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How To Buy A Watch, Pt. 1

Before we even ask the question, “Why are you buying a watch?” let’s first look at watches and their history and let’s make some distinctions between the choices you’ll have when buying a watch.

There are two basic kinds of watches, mechanical and battery powered, with a few variations of these two basic kinds, as follows:

• Mechanical watches with manual movements

• Mechanical watches with automatic movements

• Mechanical watches powered by battery

• Battery powered watches regulated by a tuning fork

• Battery powered watches regulated by a quartz crystal

• Battery powered quartz watches powered by rotor/capacitor (kinetic)

• Battery powered quartz watches powered by light (solar)

The history of watch making is rich and varied, and goes back to the 1500s. (For further great reading on the history of watches go here.) Watches of course evolved from clocks and are really just small clocks. The original clocks, many of which still exist today, were mechanical in that they consisted of mechanical parts such as wheels, gears, levers, cams, springs and so on, much like an automobile, only very, very small. Watchmakers made these complex mechanical clocks fit on a wrist or in a pocket by making them even smaller. In mechanical watches, whether wound by hand (manual) or wound by rotor (automatic), the motive power comes from the energy released when a spring is wound and tightened and allowed to slowly unwind. It’s really quite brilliant when you think about it: a spring slowly unwinding is used to move other parts and the configuration and design of those parts regulate the movement of two or three hands in a circle around a dial. Imagine the trial and error original clockmakers endured, hundreds of years ago, to find the way to make a clock accurate enough to be of any use. Over the generations mechanical watches have been improved, refined and advanced technologically along with improvements in precision tools and manufacturing methods and better steel. For higher accuracy and longevity jewels are commonly used as bearings in higher quality mechanical watches.

The very first wristwatch was invented in 1868 by Patek Philippe, mostly as piece of jewelry as the watch was not functionally accurate, but soon thereafter a whole new industry was born. By the late 19^th century many of the brands we know today had established themselves either in Europe (mostly Switzerland) or in the United States. These brands include, Tissot, Omega, Rolex, Bulova, International Watch Company, Timex, and many others.

While watchmakers continued to improve upon their product, the watch remained basically the same until the advent of the self-winding or automatic watch soon after World War I when John Harwood devised the first rotor winding watch mechanism commonly known as the ”bumper” automatic. It had a weighted rotor attached to the winding mechanism that would rotate about 180° and hit bumper springs that would send it back in the other direction. But it only wound the watch when rotating in one direction. This new improvement allowed a watch to be worn without regular winding and had a reserve power of up to 12 hours when fully wound. These 'Bumper' watches became the first successful commercially produced watches.

Then, in 1930 Rolex improved Harwood’s design so the weighted rotor could now rotate a full 360° and Rolex also developed a new mainspring that allowed the watch to run up to 36 hours when not being worn and fully wound. By the 1960s these self-winding watches became the standard in quality watches.

The making of mechanical watches in the past, much as today, required great mechanical skills, extensive knowledge, and years of training. If you’ve ever seen the inside of a mechanical watch you know why: many tiny parts, screws and springs all have to be assembled with perfection for the watch to operate properly. And all must be assembled in a very clean and dust-free environment. The mechanical watch industry was healthy and growing throughout the first half of the 20^th century until the advent of the battery-powered watch that first appeared in 1957 and nearly brought mechanical watches to a sudden, devastating end with the invention of the quartz watch in the 1970s. (For more on automatic watches go here.)

I have no doubt that mechanical watches would be gone completely as far as new products go, much the way of 8 track tapes and BetaVision, if not for some clever marketing. But unlike 8 track tapes, automatic watches have made an astounding comeback, similar in a way to the comeback of vinyl LP records, although far more extensive and with a far larger market. Why either of these technologies are still around is open to discussion, for there is little logic in either case. As for automatic watches, if nothing else, you might chalk their renewed success up to some sort of romantic appeal, perhaps a nostalgia for things of the past, things of an analog nature rather than digital, an attraction based perhaps solely on a love of old fashioned crafts and skills. With LPs it’s easy to make the argument that they sound better compared to CDs because individual hearing can vary widely and what sounds good to one person may not necessarily be even noticeable to another. It’s very subjective. On the other hand, with watches you can clearly test the accuracy of different watches and the results are irrefutable. Quartz is a hands-down winner when it comes to accuracy.

Quartz technology has been around since the late 1920s, but it wasn’t until the development of semiconductors and digital logic boards in the 1960s that quartz became usable in very small devices like a wristwatch. Quartz watches were briefly preceded by several earlier electric watches that used a battery to power the mechanical movement through the use of a traditional balance wheel or tuning fork with an electromechanical solenoid. The most famous of these is the Bulova Accutron that was NASA’s choice for timekeeping devices on the first space mission, although the honor of the first watch in space went to Omega’s certified chronometer, an automatic mechanical watch. Other notable electric watches of the past include models by Hamilton, Bulova and others. (For more on electric watches, go here.) However, Accutron tuning fork watches were a huge step forward in timekeeping accuracy. Still and yet these electric watches were not as accurate nor as durable as the quartz watch to come, mainly due to the reliance on moving parts. The quartz watch effectively eliminated all the mechanical parts other than the hands.

From Wikipedia:

“The world's first analog quartz wristwatches were developed in 1967: the Beta 21 revealed by the Centre Electronique Horloger (CEH) in Neuchâtel Switzerland,[6] and the prototype of the Astron revealed by Seiko in Japan.[7]

In 1969, Seiko produced the world's first quartz wristwatch, the Astron.[7] The inherent accuracy and low cost of production has resulted in the proliferation of quartz clocks and watches since that time. By the 1980s quartz technology had taken over applications such as kitchen timers, alarm clocks, bank vault time locks, and time fuzes on munitions, from earlier mechanical balance wheel movements.

Quartz timepiece production has emerged from Asia, notably Hong Kong and Japan. Many traditional European clockmakers, particularly in Switzerland, Germany, France and Russia have continued to produce the less-accurate but still-popular geared timepieces.[citation needed]

Quartz wristwatches are in high demand today as they are more accurate than their mechanical counterparts; they need neither winding nor much maintenance. Light-powered and motion-powered quartz watches represent two innovative types of timepieces. Light-powered quartz watches incorporate a solar cell that transforms the light into electricity. As for the motion-powered wristwatches, they have a tiny rotor spinning in response to motion and generating electricity.[8]”

Okay, now let’s compare the two types in a very general way. Quartz watches have been around long enough for some of the existing ones to be considered “vintage” watches, but we’ll compare new against new first.

Quartz. There are several real significant differences between quartz and mechanical. The first of these, as we’ve noted, is accuracy. The cheapest quartz watch is most likely as accurate or more accurate than the most expensive mechanical watch, although the gap has narrowed since the resurgence of mechanical watches and continuing advancement of the technology and manufacturing techniques.

More to come...

Seiko Watches - Why Seiko? A Little History

Please Visit TimeWise Watches On eBay For Great Deals on new Seiko watches, beautiful both modern and vintage Swiss watches such as Omega, Rolex, Hamilton, Sandoz, Glycine, Tissot, Cyma, Bulova, Ball, Tudor, Fortis, Polar and other fine Swiss timepieces. We also sell Banda Swiss watch straps, watch bands and watch bracelets – the best value in fine watch straps and accessories.

We sell Seiko watches with great enthusiasm because Seiko is really a great watch, all things considered: style, accuracy, durability, utility, and of course price. Seiko invented the Quartz watch, so you can bet it's one of the best quartz movement on the market. In fact, you may find a Seiko quartz movement in many other brand name watches, like Timex for example.

When it comes to style there's a Seiko for everyone. Gold, silver, titanium, diamonds, ultra-thin dress watches, stainless steel tough everyday watches, rail road approved watches, diving watches, racing watches, watches for women, watches for men, watches for the youngster in your family. And because Seiko creates so many different styles on an ongoing basis (they must employ a huge design staff!) you may own a Seiko watch unlike any that anyone else you know owns, making yours unique.

We sell the best Seikos we can find. If they're worn out we won't sell them. We install a new battery in every previously owned Seiko we sell, we clean them up, replace the bracelet or strap if needed and we check them for timekeeping accuracy before we offer them for sale to you. At TimeWise Watches you can rest easy knowing that you are getting a fine watch at very reasonable price.

SEIKO - A Little History

The company started in 1881, when Kintaro Hattori opened a watch and jewellery shop called "K. Hattori" (????? Hattori Tokeiten?) in the Ginza area of Tokyo, Japan. Eleven years later in 1892, he began to produce clocks under the name Seikosha (??? Seikosha?). According to Seiko's official company history, titled "A Journey In Time: The Remarkable Story of Seiko" (2003), Seiko is a Japanese word meaning "exquisite", "minute", or "success". (The meaning "exquisite" is usually written ?? while the meaning "success" is usually written ??.)

The first watches produced under the Seiko brand appeared in 1924. In 1969, Seiko introduced the Seiko Astron, the world's first production quartz watch; when it was introduced, it cost the same as a medium-sized car. Seiko later went on to introduce the first quartz chronograph. In 1985, Orient Watches and Seiko established a joint factory. Recognized as a leader in timekeeping accuracy, Seiko products are often used as the official timekeepers of the major sporting events including the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup editions in Argentina 1978, Spain 1982, Mexico 1986 and Italy 1990.

The company was incorporated (K. Hattori & Co., Ltd.) in 1917, renamed Hattori Seiko Co., Ltd. in 1983 and Seiko Corporation in 1990. After reconstructing and creating its operating subsidiaries (such as Seiko Watch Corporation, Seiko Clock Inc.), it became a holding company in 2001 and renamed Seiko Holdings Corporation as of July 1, 2007.

Seiko Holdings is one of the three core companies of the Seiko Group. The Seiko Group consists of Seiko Holdings Corporation (Seiko), Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII) and Seiko Epson Corporation (Epson) which is known for its printers in Europe and North America and its diverse line of electronics and computer equipment within Japan. Although they have some common shareholders including the key members of the Hattori family (posterity of Kintaro Hattori), the three companies in the Seiko Group are not affiliated. They are managed and operated completely independently. Seiko Watch Corporation, an operating subsidiary of Seiko Holdings Corporation, markets Seiko watches while Seiko Instruments and Seiko Epson manufacture their movements.

Seiko is perhaps known best, though, for its wristwatches. Seiko is known for their advanced technology and is one of the few wristwatch manufacturers that produce all of their watches and movements entirely in-house. Even minor items such as the oils used in lubricating the watches and the luminous compounds used on the hands and the dials are produced by the Seiko factories.

Seiko produces both quartz and mechanical watches of varying prices. The cheapest are around US$50; the most expensive (the Credor Spring Drive Sonnerie) costs over $US100,000[1]. Seiko's mechanical watches are the most prized by collectors—from the Seiko "5" series (the 5 is proposed to reflect 5 essential features of the watch namely shockproof, waterproof, automatic, with day and date display), which is the most common, the Seiko automatic Chronometer series, the "Bell-Matic" with a mechanical alarm to the highly prized luxury "Credor", "King Seiko" and "Grand Seiko" lines. Seiko Kinetic watches account for a large proportion of sales nowadays and combine the self-energizing attributes of an automatic watch with quartz accuracy. There is no battery to change; the watch is entirely powered by its movement in everyday wear.

Frustratingly for collectors, Seiko does not release all of its watch lines in every region. Some are exclusively available in Asia, for instance. Many online retailers will ship watches overseas, though.

Seiko Corporation of America is responsible for distribution of Seiko watches and clocks, as well as Pulsar brand watches, in the United States. The models available in the United States are normally a smaller subset of the full line produced in Japan. Seiko Corporation of America has its headquarters and Coserv repair center in Mahwah, New Jersey. In the United States, Seiko watches are sold primarily by fine jewelers and department stores, as well as 19 company stores located in various cities.

Seiko's 2004 marketing campaign emphasized that a watch, as opposed to other traits (such as what car they drive, for example) tells most about a person.
Various Seiko watches were worn by the cinematic James Bond 007 in four films, starring Roger Moore, from 1977-1985. Also, a Seiko watch was worn by Sean Connery in the 1983 Bond film, Never Say Never Again.

Seiko also produces other electronic devices. Notably, during the 1980's, this company produced a range of digital synthesizers, such as the DS-250, for use in electronic music. Today, the music division, a part of Seiko S-Yard, produces metronomes & tuning devices.

Spring Drive
On 7 October 2005, Seiko announced the world launch of the Seiko Spring Drive, a new calibre which delivers more power, more smoothly and for longer. Three days (72 hours) of power are provided, as opposed to the average of 40 hours in automatic mechanicals. To achieve this feat, Seiko has developed a special alloy called "Spron510". This new movement has eliminated the traditional balance wheel/escapement regulating system in favor of a so-called Tri-synchro Regulator. The power from the spring is used to turn the wheels but also is used to generate electrical power for a tiny, ultra-low consumption (~25 nanoWatts) crystal oscillator which in turn is used to regulate -with quartz accuracy- the speed of the wheels to exactly 8 beats per second. Spring Drive was sold regularly in Japan within the Grand Seiko and Credor lines. Seiko announced that no more than 300 units will be produced on a monthly basis. The Spring Drive also marks the first true luxury Seiko watches available outside Japan. They are expected to retail around $3,200 to $3,500. In the Paris premiere, Seiko auctioned the first Spring Drive, which was sold for about 10,000 euros and the money was given to a Basel-based charity that supports children suffering from cancer and leukemia.