# Quartz Annoyance



## mattjg01 (Jul 3, 2006)

I've been looking around for a cheap beater and managed to pick up a great Uzi watch from James. It has tritium vials that provide great illumination throughout the night and is nice and solid and feels perfect for a beater.










A real bargain and I'm well pleased. However, it has reminded me of one of the things that really annoys me about quite a large number of quartz watches. Why is it that so many manufacturers cannot make a quartz watch where the second hand lines up with the minute markers?


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

I very much share that annoyance. That lack of attention to detail should be rewarded with a separation from gonads







:taz:


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## hotmog (Feb 4, 2006)

I agree. Even the Breitling Colt I had, which in all other respects was an excellent watch, was the same.


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## Seamaster73 (Jun 25, 2006)

I knew even before I opened this topic what the complaint would be!


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## redmonaco (Nov 29, 2004)

Haven't yet seen a Tag Heuer that doesn't have that problem...

Am pleased with my recently purchased *PRS-3 which lines up very nicely*!!


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

It`s also something that bugs me, another is the way the minute hand jumps on a lot of quartz watches when you are trying to set the time, this is particularly annoying on the likes of my otherwise excellent Rotary Elite 200m as when it jumps you`ve got to wait 5 minutes to get it right


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## knuteols (Feb 22, 2006)

I once asked my watchmaker that very question, and he answered that there was need for some slack in the gears for the seconds hand, otherwise the movement would stop! Therefore the seconds hand does not always align perfectly with the markers.


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## hotmog (Feb 4, 2006)

knuteols said:


> I once asked my watchmaker that very question, and he answered that there was need for some slack in the gears for the seconds hand, otherwise the movement would stop! Therefore the seconds hand does not always align perfectly with the markers.


I'm not sure I understand. That seems to suggest that the distance travelled by the tip of the second hand during each 1 second tick is not always constant, but varies according to the degree of slack - in other words it might align with the minute markers some of the time, but not all of the time.

My experience of the Breitling suggested otherwise. The second hand was always consistently the same distance off from the minute markers whatever position it was around the dial. I am sure that if the second hand had been adjusted slightly when originally fitted to the spindle so that it was properly aligned with the minute markers, it would not have deviated.


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## DavidH (Feb 24, 2003)

And it doesn't seem to matter how much money you spend on them. They still can't get it right.

The only aligned quartz i have is the CWC G10. It is spot on. So none of your old excuses Omega, Seiko, Breitling.......

This is one thing I like about the Breitling Aerospace, It has no second hand, They took the easy way out!

It is high time someone made a quartz with a sweep second,

Seiko Springdrive has a sweep, so does Accutron.


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

DavidH said:


> It is high time someone made a quartz with a sweep second,
> 
> Seiko Springdrive has a sweep, so does Accutron.


I agree, I don`t like the quartz `jump`, Accutron style sweep is soo cool


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

I don't understand the 5 minute thingy with your Rotary Mach, probably me missing the point though (no pun intended) my X33 is nicely accurate as far as the second hand alignment is concerned and I agree that would really bug me on a watch of that calibre (another unintentional pun, sorry







) and my Omega multifunction does without the second hand like the Aerospace so no problems there either, I do have a cheaper Sieko chrono military style from Roy and if you set the stop watch function going of course the large second hand sweeps pretty smoothly around....so why not make all quartz like that? I guess something to do with stepper motors and longevity?

Best regards David


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## hotmog (Feb 4, 2006)

Boxbrownie said:


> I don't understand the 5 minute thingy with your Rotary Mach, probably me missing the point though (no pun intended) my X33 is nicely accurate as far as the second hand alignment is concerned and I agree that would really bug me on a watch of that calibre (another unintentional pun, sorry
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think it's 'cos there are no minute markers on the Rotary to align the minute hand with when the second hand is at 12, so Mach's got to use the 5 minute batons instead. If you don't get it right, or you think you have but then the minute hands jumps when pushing the crown back, it's a 5 minute wait before you get another chance.


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

DOH!!!!! Of course.........silly billy


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## KCR (Jan 28, 2007)

My Swiss Hills beater lines up perfectly










Yes, its a quartz


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

hotmog said:


> Boxbrownie said:
> 
> 
> > I don't understand the 5 minute thingy with your Rotary Mach, probably me missing the point though (no pun intended) my X33 is nicely accurate as far as the second hand alignment is concerned and I agree that would really bug me on a watch of that calibre (another unintentional pun, sorry
> ...


 HM`s got it, sorry I didn`t make myself clear


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## nickk (Jul 20, 2005)

Rather amusingly, if you go to the Omega website, drop down through the menus Gent's collection->Speedmaster->X-33

and then 'see it in really time'...

the sweep second hand on the graphic virtually misses the indices at 10, 15, 20 and 25 altogether.

Makes you wonder how bothered they are when it comes to assembling the actual watch - I think you got lucky with the only accurately aligned one they ever made David!


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## Zephod (Nov 15, 2006)

Only one that I have that lines up spot on is my Luminox 3100 commander !


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

You could be right Nick....hmm maybe I won't be selling mine after all?









Just had a peep there.....your right....amazing.....certainly does reflect the attitude of most large companies nowadays I think, such a shame


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## makky (Jul 14, 2004)

The seconds hand on my Tunacan is absolutely spot-on. Don't know if this is luck or that the person who assembled the watch took the trouble to line it up properly.

There are plenty of mechanical watches where the hour hand never lines up with the marker exactly on the hour. Sloppy assembly.


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## jef.L (Dec 30, 2006)

Easy solution, buy a Seiko quartz chrono with the seconds on a sub-dial, the mis-alignment is still there, you just need a magnifying glass to see it









I have two chrono's, a 7T32 and a 7T92 movement. Both are misaligned, the newer 7T92 being better than the older one but still not perfect, but I had to use a loupe to assess the error accurately, so it really doesn't matter.

On the other hand I have an old Seiko dress watch, model no. 5Y23, from around 1980 I think, its certainly been with me a long time and was my first quartz watch and the second hand on that one is spot on. But then, it was made in Japan.


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## mattjg01 (Jul 3, 2006)

It seems to be pot luck most of the time. I do have a very cheap watch from Next, bought for me when I was at Uni and that is spot on. If you're paying under Â£40 for a quartz then you don't mind too much but with the really pricey watches they really should take the time to get this right.


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