 and over £600 at the time was an awful lot of money to me.
A rather lovely Omega "Pre-Bond" which came up for sale on the forum last year.
And a Gen 1 Oysterquartz again purchased from this great forum and a wonderful piece of engineering which I can't see me ever parting with.
Cheers
Neil
Thank you Neil! A great selection. I really like the Seiko quartz chronographs and the TF Seafire. Also from the previous replies, Heurtecilla's SDGA001 is very appealing but so hard to find now.
Appreciate all the replies and interest in these little packages of brilliance.
Paul
What a great thread !
Although they may not be in the same league as some of those lovely ones below, I have had a few quartz watches that a thought were more interesting than many of the autos I have owned.
This was my favourite for many years and a little bit special I thought because of its retro look but radio controlled technology.
Until I got this, which being oil filled and having a WR of 5000 is again a little different.
Keep them coming folks !
Great stuff, really interesting. Quartz gets a bad press but it has a lot going for it. And Seiko deserve credit for sticking with, and developing, the technology. My F9 based GS gains about one second in six months. Even more interesting is the spring drive, which, for me, really has proved the best of both worlds, it feels mechanical....with 80pc mechanical parts...but it is wonderfully accurate.
And my old Kinetic, 25 years old now, is still used by a friend. Good, reliable, brave, Seiko. Thanks for the thread.
I also use a Rolex, but, again for me, Seiko has a greater horological record, overall. Not a popular view, but they keep innovating and pushing forward.
Last edited by paskinner; 8th October 2016 at 09:47.
Lovely post Paul (and nice watches!) and by others in contributing - a quartz is next in my watch buying list.
Thst Tuna is lovely btw, you made a good choice with that.
Some great Seikos jneds.
I have one Kinetic that will always be in my collection for sentimental reasons but is rarely worn.
I also bought and cleaned up this, then found I didn't bond with it.
That said I still don't know why ?
Quartz watches are something I have chosen to ignore since I discovered this hobby, driven by snobbery and the misconception that anything with a battery is cheap tat, but that just is not true, there is so much depth and variety to non mechanicals that I need to look at with a new light, thanks for sharing some fantastic pieces.
Great write up Paul, very informative. Thanks for sharing!
Neither kinetic or spring drive need a battery. The real step forward for battery technology would be reliable ten year batteries.
It's a Sinn EZM2 Hydro. I bought one earlier this year and flipped it just a few months later. Wish I hadn't.Thanks for a fantastic and informative post. There's so much to appreciate about a quality quartz watch.
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Love this! What model is it?
My work here is done! The great thing about an appreciation for quartz watches is that interesting ones can be found for little money. The Omega, for example, while needing some basic care and attention, cost me nothing.
Kinetic movements are powered by a rechargeable battery, the battery being charged up by the oscillating rotor driving a micro-generator. Spring Drive is battery-less, the movement being driven, as the name suggests, by the traditional spring. The escapement, used to regulate the unwinding of the spring, is replaced by the quartz-controlled brake.
10 year battery-powered movements exist (the 8f56 mentioned in the original post for one, but there are many others) making Kinetic and perhaps Eco-Drive a little less necessary than they were back in the days of mercury-filled cells lasting only a year. But if necessity was the important thing in watch appreciation, none of us would buy mechanicals.
Paul
Great write up.
I've posted this link before, and I'll do so again here. This is a post on another forum about the technology in a modern quartz movement, and helps one's appreciation of just how innovative and well-thought out they can be.
http://canwatchco.ca/showthread.php?...z-watches-work
Great thread
I love my quartz's with around 12,in my collection - several from the early 80's - the time keeping for somthing pushing 40 years old .
My latest edition, a radio controlled Eco ha impeccable time keeping - I find myself regularly checking it against my iPhone app- it's always spot on
Superb thread. Thanks to everyone.
That's a very interesting read, and I hadn't come across it before. Many thanks
Anyone familiar with the daily habit of winding a manual watch may recognise the pleasure of this simple interaction. The winding of a automatic’s rotor is a less distinct pleasure, but it too conveys dependency.
If only mechanicals weren’t so damned sensitive and if automatics had a longer power reserve they wouldn’t seem so needy.
Kinetic offers all the practicality of quartz, an added quotient of engineering, dependency, and the oh so long replenishing power reserve makes it virtually trouble free.
Perhaps the nicest solution is the 'hybrid' spring drive. I used to think it daft . Neither mechanical or true Quartz. Neither fish nor fowl. But, for me now, they are pure delight in daily use. They feel very mechanical...because they are....but the Quartz regulator gives unerring precision too. Not worst of both worlds, but best of both worlds . For me anyway. Owning one turned my opinion on its head. Quite pricey but truly lovely things to own and wear. Perfect for a ' me hanical' guy who also wants reliable precision.
Mind you, today, I am wearing one of those old-fashioned Rolexes. That's nice too.
So many choices......
Really interesting thread, thanks everyone.
Apart from scarce, they don't go cheap either.
Looking at Seikos past track record, one could see that one coming.
Hence I jumped on the opportunity to get an O0 serial number.
With a photon driven electron pump powering a miserly e-ink display, Seiko guestimate it will need an accumulator replacement after half a century.
It is SO accurately on the dot that I set even my GS 9Fs to it!
Btw., that e-ink display is great for the aging eyes for which Rolex provides the extra magnification on the date window.
A really interesting post. It's given me the push to go and search out some of the models you have in your fabulous collection.
Many thanks Paul.
I love how clean the GS quartz is.
Yep. Huge quartz fan here. Great post - thank you, really enjoyed it, Tokyo Tokei.
And vintage digis too: https://mmcmusings.com/2015/03/29/my...tage-digitals/
This one sees a lot of wearing - and is daftly accurate too:
Good to have an SDGA back in the box too:
Good post Paul and an excellent example of why this forum is still worth persevering with.
And ain't that just the truth. Soon after joining the forum I purchased an atomic G-Shock in order to ascertain what all the fuss was about. As a result I ended up attempting to build a homage/tribute - albeit desktop scale - using a readily available programmable micro controller and parts purchased from ebay or small electronics stores.
That journey is still in progress, but there is rarely a step along the way where I am not made to realise the level of ingenuity and innovation the engineers who design and develop the real deal had/have to display.
Anyway here's a relatively recent example of the genre which has become a personal favourite through its amazingly good undisciplined accuracy (~3 spy) overall robustness and not forgetting the once a second central sweep hand of course.
Agreed. I think there are many advantages to a quartz movement, not least being accuracy and robustness.
Last edited by JeremyO; 8th October 2016 at 18:02.
Thanks, Paul, for this most engaging and enlightening thread. I have a fair bit of quartz in the collection; a few three-handers but mainly LCD digital. Here are some that I find interesting.
These are all flight-qualified by NASA for space missions:
I find the Timex Data Link models particularly fascinating. They were an early smartwatch, with programming data transmitted to the sensor on the watch by a flickering CRT display. These also all featured on space missions but only the Ironman is NASA approved.
The binary ASCII code on the resin strap translates as 'Listen To The Light If You [ASCII-24] See', ASCII-24 being the 'Cancel' character making the complete message 'Listen To The Light If You Can See'.
But my current favourite quartz by a considerable margin is this Seiko A829-6029 (SMGG13). And yes, it was also popular with astronauts. The various modes are selected by rotating the bezel.
How about my Seiko Frequency Drum Machine watch
Or my Seiko SkiThermo
I have a few odd old Seiko watches, I will dig some more out.
Sunday morning here in Tokyo and some excellent interesting quartz additions since I turned in!
Both amazing. I really like the relentless pursuit of insane new ways to measure time, and in the Japanese companies especially, their manufacturing excellence and sheer persistence in not just thinking about them, but bringing them to market.How about my Seiko Frequency Drum Machine watch ...
Or my Seiko SkiThermo
I like to imagine a water-cooler conversation along the lines of:
A-san: You know, we've been doing this for about 100 years and we've got the whole regulating the unwinding of a spring by lever escapement fairly well sorted out now. Plus the vibration of a crystal when subjected to an electrical field. Plus that solar power thing. And the world's smallest piezo-electric motors to ensure the date switches instantly. And the patented micro-generator for kinetic. And the spring regulated by a quartz-controlled brake. And radio-synchronisation. Something for everyone and available at reasonable prices. We must be done now, right?
B-san: Well, I was thinking about utilizing the difference between ambient and body temperatures....
A-san: By Jove! (or Japanese equivalent) Of course! The Seebeck effect!
B-san: If only we could somehow develop a micro-thermoelectric device, using bismuth telluride thermoelectric materials!
...
4 years after this imaginary conversation, the Seiko Thermic is released.
Exactly right sir. It is not just the ingenuity and innovation too. Anyone who works in a large company knows that actually getting something done that does not involve doing what the company did yesterday, is really hard. Many an idea has likely died at that water-cooler due to internal bureaucracy and corporate inertia.
These largely unsung heroes of corporate life brought us some true oddities and very, very, interesting quartz. Just three I found from Seiko Instruments Inc.:
We barely know their names but may this thread be a small salute to all their ingenuity.
Paul
Quartz makes over half my collection, Casio & Seiko mostly, including the first watch I remember getting from my parents, a Seiko Chrono which needs a new crown & battery. But the UX is often picked up first, good read Tokyo Tokei.
The binary ASCII code on the resin strap translates as 'Listen To The Light If You [ASCII-24] See', ASCII-24 being the 'Cancel' character making the complete message 'Listen To The Light If You Can See'.
But my current favourite quartz by a considerable margin is this Seiko A829-6029 (SMGG13). And yes, it was also popular with astronauts. The various modes are selected by rotating the bezel.
Quality posts gentlemen. If you two should meet it might create a potentially dangerous critical mass of IQ resulting in a blinding mushroom cloud of truly epic geekery
I still haven't quite come to terms with Casio using Miyota quarts movements. I am still amazed that Casio would not manufacture all its own movements.Here, a simple and functional Casio:
The movement is nondescript, tiny, generic, and has to wear a plastic spacer like a small child desperately clutching a life-belt:
Perfectly likely to give its owner (me, as it happens) long, economical and trouble-free service.
To be clear, there's nothing wrong with Miyota modules in the watches in which Casio fits them; it just seems a strange choice for Casio, albeit one that I imagine pragmatically takes advantage of economies of scale.
It was. Thank you for posting it. :-)
Although I don't think I have anything very interesting (except maybe a water-powered digital), I find that 42% of my collection is electrical (quartz, digital, tuning fork). And, quite often, the watches that appeal to me are quartz, digital or anadigi, but never smart watches so far.
Oh, and...
This is a watch I lust after. I have an Oysterquartz DJ which are quite affordable now but the OQ Day-Dates are still far more exclusive.
And this is one of the nicest 8F32s I have ever seen!
Thanks Mark! For those that haven't seen it, Mark's blog is well worth the time, especially when you know he originally intended it to be about bikes
Thanks Mark. (What is it with these Mark fellows?). I still find it fascinating that having produced a thermo-compensating quartz circuit able to very accurately drive a stepping motor once per second, Rolex decide to have it drive a mechanical escapement. Rather than, say, the seconds hand and by reduction, the hour and minute hands!
As per the early Omega and Seiko quartz movements in my original post, it seems when designers were faced with the quartz synchronised stepper motor, many chose initially to use a mechanical movement as base. Perhaps they felt more comfortable. Or even, that the new-fangled electronic device might not last and so it would be best not to stray too far when it came to the drive train.
I feel akin to an horological Indiana Jones at times. Opening a case back on an early quartz is like removing the slab covering the Well of Souls. You never know what history lies within. You just hope there are no snakes.
I like those and owned this titanium one:This was my favourite for many years and a little bit special I thought because of its retro look but radio controlled technology.
The name Junghans fondly reminds me of 80s Sunday Times supplements where they would advertise their radio-controlled clocks.
What of the future? Well GPS and of course smart watches are here but doubtless someone is pondering yet more ways to meter life's extance. I saw one of these in the Science Museum shop when in London recently. It was in kit-form, aimed at children:
Should someone at Seiko see this, I suspect a task force will be convened and we can expect in few short years to see miniaturised potatoes. Hmmm, Spud Drive...
Paul
Last edited by Tokyo Tokei; 17th October 2020 at 07:25. Reason: fixed missing images
The fabled King Edward's Watch, soon to be featured in a BBC4 documentary with Nicholas Parsons.
I love this topic, I have a unusual quartz Seiko watch, the movement is standard 7T62 but the watch is interesting...
Seiko Speedmaster from 2004
Seiko have always been at the front of quartz innovation, most have been mentioned here, a few more that come to mind, found this chronological list.
https://www.seikowatches.com/world/h...nts/index.html
reminds me a bit off this:I love this topic, I have a unusual quartz Seiko watch, the movement is standard 7T62 but the watch is interesting...
Seiko Speedmaster from 2004
which is sort of quartz as well.
What are you on about? Kinetic movements DO have batteries and there are already loads of "reliable" ten year battery powered movements. Have been for decades.
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