paneristi_man Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Sorry if this is a dumb question as I'm still a noob but is there a rep watch with quartz movement that has smooth sweeping second hand like in the automatic? Can you please provide examples and which dealer carries them ? Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshot Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Sorry if this is a dumb question as I'm still a noob but is there a rep watch with quartz movement that has smooth sweeping second hand like in the automatic? Can you please provide examples and which dealer carries them ? Thanks, it is possible to make a quartz movement with a smooth sweep, but no one does. there have been a few experiments over the years by genuine watch makers and pretty much all have failed. the basic reason is battery life. a quartz watch with a smooth sweeping second hand would have a battery life measured in months or even weeks instead of years. no one wants to buy a watch that they have to change the battery on every month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FasTTaP Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Check the Seiko Spring Drive, a mec/quartz hybrid. You can find lots a video on youtube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolexman Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 (edited) it is possible to make a quartz movement with a smooth sweep, but no one does. there have been a few experiments over the years by genuine watch makers and pretty much all have failed. the basic reason is battery life. a quartz watch with a smooth sweeping second hand would have a battery life measured in months or even weeks instead of years. no one wants to buy a watch that they have to change the battery on every month Strange. I have a cheap Tag chrono rep with a Miyota quartz movement. The regular second hand ticks but the chrono second hand sweeps............. So if I would keep the chrono running the battery would die within weeks/ months? I find that hard to believe. Edited April 16, 2008 by Rolexman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmythree Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 quote = Sorry if this is a dumb question as I'm still a noob but is there a rep watch with quartz movement that has smooth sweeping second hand like in the automatic? Can you please provide examples and which dealer carries them ? Thanks, /quote About 10 years ago Seiko made a smooth sweeping quartz watch that had a regular one second tick but employed a small sweep second hand drive unit with a tiny hairspring enclosed inside a silicone filled capsule to dampen the motion. The watch was mostly for the Japan market so they did not make it into the world market in numbers and I have seen only one in the USA. I's a simple concept but would cost movement makers a few dollars per movement. If you figure the aveage high quality quartz movement cost maybe $10 to make and sells wholesale to watch makers for $20, adding a this type of smooth sweep second feature (at $10 for example) would double the production cost to $20 and jump the wholesale price to $40...a price watch makers would not be willing to pay. One exception is the quartz chronograph...some have a center timing hand that jumps 5 or 10 times a second to give 1/5th or 1/10th second timing accuracy. The reason this does not drain the battery quickly is because the timing hand does not run all the time. An instruction manual for a quartz chronograph may state the average battery life is 2 years under normal conditions and running the second hand all the time will cut it down to 6 months. Otoh a 5 tick per second quartz watch could probably run for a couple years on a 2016 or 2032 (3 volt) battery for example, but the watch makers probably figure no one cares enough to buy one. Regular time and date watches with a 2016 or 2032 battery will usually run 5 to 10 years between battery changes. It looks to me that a 5 tick per second quartz movement with a 2032 battery would make replicas a lot easier to live with than a mechanical movement that needs TLC all the time...especially chronographs! As far as that goes...I doubt the rolex oysterquartz watch failed to sell because no one wanted the convenience of a quartz watch...imho they failed to sell because the second hand jumped every second like a $20 watch. The reason watch companies make trivial changes to cheapen a watch and resist costly improvements is that the actual production cost of a $2000 retail watch may be only $200, so knocking $20 off the production cost by cutting corners = saving 10% of the total cost of making the watch...and adding $20 in improvements raises production cost 10%. Most watches retail for big bucks but cost nickles and dimes to make. It beats me how any high priced watch brand could go out of business if they sell much at all. ...maybe it's the private jet, caviar, and $10k hookers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrgod Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 There have actually been a few replicas using a "microstepper" quartz movement, where the seconds hand moved almost smoothly. If I recall correctly, they were available about two years ago. ( TTK had a "Aquaracer" with that movement). They were never very popular, due to the subdial layout beeing different than the 7750 they tried to mimic. My superslim Patek replica is also a Smooth sweeper... No seconds hand, but the minutes hand moves a tiny bit every 15 second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolexman Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 My superslim Patek replica is also a Smoot sweeper... No seconds hand, but the minutes hand moves a tiny bit every 15 second. It have yet to see a ticking minute hand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 It have yet to see a ticking minute hand The minute hand on my Citizen Eco-Drive does the same thing - a small adjustment every 15 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolexman Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 The minute hand on my Citizen Eco-Drive does the same thing - a small adjustment every 15 seconds. Well IMO that counts as sweeping. Not ticking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshot Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Strange. I have a cheap Tag chrono rep with a Miyota quartz movement. The regular second hand ticks but the chrono second hand sweeps............. So if I would keep the chrono running the battery would die within weeks/ months? I find that hard to believe. i've had a number of watches with japanese quartz chrono movements, both miyota/citizen and seiko. including a couple of the seiko 1/100th second chronos. if you leave the chrono running all the time the battery generally will not last two or three months... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Strange. I have a cheap Tag chrono rep with a Miyota quartz movement. The regular second hand ticks but the chrono second hand sweeps............. So if I would keep the chrono running the battery would die within weeks/ months? I find that hard to believe. I've got a cheap Casio chrono with a 1/20th second subdial (it's the same movement that's used in some Chase-Durer and other quartz chronographs). The watch conserves power by stopping the sweep hand after 30 seconds (when the chronograph is stopped, the 1/20th sec sweep hand assumes the proper position, so that the split or elapsed time can be read). If the sweep hand was allowed to run continuously, I have no doubt that the battery would be dead in a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Check the Seiko Spring Drive, a mec/quartz hybrid. You can find lots a video on youtube. The spring drive isn't a hybrid as such. It's best described as a mechanical watch with a digital escapement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshot Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 i find it funny how often the springdrive is described as "quartz" or a "hybrid" on the gen forums (besides SCF). i honestly believe that if the springdrive movement had come out with rolex or IWC or omega or panerai on the bridges it would be described as "the biggest advance in the recent history of horology" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmythree Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 quote = i honestly believe that if the springdrive movement had come out with rolex or IWC or omega or panerai on the bridges it would be described as "the biggest advance in the recent history of horology" /quote I know what you mean. The diehard rolexfreaks went crazy about the 'new blue hairspring' that rolex came out with...their first new idea in 40 years. I got so excited that I yawned three times in a row before dozing off. I have also seen remarks claiming the Daytona is priced way too low...they want it priced so no one except a few rolex 'watch elites' can afford one. Then, after all the nail biting anticipitation of waiting three years to pay full retail plus tax for one...they wind up in therapy after "getting the call"...and the next guy on the list gets it. I guess the new $10k 'deep sea' is a real bargain... $10k for a $300 case and bracelet plus a $300 movement... Wait a minute! It has solid gold hands and hour markers! ...add $35. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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