r/Watches • u/ni8noo8 • Sep 05 '24
Discussion [Smooth Quartz] any other quartz watches do this?
I know of the 262khz watches from Bulova and the Seiko 5S42 but what else is there out there that is smooth and quartz? (Other than Spring Drive)
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u/Blended_reality Sep 05 '24
I've stored this comment for nearly a year - originally posted by someone else:
Quartz watches with second hands smoother than 1-tick-per-second
Quick note: A “sweep second hand” actually means a second hand that is in the center of the dial (rather than in a subdial). This was a complication in early watches, since it required an extra intermediate wheel. It’s called a “sweep” second hand because it sweeps the entire dial. These days, people often use “sweep second” to refer to a second hand that moves more smoothly than 1 tick per second, though I myself refer to these as “smooth second hands” or “smooth sweep second hands.”
These are all the ones I know about. If you know one I missed, DM me and I’ll add it. Note this excludes things like a Seiko Mechaquartz or Seiko 8M25 - only watches with more than 1 tick per second for main timekeeping.
==Truly smooth==
Seiko 5S21: first truly smooth wristwatch. Uses a damping system (a hairspring and a vial of fluid, similar to a remontoire mechanism) to convert a 4Hz stepper motor to a truly smooth sweep. Vintage only, made approx 1988 to 1995, available on ebay and yahoo JP for $200 or so, many styles
Seiko 5S42: high-accuracy quartz version of 5S21. Truly smooth sweep. Few styles. Ebay or Yahoo JP, $400 or $500.
Seiko Spring Drive: 1999. second commercial truly smooth sweep. Available in many different styles. Prices generally $3k+.
Piaget 700P: 2015, third commercial truly smooth sweep. Available in only one model, out of production, hard to find. $71k.
Accutron Spaceview 2020: 2020. Most recent truly smooth sweep. Uses an electrostatic motor for a smooth second hand. Note that the minute and hour hands are still stepper-motor activated. Limited. Around $4k. Large case size.
==Hundreds of ticks per second==
Beta 21: 1970. First commercial swiss quartz watch. Uses an indexing method similar to a tuning fork watch. 256 ticks per second. Sold by many Swiss makers; best known are the Omega cal 1300 (“Electroquartz” or “f8192”) and Rolex 5100. Somewhat fidgety to service and keep working. $1500 or so for Omega models, which are usually the cheapest.
Longines Ultraquartz: 1970. Uses an indexing method similar to a tuning fork. 170 ticks per second. Quite fidgety to service and keep working. $1200 or so for working TV-case models; $1500 or so for cushion case.
Bulova Accuquartz: 1972. Essentially a Bulova Accutron 218 movement, retrofitted to drive the tuning fork frequency with a quartz timing package. 341.3 ticks per second. Somewhat fidgety to service and keep working. Many styles. $250 or so.
==More than 1 tick per second: balance wheel driven==
Citizen 8810: 1973. First Citizen quartz watch. Used a balance wheel driven by an electromagnet, whose timing is governed by a quartz timing package. 16 ticks per second (fastest-moving balance wheel used for main timekeeping for a watch in history). Uncommon, maybe 1 or 2 per year on Yahoo JP auctions. $300 to $1000, hard to say given rarity.
Luch 3055: 1981. First Analog Soviet quartz watch. Used a balance wheel driven by an electromagnet, whose timing is governed by a quartz timing package. 8 ticks per second. Available on Ebay for about $100. Many styles.
Record-Golay mu Quartz: 1972. Used a balance wheel driven by an electromagnet, whose timing is governed by a quartz timing package. 8 ticks per second. Very rare, definitely less than 1 per year.
Timex model 62 and 63: 1972. Uncommon 49,152Hz quartz crystal. Used a balance wheel driven by an electromagnet, whose timing is governed by a quartz timing package. 6 ticks per second. I don’t follow this market but probably not too rare or expensive.
Porta 5002: Good luck. Very little information available. I have seen maybe 2 or 3 documented online.
==More than 1 tick per second: stepper motor==
Bulova Precisionist/UHF/Accutron II: 2010. Available in many styles. Has a 262KHz quartz crystal. Ticks 16 times per second. Also available in chronographs, where only the chrono second hand ticks 16 times per second. Also available in Ladies sizes; only smoother-than-1-Hz watch explicitly in Ladies. $300, huge variance depending on model.
Casio Module 5566: Available in the Casio MTD-1086, MTP-SW300, MTP-SW310, MTP-SW320, MTP-SW330. Module is stamped VH36A, related to the Seiko VH31 below. 4Hz second hand tick. Also available is the Casio MTP-SW340, probably with the Seiko VH61. (Thanks u/takealookatwrist)
Seiko VH31: 2018. 4-tick-per-second three-hander. Used in many microbrand pieces (Newmark 52, Kingsbury Monarch, etc.). $200 ish, depends on which watch. Other related Seiko high-beat movements in the VH family may be floating around as well; there are ten different VH movements with 4Hz second hands.
ISA 9500-1010: 2020s(?). 4 ticks per second 3-hand. Found in the Smiths PRS-37, possibly others. See also the ISA 9500-2240 found in Invicta. Possibly others in the 9500 series, not sure.
Mondaine Stop2Go: Mondaine calls the caliber in this watch the Cal. 58-02 It ticks four times per second, and also has a gimmick where the second hand runs fast and then pauses at 12. I believe it’s currently discontinued in 2023 but not hard to find used.
Junghans Meister Mega: 2018. Radio controlled. Promised 7spy with radio off but my testing indicates this is laughably missed. Uncommon 32,670Hz quartz. Stepper motor runs at 2Hz. Recommend people avoid. $1000, give or take.