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Thread: 2021 a year of quartz and accuracy trials

  1. #1
    Grand Master dkpw's Avatar
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    2021 a year of quartz and accuracy trials

    For a variety of reasons, mostly due to lockdown, I've been wearing my automatics far less frequently. I decided that this year would mostly be a year of quartz, particularly my recently acquired Seiko Arnie. This watch does just about everything I need and wears very comfortably for a larger watch.

    In January, I noticed it kept really excellent time, even for a quartz, but decided that empirical evidence was required. I decided to conduct time trials in February, for it and some other commonly used quartz movements.

    I pitted the Seiko's H851against the 3229 module in my G-Shock DW-5600-E and the E168 in my Citizen BN-0151 diver.

    I set all three to atomic time on the 1st of February and here we are 28 days later. The results are in.

    They all share the same specification of +/-15 seconds a month, within comfortable temperatures.

    The Citizen was +6, the Seiko +4 and the G-Shock +3 after four weeks, which translates to annual figures of:

    Citizen +78s
    Seiko +52s
    G-Shock +39

    So not quite in the HAQ range of Grand Seikos or others, but certainly good enough for everyday use, and all three are great watches. But I do like the idea of the cheapest watch being the most accurate.
    David
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  2. #2
    Master
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    There is something nice about the precision of quartz. You can leave it aside for weeks, and it will still be accurate. I always own at least one quartz. In all, they perhaps get underestimated. Not as exciting as a mechanical design?

  3. #3
    Grand Master Sinnlover's Avatar
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    I too have been wearing quartz more since lock down. I track their accuracy on the app twist. (Yes I am sad)
    My Tuna is currently +6.1 seconds since the start of GMT my G10 is -3.7 over the same time period, which is not bad for an old unserviced watch.
    In contrast my kinetic seiko diver is +36 and my JSAR is +46. So even quartz can vary.

  4. #4
    Master
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    Maybe I’ve been lucky but I have never had to correct a quartz in the 6 months periods between the hour changes. My criterion is more than a minute out.

  5. #5
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    Can’t beat a quartz for accuracy, particularly when it resets itself against the atomic clock on a daily basis as many Japanese quartz watches do.

  6. #6
    Master M1011's Avatar
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    I know it's cheating as the timekeeping isn't strictly happening inside the watch, but it's kind of insane that for £50 you can pick up a multi-band 6 solar G-Shock and literally never worry about it again. Insane value.

  7. #7
    Grand Master dkpw's Avatar
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    Yes indeed gents, some excellent points. The atomic G-Shocks are still modern marvels to my mind, with my all time favourite being the GW-5000.

    For the non-WIS, they're clearly the best way of telling the time, although smartphones are superceding watches.
    David
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  8. #8

    2021 a year of quartz and accuracy trials

    I love my GS 9F quartz and decided to time it few months ago, but it’s proving to be really boring.




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  9. #9
    Grand Master dkpw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PawG View Post
    I love my GS 9F quartz and decided to time it few months ago, but it’s proving to be really boring.




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Excellent accuracy!

    But you make an interesting point, when does that level of accuracy but lack of interaction become dull?
    I've had a Seiko HAQ with perpetual calendar once and a SBCM023 not HAQ but close, and moved them on in part because once set, that was it.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by dkpw View Post
    when does that level of accuracy but lack of interaction become dull?
    Never. I never tire of watching the second hand of my 9F tracking against the BBC pips on the analogue signal, and retaining its 0spy accuracy.

  11. #11
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
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    My lower end Luminox has gained 4 seconds in the two months I've owned it. I will be resetting it for BST of course, but if it wasn't for that it would be about 24 seconds ahead after a year at this rate!

  12. #12
    Grand Master snowman's Avatar
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    Just read the OP - that's an idea - I'll do it with my Quartz watches in March and see how things go!

    ETA for my benefit - I set my B-1, my Certina DS-8, my Tissot PRC-200, my Citizen dive watch and my two Sekonda chronos!

    Will be interesting to monitor progress...

    M
    Last edited by snowman; 14th April 2021 at 11:08.
    Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?

  13. #13
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    I do miss my quartz watches. Sold 5 of them to put towards getting an Aquis then sold the other one not long after. Bought a GWM5610 recently though and have enjoyed it.

  14. #14
    Grand Master snowman's Avatar
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    I've had to reset the time on my Citizen Eco-Drive diver due to the BST change and needing the watch to, wait for it, go diving!

    At 14:54 on 28th March, it was reading -2 seconds against time.is, which seems OK to me, given that 1 of those is probably margin of error anyway.

    I'll update the others on the 1st April, a full month later, as I'm not bothering setting the hour forward on those beforehand.

    M
    Last edited by snowman; 31st March 2021 at 13:45.
    Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?

  15. #15
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    My X-33 with 1666C movement is super accurate. Just changed it's battery last week



    So will keep an eye on accuracy. I have a technical manual for the Cal 1666 on how to adjust any drift in accuracy - might be fun.

  16. #16
    Master
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    Nice to hear. I've also made a note of timings since the end of October, using a program I'd written myself. Most of the results are unremarkable, for example my solar Seiko 'PADI' diver gained 39 seconds in that time. My solar Pulsar field watch gained 17 seconds. My Seiko solar chrono gained 14 seconds. A cheap Casio digital lost 4 seconds, which is pretty good in 5 months.

    My Newmark field watch gained 2 seconds in the 153 days since the 26th October which I think is remarkable.

    But the overall winner was this one:



    I think I bought it for about £80 in a sale somewhere. No bluetooth, no radio controlled timing. But it's gained bang on 1 second in the last 153 days since Oct 26th. I've just set it about half a second slow for BST and if it continues in the same vein, it will be less than a second fast when the clocks go back in October.

  17. #17
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by monogroover View Post
    Nice to hear. I've also made a note of timings since the end of October, using a program I'd written myself. Most of the results are unremarkable, for example my solar Seiko 'PADI' diver gained 39 seconds in that time. My solar Pulsar field watch gained 17 seconds. My Seiko solar chrono gained 14 seconds. A cheap Casio digital lost 4 seconds, which is pretty good in 5 months.

    My Newmark field watch gained 2 seconds in the 153 days since the 26th October which I think is remarkable.

    But the overall winner was this one:



    I think I bought it for about £80 in a sale somewhere. No bluetooth, no radio controlled timing. But it's gained bang on 1 second in the last 153 days since Oct 26th. I've just set it about half a second slow for BST and if it continues in the same vein, it will be less than a second fast when the clocks go back in October.
    hope you don’t mind me asking - what is the Casio model number?

  18. #18
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by MartynJC (UK) View Post
    hope you don’t mind me asking - what is the Casio model number?
    Not at all, it's a GM-5600B. But the module is the 3229 which is present in a number of other G Shocks.

  19. #19
    I had a Newmark 52 until recently which was also impressive. By contrast my new Seiko Arnie seems to gain at least 15 seconds a month. At this point I only own quartz watches with currently 27 Casio’s and a fair spread of different brands - I set them all last night and don’t intend to reset any until the clocks change again. From memory my most accurate is the cheapest - a ca-53 calculator watch, I suspect my recently purchased CWC diver will do well and a couple of other Casio ‘cheapies’ will bely their price too. I have noticed that if any of my ‘solar atomics’ fail to synch they are the most inaccurate of all their g shock brethren. I’ll simply take a look every month or so amd report back!


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  20. #20
    Grand Master snowman's Avatar
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    So, 1 month on...

    Breitling B-1 = -2 seconds
    Certina DS-8 = +1 second
    Tissot PRC-200 = 0 seconds
    Sekonda chronos = -2 seconds and 0 seconds

    Timed against Time.is.

    Virtually nothing really, impressed by the Tissot (£200ish) and Sekondas (£50/£60ish), though, proves you don't need to spend much to get good quartz accuracy!

    M
    Last edited by snowman; 14th April 2021 at 11:08.
    Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?

  21. #21
    Grand Master snowman's Avatar
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    And after 2 months :

    Breitling B-1 = -3 seconds
    Certina DS-8 = -3 seconds
    Tissot PRC-200 = -1 second
    Citizen 300M Diver = -5 seconds (I probably didn't set this 100% accurately when changing the time last month - So I'll reset it today)
    Sekonda chronos = one over 6 minutes slow (battery on the way out?) and the other -1 second

    The cheaper watches (one Sekonda excepted) are doing well!

    M
    Last edited by snowman; 1st May 2021 at 16:28.
    Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?

  22. #22
    Grand Master snowman's Avatar
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    June 3rd

    Breitling B-1 : -2 seconds
    Certina DS-8 : -1 second

    Tissot PRC-200 : +/- 0 second
    Citizen 300M Diver : +4 seconds
    Sekonda chronos : -1 second & the other needs a new battery!

    Once again, I wonder why you spend extra money on HAQ!

    M
    Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?

  23. #23
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by monogroover View Post
    I think I bought it for about £80 in a sale somewhere. No bluetooth, no radio controlled timing. But it's gained bang on 1 second in the last 153 days since Oct 26th. I've just set it about half a second slow for BST and if it continues in the same vein, it will be less than a second fast when the clocks go back in October.

    Two months later, it's gained about a second. So the accuracy has gone off the boil slightly, still very good though. Maybe something to do with the temperature.

  24. #24
    Grand Master Griswold's Avatar
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    My Longines VHP is my most accurate watch at +- 6SPY. Perpetual calendar and independently set Hour Hand so don't have to worry about resting seconds for DST/GMT changeover or when changing time zones.
    Best Regards - Peter

    I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.

  25. #25
    I have just discovered a humble Casio W-59 which I bought in April 2018....I set it at the time, wore it for maybe a month or so and put it in the drawer.

    Anyway, just yesterday I dug it out and after 3 years and 2 months it has gained 1 second!! A fluke I am sure but not bad for 15 quid!

  26. #26
    Master Geralt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by monogroover View Post
    ...
    My Newmark field watch gained 2 seconds in the 153 days since the 26th October which I think is remarkable.
    ...
    Not surprised. My Newmark 52 hasn't gained or lost even a quarter of a second since 4 April when I got it. Spooky.

  27. #27
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by snowman View Post
    And after 2 months :

    Breitling B-1 = -3 seconds
    Certina DS-8 = -3 seconds
    Tissot PRC-200 = -1 second
    Citizen 300M Diver = -5 seconds (I probably didn't set this 100% accurately when changing the time last month - So I'll reset it today)
    Sekonda chronos = one over 6 minutes slow (battery on the way out?) and the other -1 second

    The cheaper watches (one Sekonda excepted) are doing well!

    M
    Are all these watches being worn? I've been wearing aquartz quite often lately because I like the look of the watch. I've always thought It never seems the same as putting an auto on though, like it's soulless, got no character. This quartz though seems to be changing my mind. Although I don't think I would pay much for quartz

  28. #28
    Grand Master snowman's Avatar
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    Not continually no.

    To be honest, I rarely wear my quartz watches.

    The Citizen gets the.most use as I wear it diving!

    M

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    Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?

  29. #29
    Grand Master snowman's Avatar
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    I forgot to do this in July, so here are August's figures (such as they are!)

    Breitling B-1 : -3 seconds
    Certina DS-8 : +/- 0 second

    Tissot PRC-200 : +3 second, but I had to reset it after as it was still showing GMT...

    Citizen 300M Diver : This has been reset, due to me adjusting the hands in error when advancing the date.
    Sekonda chronos : Both now need a new battery!

    So, the test is now only valid for the Breitling and Certina.

    M
    Last edited by snowman; 4th August 2021 at 13:53.
    Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?

  30. #30
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by monogroover View Post
    Two months later, it's gained about a second. So the accuracy has gone off the boil slightly, still very good though. Maybe something to do with the temperature.
    And another two months later, it doesn't seem to have gained any more time at all, oddly. It's still only gained about one second since March.

  31. #31
    Master
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    I have a 40 year old Seiko quartz that's doing -4/6 seconds per YEAR.
    I set it twice a year and it seems to have lost 2 seconds each time, but I will be generous and round it up and say 3, so 6 per year.
    It's been the same for 2 years, or 4 X settings

    I am rather fond of it, beating it's little heart out, amazing for a watch if that age but also goes to show they put a lot of effort into making them back then.

  32. #32
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by monogroover View Post
    Nice to hear. I've also made a note of timings since the end of October, using a program I'd written myself. Most of the results are unremarkable, for example my solar Seiko 'PADI' diver gained 39 seconds in that time. My solar Pulsar field watch gained 17 seconds. My Seiko solar chrono gained 14 seconds. A cheap Casio digital lost 4 seconds, which is pretty good in 5 months.

    My Newmark field watch gained 2 seconds in the 153 days since the 26th October which I think is remarkable.

    But the overall winner was this one:



    I think I bought it for about £80 in a sale somewhere. No bluetooth, no radio controlled timing. But it's gained bang on 1 second in the last 153 days since Oct 26th. I've just set it about half a second slow for BST and if it continues in the same vein, it will be less than a second fast when the clocks go back in October.
    Yep. It's actually a bit less than half a second fast. It's gained less than a second since March 29th. It's running at an accuracy of better than 1.5 seconds / year, at the moment. I've adjusted the hour for GMT without disturbing the seconds, so I'll leave it for another year or two to get a better idea.

  33. #33
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    That is a remarkable accuracy, just shows the work that must have been put into designing the chip in the first place.

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