@@johnr6145 that's debatable, the oysterquartz is a move by rolex in the 1970s to keep the brand competitive with the largely growing quartz movement that was happening because of seiko, the oysterquatz was discontinued in 2001 when the quartz hype began to die down, but grand seiko manages to make one hell of a quartz movement that is the 9f movement with an accuracy of 5 seconds a year, compared to the obsolete oysterquartz with an accuracy of 1 minute per year. So at the time the oysterquartz might be the best, but not anymore.
My favorite watch in my humble collection is my Quartz Omega Pre-Bond. I love mechanical watches. But the reliability of a good quartz is so comforting.
@@aestheticterritoryit’s interesting that ETA has a line of thermocompensated quartz movements that are roughly +-10 seconds per year or a bit worse, but almost nobody seems interested in using them. Some Certina watches mention it on the dial with “Precidrive,” some Tissot watches have something on the dial, nobody else mentions it.
I enjoy owning a Bulova Moon Watch in my collection with the 262kHz Quartz movement. Its accurate to approx. 10 seconds a year A great value and very well made
Agreed. It sits next to my Submariners in a 3 watch roll, and I use the $300 Dark Side Lunar Pilot to set the time on the other two. I really enjoy it, one of the best bargains sub $500.
Charlie is such a well spoken and knowledgeable member of the Crown and Caliber team, and his perspective has shifted my entire view on quartz. The balance between Nathan's on-camera personality with Charlie's knowledge base (and cool, articulate communication style) made for a throroughly enjoyable (and educational) video. I'd love to see future videos that tap into Charlie's perspective as a watchmaker.
I am thoroughly surprised that he didn't mention quartz watches from Grand Seiko or Citizen, they have some high end quartz pieces that are amazing. Also, the F.P. Journe Elegante, that's a whole topic in itself too. We need more insight on this conversation from him
Citizen is a dirty name in the watch industry. More dependable build quality than Seiko at half the price but bc they primarily make *gasp* solar quartz watch snobs tend to ignore them. Lb for Lb the best tool watches…
Over 1,000 watch companies went bankrupt and over 60,000 jobs went during the Quartz crisis. Mechanical came back, yes, but only when Quartz became easily accessible.
Yes you see almost no TH-camrs showing quartz love. They’re so apologetic when they do actually review one. It’s definitely a stigma amount the watch community.
Nice! Me too. Inherited one from my Uncle when I was about 13 ish, even though it gets plenty of hate it carries so much sentimental value that it outshines my rolexes.
I wore a mech watch for the past two days (for the first time in weeks).Today, a quartz is back on my arm., and l will wear quartz for the next couple of weeks. I like the grab-and-go of quartz. And I love the accuracy.
After collecting for years vintage watches I have found happy finds in the watch hunts especially with some charming quartz models from the 80’s. I enjoy the complexity of automatics but I’ve never had to second guess the accuracy of my quartz watches.
this video just saved me a 1000$ on buying an automatic watch I wasn't really sure I need and I'll stick with my beautiful quartz much happier for now :)
@@johnr6145 Breitling as a brand shits on Seiko? Are you sure about that? Seiko has different tears in their company, on the top they have credor which shits on half of the Swiss watch industry.
@@johnr6145 Yes the emergency watch must have saved the lives of literally dozens of watch snobs stranded half way up a mountain whilst going off piste!!
@@johnr6145 Really? Breitling makes good quartz watches but you cannot possibly say they shit on Seiko and Citizen. Credor was already mentioned, Grand Seiko 9F caliber, Grand Seiko Spring Drive (technically a hybrid), Citizen Chronomaster (accurate to +/- 5 sec/year), Citizen Ecodrive Caliber 0100 (accurate to +/-1 sec/year). The list goes on. So you cannot just dismiss these brands and say Breitling shits on them.
@@johnr6145 I couldn't justify buying a $5T GS Spring Drive or a $7T Citizen Eco-Drive Caliber 0100 at that price range I'd go mechanical. Sorry am not a quartz guy. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate a good quartz and the technology behind it. Like I said Breitling's SuperQuartz is a good HAQ watch but it just doesn't compare to the offerings of Seiko and Citizen. Seiko and Citizen gets a bad rap because of they sell affordable watches. Just like your initial comment that people like it because it's cheap. Am not interested in the cheap Seiko and cheap Citizen quartz because they are the run of the mill quartz watch. But their high-end offerings are technically superior and actually more expensive than Breitling's Quartz offering. I think the GS 9F is on par in terms of price to Breitling's SuperQuartz but the Spring Drive is more expensive and so is the Citizen Caliber 0100 (Correct me if I am wrong on the pricing since it changes and I haven't actually seen updated prices as of late).
I bought an accutron railroad approved in 1976, it was serviced by the vendor who came to the rail yard each year. As it got beat up I retired it and started buying Timex. In 2020 I wanted a nice watch to wear on the weekends so I bought a Seiko mechanical and it really impressed me with the case and presentation back, but it lost 15 seconds a day so I returned it as my 10 year old Timex lost no more than ten seconds a month max. So with a little looking around I found out about the newer but discontinued Accutron ii snorkel and bought one new with tags, now I’m well satisfied and the watch is off maybe a second a month. I love seeing old quality company’s staying alive and I would patronize them but I won’t if I have to hack a watch everyday by looking on the wall at the $15 quartz wall clock to set it.
I'm late to the party, but a buddy and I were talking watches recently and how Tudor is such a good value to get a chronometer for less than $5,000, and how you can get a Omega and a master chronometer for $7,000 and what a good value that is for such accuracy. Then we had a silent moment and basically said "Or get a $10 Timex"
The only real "tool" watches are quartz watches. So much tougher, resistant to magnetism, etc. Orders of magnitude more accurate. They just function better. Mechanical watches are purely jewelry.
Yup, they're a lot more accurate. The batteries last a very very long time. There are no moving parts if it's a digital watch (aside from the vibrating crystal) or very few if it has a analogue dial. You don't need to worry about lubricating the movement or a shock damaging a jewel. I've never owned a mechanical watch. The only reason why you'd own one imo is if appearance or nostalgia are more important to you compared to the purpose of a watch. Also a mechanical watch needs constant maintenance which I guess is an indirect way to show off your wealth (ability to regularly spend on optional things)
Hello Do you know how antimagnetic a normal quartz watch is? I mean an around 500€-1000€ Citizen, Seiko, Casio etc I'm not meaning no moving part square g shock here Thank you i would appreciate the help
I’m a quartz fan. My longines vhp gmt is my daily. My 2.5k mechanical never gets worn. My next and final watch will be a GS with a 9F movement. Accuracy and cheaper servicing just wins it for me.
My Grand Seiko SBGN005 as gained exactly one second over the course of an entire year. It is beautiful, high end, sporty (100m wr), and generally awesome. It is a great feeling knowing that I always have the authority of the exact time on my wrist.
I own more than 30 watches in my collection, both automatic and quartz and the Q Timex is my favorite, the Marlin manual wind is my 2nd, so there is room to love both.
32,768 Hz. This is because to get 1 second pulses, you divide the oscillator frequency by 2 fifteen times in a row. Making an electronic circuit to divide a frequency by 2 is the easiest divider circuit you can make.
I recently picked up a Grand Seiko SBGN003, it is a wonderful watch, but it is strange to see the seconds hand ticking away. Hard to beat the accuracy of +/- 10 seconds per year though.
I bought a Victorinox INOX professional diver. It’s a Swiss quartz movement and it is a beautiful watch, an amazingly solid piece that I got at a really good price I didn’t feel that I sacrificed quality and it is nice having a quality watch that doesn’t need to be kept on a winder when not being worn. I do love a mechanical watch though.
I grew up in the era when the Hamilton Pulsar was released and one of my uncles owned one. A few years later I was in high school and owned a basic Casio. Today I wear a mechanical field watch as my EDC watch, but I still have Casio as my beater watch, and quartz Seiko "tank" as my dress watch (I also have a pocket watch as a dress watch).
Honestly, I think the best way to sell a quartz to a mechanical watch enthusiast is to just look at a disassembly video for a high end quartz timepiece. They look gorgeous inside.
Swiss quartz...Cartier makes a ton of quartz Santos, tanks, Ballon Blue watches, Audemars Piguet makes quartz Royal Oaks upwards of $70k diamond encased. They have $14k quartz also. Patek has the same. Many Swiss brands carry a quartz line. Do a simple search and you will find that quartz watches are a staple in the Swiss watch world. Great video! Quartz is misunderstood because folks ignore how the watch world works. Volume sales drive sustainability. Cheap quartz is what made Swatch Group the Swatch group. Quatrz actually helped the watch world stay afloat in the end.
I've got a citizen promaster tough, monobloc case design, anti magnetic, solar quartz (eco-drive), water resistant to 200m, shock resistant and not to mention relatively thin. Toughest thing i've ever owned that's not digital. Dropped it 8 times (on hard carpeted floor) scratched up but the hands are not misalinged and time is still keeping on. Quartz is heavily underrated.
@@myhandlewastakenandIgaveup Citizen UK has a smaller, titanium version of the Promaster Tough (BN0118-55E) with all of the same benefits but 300m water resistance. I got the one with the titanium bracelet, and I am very happy with it!
I completely agree... there are some spectacular Quartz watches out there now. While I'm a huge fan of mechanical watches, the Quartz watch is still an excellent option.
Very informative - thank you. What are your thoughts about solar powered quartz watches (Seiko, Citizen, etc.) and the claims that they "NEVER" need a battery replacement?
@@redastrachan8978 Replacing a cap in a high end quartz watch is neither inconvenient nor costly. They're designed to be serviced. It is no more complicated than servicing a mechanical watch.
I own a Pre Bond Omega Seamaster Professional quartz model that I purchased new in 1988. It is still very accurate and reliable and it seems to be holding its value rather well.
I’ve had two GS 9F watches and the Spring drive......nothing comes close for accuracy, and while the Quartz ones were solid casebacks, they are so well finished you could have had open case backs to show them off. I like mechanical and yes, they’ll always be seen as superior among most watch lovers.....I personally prefer Quartz
The Casio Oceanus T200 is perfect. It is beautiful, sapphire, satellite, perpetual calendar, always exact to the 1/1000 of a second, never needs adjustment, bright lume, it will be seen in the year 3000 as the best watch of the old Milenium.
While I truly appreciate the work and craftsmanship that goes in to my couple of automatics, they truly are a pain in the ass and only vaguely approximate time. Deep down, I'm a junkie for precision and reliability with no fuss. Most days I leave the house wearing an eco-drive. It's plus or minus a couple of seconds a month and it "just works." It's the Toyota Tacoma of watches.
I have the ‘Bond’ 300 Diver in quartz in both 41 and 36 ( black dial) … fantastically practical and stylish watches and my go -to everyday watches. They are what got me into ‘Omega’ at a point at which I could then afford. I have several automatics but I think these higher end quartz models have yet to be fully appreciated.
Excellent video. Thanks guys. So Charlie, if quartz crystals oscillate at 32,000 Hz, why can’t the integrated circuit actuate the coil much more frequently than once per second? It would seem to require a similar amount of energy to advance the mechanism one hour weather. It changes once per second or 50 times per second. What am I missing?
What does it look like. I have the opportunity to get one in automatic or one in quartz. I’m also lucky enough to know a watchmaker who owns 4 Zodiacs from the 90’s, 2 in automatic and 2 in quartz. They are the divers with the blue dot and I do not know which one I want.
@@waynestapleton3 Mine is a red dot quartz. It is 200m. Black w. a gold bezel. It is 38-39mm wide. So feels small by todays standards. But it still runs fine.
@@M3LTUP I’m stuck deciding between quartz and automatic. The ticking hand or sweeping hand so hard to pick from. Since my friend is a watchmaker and there his I know there in great shape and I’ve seen them but just undecided. I know the quartz is more durable but it’s a mental thing. Does your second hand hit every mark or skip them, and does owning a quartz bother you?
@@waynestapleton3 I dont mind Quartz at all. I appreciate its accuracy. But Automatic is batter for value retention. In the era of the smart watch. I feel like Quartz is the new vintage.
You know what would be really interesting? A watch enthusiast who has a quartz only collection. I have a mechanical/automatic collection but I haven't see a quartz one yet.
sand = pa-sir pan-tai Function: Used for polishing stone weapons as early as 25,000 B. C. Garnet = glasslike gemstone silica = silicon dioxide What is emery? a b (unusual. Not sequenced as the usual numbering method) Pg. 382. In the Middle Ages, grinding wheels of quartz and flint fragments naturally bonded together in rock were used.
Hello Nathan, I hope you are fine and in the best of health. I am from the Philippines and always watch your videos and have learned a lot from you. I have one very unique quartz watch here that I want to seek advice, insights, and comments from you. I have a mint Omega Speedmaster Professional LCD Quartz watch with Ref Number ST 186.0004 from 1977?. What can you say about this particular model? Pros and cons? Thank you and stay safe Sir.
Don’t forget Citizen’s 0100. That bad boy is +- 1 second per YEAR! I don’t think people realize the engineering that goes on with that watch. Oh, and it’s definitely not a beater. It’s white gold.
Excellent conversation and insightful. I own both and feel the same way. Quartz is an excellent movement and should not be shunned. I love my quartz and automatics equally.
I have Mechanical & Quartz, less of the latter, and enjoy both. Seiko & Citizen (Quartz - Eco-Drive great). Also have Raymond Weil quartz & Cartier Tank quartz, and even a Timex Three Allied GMT. All great.
I see that a few mentioned Seiko and Citizen and I subscribe. And I'll add solar to the mix. Just try a U700-powered solar Citizen watch (the JW0xx series). It is a non-atomic, non-thermocompensated movement that hardly goes faster than 1 sec./month. That's 12 sec./year. Plus a 7-year power reserve. What more can you want from an affordable, sub-1000 EUR quartz watch?
If the Swiss had invented the quartz wristwatch instead of the Japanese, it would have been known as "The Quartz Renaissance", and we would celebrate that it made timepieces affordable, bringing it to the masses.
I wore mechanical watches for 20 years, but now I've sold most of them and have switched to quartz. Grand Seiko 9F, Citizen A060 and several Omegas. I love being able to "service" them myself- change the battery and gaskets. I think a lot of folks don't like quartz because they don't really know how they work and are mystified. Quartz clocks have been around for almost 100 years. The basic principles of electricity, batteries, capacitors have been known since the time of Breguet. The principles of resonant circuits, motors and piezoelectricity were known long before Rolex was even a company.
As a watch collector the more watches you get the more you wish they were quartz because you can grab and go. That alone is huge for me and I mostly wear quartz now and I great mechanical watches from Rolex, Tudor, Sinn, Seiko, etc etc. If it’s a special occasion I’ll pull out, wind, set my auto but when I’m off to work in a hurry I grab quartz. I wish all watches had a quartz option! If they did I would own very few mechanical watches. Also watch check: as I type this I’m wearing my brand new quartz Wolbrook skindiver chrono with the brown dial! It’s a beautiful watch.
Lots of comments about Grand Seiko's 9F or Spring Drive... I'll also add that Seiko's Meca-Quartz is also a great innovation and option for chronograph watches.
I have a collection of affordable mechanical watches, but I like my Solar quartz warches as well. Sometimes I want to fiddle with a watch, and sometimes I just want to slap one on and go. Solar warches take no fiddling. I wish there was a wider selection of styles.
I do wish that quartz was also appreciated for the fact that it is a bit of a scientific marvel in its own right. Yes, mechanical watches are elegant and there is something brilliant about how they work but the fact that we literally tell the time by passing current through a piezoelectric crystal is still pretty damn awesome in itself. Even if it doesn’t look as flashy.
Every computer nerd knows it has to be a power of 2 for the frequency. 32768 Hz, except when it’s a multiple of that. Whether the quartz crystal is accurate and how accuracy changes when it ages or changes temperature is a whole set of problems… which various makers have addressed, of course.
I'd really like to know what quartz calibers say for example, Seiko uses in their various lines. Not their high end Grand Seiko nor the Tuna. (That's well known). Just their other cheaper but very aesthetically pleasing watches like in the general Prospex line. I don't buy them because I imagine that their movements are very cheap Chinese plastic throw aways. But I'd be happy to learn otherwise. Are there brands that use better movements? I know that ETA has Flatline in some brands. But I don't know where exactly. Not necessarily high accuracy quartz. Just quality.
At 10:28 the stated accuracies are very exaggerated. Run of the mill quartz is off by 15 seconds per month not tenths of a second per month as stated in the video. The superquartz is +/- 10 seconds per year accurate not tenths of a second per year. Citizen caliber 0100 is the most accurate quartz and that is 1 second per year accurate .
I want to see someone test caliber 0100 because years after its announcement I haven’t seen anyone do anything but repeat the marketing. FWIW, I did test caliber A060 over a year, and it was slightly below target. So I’m sceptical that Citizen actually has a proven one-second-per-month caliber. I’ve also tested Grand Seiko 9F and it over-achieves. You may hear the same from other owners. But the Swiss also have high-accuracy costing a lot less than these. Certina Precidrive, for example. I wouldn’t nit-pick the tenth-of-a-second misspoken stats. We know what they meant; One second a month or 10 per year. It’s so nice to experience a watch that actually does its job well.
Notice he says " Normal Quartz " has tenth of a second per month, which you think he mispoke and he meant one second per month. But one second per month is not average/ normal quartz as he refers to it . That is as precidrive accuracy or in breitling terms super quartz accuracy . Average quartz ( he refers to them as normal quartz) i.e non-high end seiko/ citizen are +/- 15 to 20 seconds per month. Which won’t be 10 seconds per year. Please let the correct information be known .I don’t have anything against him just correcting the provided information , nothing worse than wrong information circling around.
I grew up with mechanical watches when you had to spend big bucks for an accurate reliable watch.. When quartz came out, the world changed.. anyone could afford one. That is a game changer. I have some mechanicals (love skeleton watches), but on the pragmatic daily beater side, I have several G Shocks and a Garmin Fenix.
My big problem with quartz is the ticking movement of the seconds hand. I do own the Bulova precisionist and several Seiko MecaQuartz movements which incorporate a smooth running seconds hand, but unfortunately they are still in the minority. To me a ticking seconds hand makes the watch look really cheap. Not only that, but a ticking seconds hand only measures to the second. A sweep seconds hand measures between the seconds. That is a big deal.
As a watch enthusiast with over a dozen automatic and mechanical movements, I regularly wear a $20 Casio and have just purchased my first high end quartz watch. There are extreme benefits, and I am coming around to quartz actually being a superior mechanism...because technically it isn't even comparable. Quartz is king. Automatic and mechanical are beautiful and artistic, but simply not as technologically advanced.
9:08 Rolex now makes quartz watches too? That's news for me. I knew Omega also had a quartz line, but I thought Rolex made mechanical timepieces exclusively.
Seiko Spring Drive is the best of both worlds...now if only they made them affordable. I have mostly mechanical and Citizen Eco-drives. I have a couple of battery quartz from long ago before I decided batteries are too much of a pain.
My GS spring drive kept time at +2.5 seconds per week and it was a 15 year old watch when I bought. Excellent until you have to send it in for service. I wish they had more service centers. They need at least one in North America for sure.
From a purely technical point of view mechanical watches are simply inferior. I still like mechanical watches but most are probably built largely by machines and the image people have of them being made by highly trained watchmakers is largely inaccurate these days. It is just romanticism, apart from a few very expensive brands that most can afford. Some of my G-Shock watches have GPS, Bluetooth and Multiband 6 and so can locate themselves into a 500m square box anywhere in the world and set the time correctly, allowing for SDT etc. A mechanical watch will never be able to achieve such a feat. With Multiband 6 they correct the time every day while you sleep. All this and they are solar powered. Being G-Shocks they are also much tougher than any mechanical lever escapement watch.
In your discussion the best Quartz watch was omited, Grand Seiko 9f cailber. Seiko made first Quartz watch. Every Swiss Quartz Watches came after Seiko Astron.
I have both quartz and automatic watches in my collection. I don't care what the watch snobs think, quartz is great.
Good luck picking up a college-educated woman with a quartz watch. They prefer guys with automatic watches.
@@GeorgeUK84, sounds like you have little hands.
@@GeorgeUK84, is that the best you have? Such utter nonsense.
@@GeorgeUK84 Sometimes I read comments, and I just cannot believe that someone would write something as such seriously. You have to be trolling.
@@GeorgeUK84 lmao
No mention of Grand Seiko? They have fantastic quartz watches. As well as the Spring Drive which is sort of a hybrid.
@@johnr6145 that's debatable, the oysterquartz is a move by rolex in the 1970s to keep the brand competitive with the largely growing quartz movement that was happening because of seiko, the oysterquatz was discontinued in 2001 when the quartz hype began to die down, but grand seiko manages to make one hell of a quartz movement that is the 9f movement with an accuracy of 5 seconds a year, compared to the obsolete oysterquartz with an accuracy of 1 minute per year. So at the time the oysterquartz might be the best, but not anymore.
No mention of Grand Seiko because Crown & Caliber doesn't sell Grand Seiko. Go on their site and you'll see gobs of Breitlings and Omegas.
@@johnr6145 No chance!
They didn’t mention Cartier and Tag Heur either. What’s your point?
@@tomnewham1269 They absolutely brought up Tag Heuer.
My favorite watch in my humble collection is my Quartz Omega Pre-Bond. I love mechanical watches. But the reliability of a good quartz is so comforting.
I believe Prince William has that one from his late mom.
A real watchmaker teaching us about how great quartz is. Let us sell all our mechanical watch.
I think (Grand) Seiko and Citizen should have been part of this discussion. The story of quartz isn't complete without these innovative watch brands.
Also Casio!
Also a comparation between Swiss and Japan Quartz. And the new China Quartz.
The Swiss weren't interested in quartz at all, then Seiko started killing them in Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres competitions.
@@aestheticterritoryit’s interesting that ETA has a line of thermocompensated quartz movements that are roughly +-10 seconds per year or a bit worse, but almost nobody seems interested in using them. Some Certina watches mention it on the dial with “Precidrive,” some Tissot watches have something on the dial, nobody else mentions it.
@@kb9oak749 Didn't the rules get changed or something because the Europeans weren't winning?
I enjoy owning a Bulova Moon Watch in my collection with the 262kHz Quartz movement. Its accurate to approx. 10 seconds a year A great value and very well made
Agreed. It sits next to my Submariners in a 3 watch roll, and I use the $300 Dark Side Lunar Pilot to set the time on the other two. I really enjoy it, one of the best bargains sub $500.
Charlie is such a well spoken and knowledgeable member of the Crown and Caliber team, and his perspective has shifted my entire view on quartz. The balance between Nathan's on-camera personality with Charlie's knowledge base (and cool, articulate communication style) made for a throroughly enjoyable (and educational) video. I'd love to see future videos that tap into Charlie's perspective as a watchmaker.
I am thoroughly surprised that he didn't mention quartz watches from Grand Seiko or Citizen, they have some high end quartz pieces that are amazing. Also, the F.P. Journe Elegante, that's a whole topic in itself too. We need more insight on this conversation from him
Citizen is a dirty name in the watch industry. More dependable build quality than Seiko at half the price but bc they primarily make *gasp* solar quartz watch snobs tend to ignore them. Lb for Lb the best tool watches…
What about Casio!!!
Quartz didnt kill mechanical it came back stronger like most collectors have both! and love them all!
Over 1,000 watch companies went bankrupt and over 60,000 jobs went during the Quartz crisis. Mechanical came back, yes, but only when Quartz became easily accessible.
Our hobby needs more videos like this. Also, love GS quartz :)
Yes you see almost no TH-camrs showing quartz love. They’re so apologetic when they do actually review one. It’s definitely a stigma amount the watch community.
I’ve been using a quartz Tag Heuer for 20 years now. Excellent watch!
Nice! Me too. Inherited one from my Uncle when I was about 13 ish, even though it gets plenty of hate it carries so much sentimental value that it outshines my rolexes.
Mine for 12 years tag huer f1 👍👍
I have a Tag it is a perfect watch for yardwork or going to the brothel
Tag formula 1 quartz was my first Swiss watch- 15 years later still using it
I wore a mech watch for the past two days (for the first time in weeks).Today, a quartz is back on my arm., and l will wear quartz for the next couple of weeks. I like the grab-and-go of quartz. And I love the accuracy.
After collecting for years vintage watches I have found happy finds in the watch hunts especially with some charming quartz models from the 80’s. I enjoy the complexity of automatics but I’ve never had to second guess the accuracy of my quartz watches.
I was hoping to hear more on high accuracy quartz movements from the likes of Grand Seiko, Bulova, etc.
this video just saved me a 1000$ on buying an automatic watch I wasn't really sure I need and I'll stick with my beautiful quartz much happier for now :)
No mention of Seiko or Citizen high end quartz... Because it has to be Swiss to count 🙄
@@johnr6145 Breitling as a brand shits on Seiko? Are you sure about that? Seiko has different tears in their company, on the top they have credor which shits on half of the Swiss watch industry.
@@johnr6145 Yes the emergency watch must have saved the lives of literally dozens of watch snobs stranded half way up a mountain whilst going off piste!!
@@Andrew.W75 Reminds me of Sinn's firefighter watch for all those firefighters with deep pockets.
@@johnr6145 Really? Breitling makes good quartz watches but you cannot possibly say they shit on Seiko and Citizen. Credor was already mentioned, Grand Seiko 9F caliber, Grand Seiko Spring Drive (technically a hybrid), Citizen Chronomaster (accurate to +/- 5 sec/year), Citizen Ecodrive Caliber 0100 (accurate to +/-1 sec/year). The list goes on. So you cannot just dismiss these brands and say Breitling shits on them.
@@johnr6145 I couldn't justify buying a $5T GS Spring Drive or a $7T Citizen Eco-Drive Caliber 0100 at that price range I'd go mechanical. Sorry am not a quartz guy. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate a good quartz and the technology behind it. Like I said Breitling's SuperQuartz is a good HAQ watch but it just doesn't compare to the offerings of Seiko and Citizen. Seiko and Citizen gets a bad rap because of they sell affordable watches. Just like your initial comment that people like it because it's cheap. Am not interested in the cheap Seiko and cheap Citizen quartz because they are the run of the mill quartz watch. But their high-end offerings are technically superior and actually more expensive than Breitling's Quartz offering. I think the GS 9F is on par in terms of price to Breitling's SuperQuartz but the Spring Drive is more expensive and so is the Citizen Caliber 0100 (Correct me if I am wrong on the pricing since it changes and I haven't actually seen updated prices as of late).
I got an Omega seamaster pre-Bond, 200m, as a work watch on fishing boats. Love it. Its stood up to everything so far.
I bought an accutron railroad approved in 1976, it was serviced by the vendor who came to the rail yard each year. As it got beat up I retired it and started buying Timex. In 2020 I wanted a nice watch to wear on the weekends so I bought a Seiko mechanical and it really impressed me with the case and presentation back, but it lost 15 seconds a day so I returned it as my 10 year old Timex lost no more than ten seconds a month max. So with a little looking around I found out about the newer but discontinued Accutron ii snorkel and bought one new with tags, now I’m well satisfied and the watch is off maybe a second a month. I love seeing old quality company’s staying alive and I would patronize them but I won’t if I have to hack a watch everyday by looking on the wall at the $15 quartz wall clock to set it.
I'm late to the party, but a buddy and I were talking watches recently and how Tudor is such a good value to get a chronometer for less than $5,000, and how you can get a Omega and a master chronometer for $7,000 and what a good value that is for such accuracy. Then we had a silent moment and basically said "Or get a $10 Timex"
The only real "tool" watches are quartz watches. So much tougher, resistant to magnetism, etc. Orders of magnitude more accurate. They just function better. Mechanical watches are purely jewelry.
A point that doesn’t get made nearly enough
Yup, they're a lot more accurate. The batteries last a very very long time. There are no moving parts if it's a digital watch (aside from the vibrating crystal) or very few if it has a analogue dial. You don't need to worry about lubricating the movement or a shock damaging a jewel.
I've never owned a mechanical watch. The only reason why you'd own one imo is if appearance or nostalgia are more important to you compared to the purpose of a watch. Also a mechanical watch needs constant maintenance which I guess is an indirect way to show off your wealth (ability to regularly spend on optional things)
all watches are jewlery
Hello
Do you know how antimagnetic a normal quartz watch is? I mean an around 500€-1000€ Citizen, Seiko, Casio etc
I'm not meaning no moving part square g shock here
Thank you i would appreciate the help
Bulova Precisionist Chronograph. Best watch I ever bought. 10 seconds accuracy in a year with a lovely sweeping hi beat hand.
I’m a quartz fan. My longines vhp gmt is my daily. My 2.5k mechanical never gets worn. My next and final watch will be a GS with a 9F movement. Accuracy and cheaper servicing just wins it for me.
Great interview. Quartz is super accurate which I find appealing.
Quartz watch = thin profile + endless selection + sophistication + simplicity + affordability + robustness
My Grand Seiko SBGN005 as gained exactly one second over the course of an entire year. It is beautiful, high end, sporty (100m wr), and generally awesome. It is a great feeling knowing that I always have the authority of the exact time on my wrist.
Very informative, well done, learned lots about quartz watches.
I own more than 30 watches in my collection, both automatic and quartz and the Q Timex is my favorite, the Marlin manual wind is my 2nd, so there is room to love both.
Excellent video. I share in every one of Charlie’s opinions, and for a long time felt alone in appreciating quartz timepieces. Thanks guys!
32,768 Hz. This is because to get 1 second pulses, you divide the oscillator frequency by 2 fifteen times in a row. Making an electronic circuit to divide a frequency by 2 is the easiest divider circuit you can make.
Great episode. I have both quartz and mechanical. And to be honest quartz is just more efficient for me.
I recently picked up a Grand Seiko SBGN003, it is a wonderful watch, but it is strange to see the seconds hand ticking away. Hard to beat the accuracy of +/- 10 seconds per year though.
I bought a Victorinox INOX professional diver. It’s a Swiss quartz movement and it is a beautiful watch, an amazingly solid piece that I got at a really good price I didn’t feel that I sacrificed quality and it is nice having a quality watch that doesn’t need to be kept on a winder when not being worn. I do love a mechanical watch though.
What are people's opinions on Cartier tank solo quartz? Yes or no.
Amazingly informative
Keep it up guys!
Great interview. Thanks to both of you! subbed
Just picked up a seiko 7a28-7030 made in 1983. It was the first quartz analog chronograph, what a beautiful piece 😍.
That's a cool watch! Unfortunately Crown & Caliber won't acknowledge the existence of Seiko as they don't sell them!
That was great, and has given me a totally different perspective on quartz watches.
I grew up in the era when the Hamilton Pulsar was released and one of my uncles owned one. A few years later I was in high school and owned a basic Casio. Today I wear a mechanical field watch as my EDC watch, but I still have Casio as my beater watch, and quartz Seiko "tank" as my dress watch (I also have a pocket watch as a dress watch).
Honestly, I think the best way to sell a quartz to a mechanical watch enthusiast is to just look at a disassembly video for a high end quartz timepiece. They look gorgeous inside.
Swiss quartz...Cartier makes a ton of quartz Santos, tanks, Ballon Blue watches, Audemars Piguet makes quartz Royal Oaks upwards of $70k diamond encased. They have $14k quartz also. Patek has the same. Many Swiss brands carry a quartz line. Do a simple search and you will find that quartz watches are a staple in the Swiss watch world. Great video!
Quartz is misunderstood because folks ignore how the watch world works. Volume sales drive sustainability. Cheap quartz is what made Swatch Group the Swatch group. Quatrz actually helped the watch world stay afloat in the end.
I've got a citizen promaster tough, monobloc case design, anti magnetic, solar quartz (eco-drive), water resistant to 200m, shock resistant and not to mention relatively thin. Toughest thing i've ever owned that's not digital. Dropped it 8 times (on hard carpeted floor) scratched up but the hands are not misalinged and time is still keeping on. Quartz is heavily underrated.
I own that watch and it is the perfect one watch collection watch.
@@myhandlewastakenandIgaveup Citizen UK has a smaller, titanium version of the Promaster Tough (BN0118-55E) with all of the same benefits but 300m water resistance. I got the one with the titanium bracelet, and I am very happy with it!
I completely agree... there are some spectacular Quartz watches out there now. While I'm a huge fan of mechanical watches, the Quartz watch is still an excellent option.
I've had both. I've started off admiring mechanical. I prefer quartz.
Very informative - thank you. What are your thoughts about solar powered quartz watches (Seiko, Citizen, etc.) and the claims that they "NEVER" need a battery replacement?
"Never" - except for co$tly and inconvenient capacitor change.
@@redastrachan8978 Replacing a cap in a high end quartz watch is neither inconvenient nor costly. They're designed to be serviced. It is no more complicated than servicing a mechanical watch.
I found this video to be very informative! Thank you!
Love this chapter guys ! Tks for such a great content. I do love quartz !
Love this video. I too love quartz movements and tend to wear them more than mechanical watches
I own a Pre Bond Omega Seamaster Professional quartz model that I purchased new in 1988. It is still very accurate and reliable and it seems to be holding its value rather well.
A quartz watch is a watch, an automatic watch is a fancy bracelet
I’ve had two GS 9F watches and the Spring drive......nothing comes close for accuracy, and while the Quartz ones were solid casebacks, they are so well finished you could have had open case backs to show them off. I like mechanical and yes, they’ll always be seen as superior among most watch lovers.....I personally prefer Quartz
The Casio Oceanus T200 is perfect. It is beautiful, sapphire, satellite, perpetual calendar, always exact to the 1/1000 of a second, never needs adjustment, bright lume, it will be seen in the year 3000 as the best watch of the old Milenium.
While I truly appreciate the work and craftsmanship that goes in to my couple of automatics, they truly are a pain in the ass and only vaguely approximate time.
Deep down, I'm a junkie for precision and reliability with no fuss. Most days I leave the house wearing an eco-drive. It's plus or minus a couple of seconds a month and it "just works." It's the Toyota Tacoma of watches.
I love the connection between quartz and military watch like in marathon pilot navigator
Awesome Video Omega Seamaster Quartz was my first Swiss Watch, Great Piece incredibly Accurate
Quartz is amazing, insanely accurate, and virtually no maintenance you can’t do yourself. Solar, and Mechaquartz is really a cool option as well.
Great topic. Thanks to Charlie for explaining in a clear concise way.
I have the ‘Bond’ 300 Diver in quartz in both 41 and 36 ( black dial) … fantastically practical and stylish watches and my go -to everyday watches. They are what got me into ‘Omega’ at a point at which I could then afford. I have several automatics but I think these higher end quartz models have yet to be fully appreciated.
Excellent video. Thanks guys. So Charlie, if quartz crystals oscillate at 32,000 Hz, why can’t the integrated circuit actuate the coil much more frequently than once per second? It would seem to require a similar amount of energy to advance the mechanism one hour weather. It changes once per second or 50 times per second. What am I missing?
I think it's a matter of saving battery. If they sped it up, it would look better, but take more battery power.
I have a Zodiac Quartz Diver that has been running since 1994. Good video. Thanks
What does it look like. I have the opportunity to get one in automatic or one in quartz. I’m also lucky enough to know a watchmaker who owns 4 Zodiacs from the 90’s, 2 in automatic and 2 in quartz. They are the divers with the blue dot and I do not know which one I want.
@@waynestapleton3 Mine is a red dot quartz. It is 200m. Black w. a gold bezel. It is 38-39mm wide. So feels small by todays standards. But it still runs fine.
@@M3LTUP I’m stuck deciding between quartz and automatic. The ticking hand or sweeping hand so hard to pick from. Since my friend is a watchmaker and there his I know there in great shape and I’ve seen them but just undecided. I know the quartz is more durable but it’s a mental thing. Does your second hand hit every mark or skip them, and does owning
a quartz bother you?
@@waynestapleton3 I dont mind Quartz at all. I appreciate its accuracy. But Automatic is batter for value retention. In the era of the smart watch. I feel like Quartz is the new vintage.
How much yars quratz watch can live?
Interesting discussion thanks. Love my Bulova Lunar Pilot, +/- 0.00 consistantly.
This answered my question about the difference within quartz watches. Great conversation!
You know what would be really interesting? A watch enthusiast who has a quartz only collection. I have a mechanical/automatic collection but I haven't see a quartz one yet.
sand = pa-sir pan-tai
Function: Used for polishing stone weapons as early as 25,000 B. C.
Garnet = glasslike gemstone
silica = silicon dioxide
What is emery? a b (unusual. Not sequenced as the usual numbering method) Pg. 382.
In the Middle Ages, grinding wheels of quartz and flint fragments naturally bonded together in rock were used.
Mechanical watch is the LP vinyl or horology. Love and own both types btw.
Hello Nathan, I hope you are fine and in the best of health. I am from the Philippines and always watch your videos and have learned a lot from you. I have one very unique quartz watch here that I want to seek advice, insights, and comments from you. I have a mint Omega Speedmaster Professional LCD Quartz watch with Ref Number ST 186.0004 from 1977?. What can you say about this particular model? Pros and cons? Thank you and stay safe Sir.
Don’t forget Citizen’s 0100. That bad boy is +- 1 second per YEAR! I don’t think people realize the engineering that goes on with that watch. Oh, and it’s definitely not a beater. It’s white gold.
Just looked it up, $7400! Damn, didn’t know they made such a watch, looks clean!
Excellent conversation and insightful. I own both and feel the same way. Quartz is an excellent movement and should not be shunned. I love my quartz and automatics equally.
I have Mechanical & Quartz, less of the latter, and enjoy both. Seiko & Citizen (Quartz - Eco-Drive great). Also have Raymond Weil quartz & Cartier Tank quartz, and even a Timex Three Allied GMT. All great.
I keep asking and never get a response. What model Datejust are you wearing?
Thank you for the useful episode. What is Charlie's opinion about a Spring Drive movement? I'd like to hear what he thinks about that technology.
Also, don’t forget about the Omega X-33 space watch. Even Cartier has a quartz tank!
Informative and concise. Thanks!
Musicians could use them. Can’t snap your arm quickly over and over without doing damage over time to an auto or manual wind
I see that a few mentioned Seiko and Citizen and I subscribe. And I'll add solar to the mix. Just try a U700-powered solar Citizen watch (the JW0xx series). It is a non-atomic, non-thermocompensated movement that hardly goes faster than 1 sec./month. That's 12 sec./year. Plus a 7-year power reserve. What more can you want from an affordable, sub-1000 EUR quartz watch?
I have the seamaster he mentions & love it @ see no reason to switch to the co-axial version.
If the Swiss had invented the quartz wristwatch instead of the Japanese, it would have been known as "The Quartz Renaissance", and we would celebrate that it made timepieces affordable, bringing it to the masses.
I wore mechanical watches for 20 years, but now I've sold most of them and have switched to quartz. Grand Seiko 9F, Citizen A060 and several Omegas. I love being able to "service" them myself- change the battery and gaskets. I think a lot of folks don't like quartz because they don't really know how they work and are mystified. Quartz clocks have been around for almost 100 years. The basic principles of electricity, batteries, capacitors have been known since the time of Breguet. The principles of resonant circuits, motors and piezoelectricity were known long before Rolex was even a company.
Don't listen to the negative comments. I really enjoyed this video.
As a watch collector the more watches you get the more you wish they were quartz because you can grab and go. That alone is huge for me and I mostly wear quartz now and I great mechanical watches from Rolex, Tudor, Sinn, Seiko, etc etc. If it’s a special occasion I’ll pull out, wind, set my auto but when I’m off to work in a hurry I grab quartz. I wish all watches had a quartz option! If they did I would own very few mechanical watches. Also watch check: as I type this I’m wearing my brand new quartz Wolbrook skindiver chrono with the brown dial! It’s a beautiful watch.
Lots of comments about Grand Seiko's 9F or Spring Drive... I'll also add that Seiko's Meca-Quartz is also a great innovation and option for chronograph watches.
I have a collection of affordable mechanical watches, but I like my Solar quartz warches as well. Sometimes I want to fiddle with a watch, and sometimes I just want to slap one on and go. Solar warches take no fiddling. I wish there was a wider selection of styles.
I do wish that quartz was also appreciated for the fact that it is a bit of a scientific marvel in its own right. Yes, mechanical watches are elegant and there is something brilliant about how they work but the fact that we literally tell the time by passing current through a piezoelectric crystal is still pretty damn awesome in itself. Even if it doesn’t look as flashy.
Every computer nerd knows it has to be a power of 2 for the frequency. 32768 Hz, except when it’s a multiple of that. Whether the quartz crystal is accurate and how accuracy changes when it ages or changes temperature is a whole set of problems… which various makers have addressed, of course.
I have that exact seamaster , had it for many years love it .
I'd really like to know what quartz calibers say for example, Seiko uses in their various lines. Not their high end Grand Seiko nor the Tuna. (That's well known). Just their other cheaper but very aesthetically pleasing watches like in the general Prospex line. I don't buy them because I imagine that their movements are very cheap Chinese plastic throw aways. But I'd be happy to learn otherwise.
Are there brands that use better movements? I know that ETA has Flatline in some brands. But I don't know where exactly.
Not necessarily high accuracy quartz. Just quality.
Amazing info thanks
At 10:28 the stated accuracies are very exaggerated. Run of the mill quartz is off by 15 seconds per month not tenths of a second per month as stated in the video. The superquartz is +/- 10 seconds per year accurate not tenths of a second per year. Citizen caliber 0100 is the most accurate quartz and that is 1 second per year accurate .
I want to see someone test caliber 0100 because years after its announcement I haven’t seen anyone do anything but repeat the marketing. FWIW, I did test caliber A060 over a year, and it was slightly below target. So I’m sceptical that Citizen actually has a proven one-second-per-month caliber. I’ve also tested Grand Seiko 9F and it over-achieves. You may hear the same from other owners. But the Swiss also have high-accuracy costing a lot less than these. Certina Precidrive, for example.
I wouldn’t nit-pick the tenth-of-a-second misspoken stats. We know what they meant; One second a month or 10 per year. It’s so nice to experience a watch that actually does its job well.
Notice he says " Normal Quartz " has tenth of a second per month, which you think he mispoke and he meant one second per month. But one second per month is not average/ normal quartz as he refers to it . That is as precidrive accuracy or in breitling terms super quartz accuracy .
Average quartz ( he refers to them as normal quartz) i.e non-high end seiko/ citizen are +/- 15 to 20 seconds per month. Which won’t be 10 seconds per year.
Please let the correct information be known .I don’t have anything against him just correcting the provided information , nothing worse than wrong information circling around.
I grew up with mechanical watches when you had to spend big bucks for an accurate reliable watch.. When quartz came out, the world changed.. anyone could afford one. That is a game changer.
I have some mechanicals (love skeleton watches), but on the pragmatic daily beater side, I have several G Shocks and a Garmin Fenix.
Please make that the Second hand sweep as smooth as possible..
My big problem with quartz is the ticking movement of the seconds hand. I do own the Bulova precisionist and several Seiko MecaQuartz movements which incorporate a smooth running seconds hand, but unfortunately they are still in the minority. To me a ticking seconds hand makes the watch look really cheap. Not only that, but a ticking seconds hand only measures to the second. A sweep seconds hand measures between the seconds. That is a big deal.
As a watch enthusiast with over a dozen automatic and mechanical movements, I regularly wear a $20 Casio and have just purchased my first high end quartz watch. There are extreme benefits, and I am coming around to quartz actually being a superior mechanism...because technically it isn't even comparable. Quartz is king. Automatic and mechanical are beautiful and artistic, but simply not as technologically advanced.
The funny thing about when he said he either uses his watch “or the microwave or the stove” or a phone is that those are also all quartz clocks
The Bulova precisionist is so smooth
9:08 Rolex now makes quartz watches too? That's news for me. I knew Omega also had a quartz line, but I thought Rolex made mechanical timepieces exclusively.
Seiko Spring Drive is the best of both worlds...now if only they made them affordable. I have mostly mechanical and Citizen Eco-drives. I have a couple of battery quartz from long ago before I decided batteries are too much of a pain.
My GS spring drive kept time at +2.5 seconds per week and it was a 15 year old watch when I bought. Excellent until you have to send it in for service. I wish they had more service centers. They need at least one in North America for sure.
From a purely technical point of view mechanical watches are simply inferior. I still like mechanical watches but most are probably built largely by machines and the image people have of them being made by highly trained watchmakers is largely inaccurate these days. It is just romanticism, apart from a few very expensive brands that most can afford. Some of my G-Shock watches have GPS, Bluetooth and Multiband 6 and so can locate themselves into a 500m square box anywhere in the world and set the time correctly, allowing for SDT etc. A mechanical watch will never be able to achieve such a feat. With Multiband 6 they correct the time every day while you sleep. All this and they are solar powered. Being G-Shocks they are also much tougher than any mechanical lever escapement watch.
Ultimately the case for quartz is a case for the love of accuracy...
Why can't they make the second hand on a quartz sweep instead of tick?
In your discussion the best Quartz watch was omited, Grand Seiko 9f cailber. Seiko made first Quartz watch. Every Swiss Quartz Watches came after Seiko Astron.