Sweeping Quartz Movement

[Jagger]

I have only heard of, but not seen, a quartz movement that mimics the automatic "sweep" of the second hand. Does it exist and/or do any of our rep dealers carry this movement.

I think it would be an ideal movement for any closed back watch.

Thanks in advance.

[hank7502]

I think Seiko has a quartz that splits the second into 10 ticks which sweeps to the eye.

[TwoTone]

There's a pretty informative Loop HERE on this subject...

Ahh, the power of search

TT

.

[automatico]

quote = I think Seiko has a quartz that splits the second into 10 ticks which sweeps to the eye.

/quote

Seiko had such a movement (I forget the calibre number and how many ticks per second) but the one a friend owns has "smooth" printed on the dial and is 'time only', no date. Under the dial is a small device that dampens the sweep second hand with a hairspring sealed inside liquid silicone to convert the tick - tick - tick normal quartz second hand motion to a smoother sweep.

The rolex oysterquartz 5035 date/5055 day-date movement fires once a second just like a $7 Wal-Mart special but it has a pallet fork and makes a much louder tick than a normal quartz watch. The OQ was made off the 3035 base plate and uses the same calendar parts, dial blank etc.

Lots of quartz chronographs have a smoother than one tick a second center timing hands but no telling how long the watch or battery would last. I guess you could use a quartz chronograph movement with a center sweep timing hand that ticks maybe 5 times a second, remove the recorder hands, install the dial of your choice, install the hour, minute, second (center timing) hands and just run the chronograph all the time.

You would also have to shorten the recorder hand pivots so the dial would lay flat and quartz watches also tend to have smaller holes in the hour and minute hands than mechanical movements so 'trademark' hands may be hard to find.

The quartz movement having jewels or not would not matter very much as the jewels are usually used only the time train wheels and there is not much friction on the various timer hands anyway. Eta makes some high jewel quartz chronograph movements but I doubt if it would be worth the extra money if a cheaper movement would work.

I have noticed on some quartz chronographs that battery life is measured by how long the timer is activated.

For example...

no timing = 3 years

4 hours timing per day = 2 years

8 hours per day = 1 1/2 years

timing 24/7 = 8 months

[Ztech]

Hmm... a quartz that sweeps as good as an auto??? The only quartz I know of that does anything remotely close to sweep smooth is the Seiko Spring Drive and that's a hybrid so you couldn't really say it's a quartz.

[Corgi]

If you want a watch with the convenience of quartz but without the give-away tick, why not just get a model without a seconds hand on it? I know it's irrelevant to the original question but regardless, I think it's the only solution right now.

[fakemaster]

Some old Accutrons had a sweep.

[Chronus]

You didn't specify a wristwatch, so I'll say that I have an Acctim clock with a sweeping seconds hand. I've posted somewhere (probably with links). Only cost around 10 GBP too !

Apparently doctor's surgeries require these as some patients can get irritated by the ticking of a clock. At least that's what the supplies manager at the hospital said.

[sul]

Why some big wall clock`s have quarts movement with perfectly sweeping second hand, probably better and more expensive movement?! And why it is not possible use that sweeping technique in wrist watch movements.

[freddy333]

Have you considered a battery-operated mechanical (not quartz) clock? These have been around for a long time, are cheap & have sweeping seconds hands. You can even buy the movements online or in hobby stores & make your own. I have 1 that I made 25 or 30 years ago out of a rare (but badly scratched) rare record. Unfortunately, the second hand fell off some years ago during a move, but it keeps good time & only needs its C battery changed once each year.

[automatico]

quote =

Why some big wall clock`s have quarts movement with perfectly sweeping second hand, probably better and more expensive movement?! And why it is not possible use that sweeping technique in wrist watch movements.

/quote

I have used a lot of the 'smooth sweep' quartz movements to replace corded electric clock movements. The 'smooth sweep' quartz clock movements I use have "Young Town Quartz, Made in Taiwan" on the back and sell for around $6US each.

They use one AA battery and will run for 1 1/2 to 2 years on a battery.

The main reason for not using step motors that tick 4 or 5 times a second is battery life...every tick takes about the same amount of battery power so five ticks a second would take a lot more power than one a second.

Some two hand (no second hand) quartz watches tick 3 times a minute to save power.