Cheap Quartz movements

[fraggle42]

I bought 3 cheapy quartz ISA 1198 movements the other day as I want to build a couple of beaters that I don't have room for on the winder. (Well, I say cheap, $12 a piece)

Got them today.

Oh. Dear. God.

Movement 1. Date wheel jammed. Date wheel ratchet spring disengaged. Fixed the spring, freed the wheel. Date does not change when advancing the time.

Movement 2. Date does not change when advancing the time, adjusting the time the crown is that stiff it unscrews the crown from the stem!

Movement 3 is ok.

And I haven't even put a battery in any of them yet!

Seller is sending out 3 replacement movements and has asked me to send these back. Send them to the bin more like it.

[automatico]

The ISA 1198 usually does not give much trouble if they run to begin with. Were they new or used?

One thing to watch for is sometimes the little 'crown' wheel that the stem goes through inside the movement will drop out of place when you remove the stem. I also got a few that did not have dial foot screws in the plates. The last batch I got have 'Geneva stripes' on the top plate. Fancy!

I have used a lot of them in projects and replaced a few that went doa in watches of all types. They used to come in a kit to put them in 218 Accutrons but the kit was not too hot because the date numbers on the 1198 did not line up very well in the 218 dial window. The kit came with a piece of white plastic tape to stick under the dial so you could not see the movement.

The 1198 used to be a favorite in pot metal fakes of all kinds. I threw an old submariner away a while back with one in it.

Some of the 'pot metal' used in the old replicas should be called 'pop metal' because blisters 'pop up' all over them when the plating starts wearing off.

I bet it is good for your skin too.

They still can a bad one now and then...I bought three new 'canteen' style retro dive watches a while back with ISA 1198 in them and one was doa out of the box. They look pretty good with bead blasted steel screwback cases, big crown caps on a chain, khaki straps etc.

...with a warning to keep them away from water.

[fraggle42]

Thanks for your advice

These were NOS, they all looked brand new and unused - no dirt or marks from being pulled or used.

Seller said he's got a few hundred right now and has sold thousands with very little returns, thinks he may have a bad batch.

I love those water proof " do not take near water" watches

[martijnp]

I've got one quartz movement but it's holding great time. Very happy with that watch. It's running for like 6 month's now (so long I got the watch)

[automatico]

"I love those water proof " do not take near water" watches"

Me too.

Much of the time '200 METERS' really means 200 meters horizontally from the boat dock, on dry land or in a boat, not vertically in the water.