Automatic quartz
Encyclopedia
Automatic quartz is a collective term describing watch
movements
that combine a self-winding rotor mechanism (as used in automatic mechanical watches
) to generate electricity with a piezoelectric
quartz crystal
as its timing element. Such movements aim to provide the advantages of quartz without the environmental impact of batteries. Several manufacturers employ this technique.
A rotating pendulum
inside the case is attached to a relatively large gear which meshes with a very small pinion
. As the wearer moves, the pendulum turns and spins the pinion at a very high speed - up to 100,000 rpm
. This is coupled to a miniature electrical generator
which charges a storage device which is a capacitor
(s) or a rechargeable battery
. A typical full charge will last between two weeks and six months.
pioneered the technique which it unveiled at the Baselworld
1986 trade show under the trial name AGM.
The first such watch was released in Germany in January 1988 and April of the same year in Japan (under the name Auto-Quartz). The watches had an average monthly rate of ±15 sec and provided 75 hours of continuous operation when fully powered. Early automatic quartz movements were called AGS (Automatic Generating System); in 1991 the company introduced the Kinetic brand name.
Today Seiko offers a wide range of watches with various Kinetic movements. The top of the line is the caliber 9T82, included in Sportura (international brand) and PROSPEX (only marketed in Japan) Collection. It is sold in limited volume at a price range of about US$
3000 which makes it one of the most expensive automatic quartz watches.
Kinetic technology has also been used in some of Seiko's Pulsar and Lorus watches. As of 2007, Seiko has sold more than eight million automatic quartz watches.
The different calibres of Kinetic watches currently are relatively large and heavy, weighing in at 1/3 of a pound (150 grams) or more on many models. Therefore, most Seiko Kinetic watches are only available in a men's size.
(*) In use as of at Aug-2008
Swiss company ETA SA, part of the Swatch
group, made seven different automatic quartz movements, calling them Autoquartz. They were part of the premium Flatline series of movements and were sold to a variety of watch vendors, primarily European and American. High grade movements designed to last as long as their premium mechanical movements, they had between 15 to 53 jewels. Unlike most quartz watches, Autoquartz could be calibrated to increase their accuracy. Several vendors had their Autoquartz watches COSC
certified. In 2006 to increase production of its highly demanded mechanical movements, Swatch discontinued supplying the Autoquartz line to customers (service and parts are still available). Then in 2009, possibly due to available production capacity or stocked parts, Tissot reintroduced the Autoquartz in its PRC200 dive watch. The Autoquartz movement used by Tissot is gold plated and carries the designation ETA 205.914.
Movement calibers:
Manufacturers who employ or employed ETA movements: Tissot
, Rado
in their Accustar line of watches, Longines
, Swatch
, Omega (Omega Seamaster Omega-matic), Dugena (K-Tech), Wenger
(GST Field Terragraph Autoquartz), Hermès
(Nomade), Roberge (Altaïr), Mido
(Multifort), Bovet (Autoquartz calibre 11BQ01), Fortis
(Spacematic Eco), Belair (Autoquartz), HTO (Grand Voyager) and Cyma
.
, the world's largest watch manufacturer, also built an autoquartz-powered watch: the Citizen Promaster Eco-Duo Drive (released in December 1998). Novel to this watch was the use of both mechanical power as well as a solar cell. This model was an attempt to enter higher-priced markets (at a cost of around $1000 USD), but the technology failed to attract consumer interest and Citizen has since stopped making use of the unique movement. No other autoquartz powered watch from Citizen is known; all other Eco-Drive
models only use solar power or thermal power.
In 2007 the company went into bankruptcy. Support is now available from an independent entity.
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
movements
Movement (clockwork)
In horology, a movement is the internal mechanism of a clock or watch, as opposed to the case, which encloses and protects the movement, and the face which displays the time. The term originated with mechanical timepieces, whose movements are made of many moving parts...
that combine a self-winding rotor mechanism (as used in automatic mechanical watches
Automatic watch
An automatic or self-winding watch is a mechanical watch, whose mainspring is wound automatically by the natural motion of the wearer's arm, providing energy to run the watch, to make it unnecessary to manually wind the watch. A watch which is not self-winding is called a manual watch...
) to generate electricity with a piezoelectric
Piezoelectricity
Piezoelectricity is the charge which accumulates in certain solid materials in response to applied mechanical stress. The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure...
quartz crystal
Crystal oscillator
A crystal oscillator is an electronic oscillator circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a very precise frequency...
as its timing element. Such movements aim to provide the advantages of quartz without the environmental impact of batteries. Several manufacturers employ this technique.
Mode of operation
Pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...
inside the case is attached to a relatively large gear which meshes with a very small pinion
Pinion
A pinion is a round gear used in several applications:*usually the smallest gear in a gear drive train, although in the case of John Blenkinsop's Salamanca, the pinion was rather large...
. As the wearer moves, the pendulum turns and spins the pinion at a very high speed - up to 100,000 rpm
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
. This is coupled to a miniature electrical generator
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
which charges a storage device which is a capacitor
Capacitor
A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy in an electric field. The forms of practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least two electrical conductors separated by a dielectric ; for example, one common construction consists of metal foils separated...
(s) or a rechargeable battery
Button cell
A watch battery or button cell is a small single cell battery shaped as a squat cylinder typically 5 to 12 mm in diameter and 1 to 6 mm high—like a button on a garment, hence the name. Button cells are used to power small portable electronics devices such as wrist watches, pocket...
. A typical full charge will last between two weeks and six months.
Seiko
Japanese company SeikoSeiko
, more commonly known simply as Seiko , is a Japanese watch company.-History and ongoing developments:The company was founded in 1881, when Kintarō Hattori opened a watch and jewelry shop called in the Ginza area of Tokyo, Japan. Eleven years later, in 1892, he began to produce clocks under the...
pioneered the technique which it unveiled at the Baselworld
BaselWorld
Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show is a trade show for the watch and jewellery industry organized annually in the city of Basel, Switzerland. The international show unites about 2,100 exhibitors from over 45 countries, including the leading watch and jewelry brands, as well as companies...
1986 trade show under the trial name AGM.
The first such watch was released in Germany in January 1988 and April of the same year in Japan (under the name Auto-Quartz). The watches had an average monthly rate of ±15 sec and provided 75 hours of continuous operation when fully powered. Early automatic quartz movements were called AGS (Automatic Generating System); in 1991 the company introduced the Kinetic brand name.
Today Seiko offers a wide range of watches with various Kinetic movements. The top of the line is the caliber 9T82, included in Sportura (international brand) and PROSPEX (only marketed in Japan) Collection. It is sold in limited volume at a price range of about US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
3000 which makes it one of the most expensive automatic quartz watches.
Kinetic technology has also been used in some of Seiko's Pulsar and Lorus watches. As of 2007, Seiko has sold more than eight million automatic quartz watches.
The different calibres of Kinetic watches currently are relatively large and heavy, weighing in at 1/3 of a pound (150 grams) or more on many models. Therefore, most Seiko Kinetic watches are only available in a men's size.
Movement calibers
- 1M20
- 3M21 3M22
- 3M62
- 4M21
- 4M71
- 5D22* 5D44* (Direct Drive)
- 5D88 (Direct Drive Moonphase)
- 5J21* 5J22* (Auto Relay)
- 5J32* (Auto Relay)
- 5M22 5M23 5M25
- 5M42 5M43 5M45 5M47
- 5M54* (Retrograde Day Indicator)
- 5M62* 5M63* 5M65(GMT)*
- 7D46* 7D48* 7D56* (Auto Relay, Perpetual Calendar)
- 7L22* (Auto Relay, ChronographChronographA chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions as well as other functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s...
) - 7M12 7M42
- 7M22 7M45
- 9T82* (ChronographChronographA chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions as well as other functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s...
) - YT57* YT58
(*) In use as of at Aug-2008
Implementation faults
- Some watches made before the year 2000 brought faulty capacitors with a reduced life span in the ESU (Electricity Storage Unit). These capacitors had to be replaced after a few years. Newer models already bring a new titanium lithium ion rechargeable cell. This cell, sometimes called a secondary battery, enables the ESU to store more energy for a longer period of time. With the currently made 5M62/5M63/5M65 movements, the result is reserve power for up to six months. An older Kinetic caliber like the 5M42, only runs for two weeks on its reserve power. Neither the capacitors nor the rechargeable cells have an indefinite life and will eventually require replacement, although Ti-Li-ion cells have been shown to retain 80% of their capacity even after 20 years. The Ti-Li-ion cell can be retrofitted to earlier watches in place of the original capacitor (the necessary parts — a MaxellMaxell, commonly known as Maxell, is a Japanese company which manufactures consumer electronics. The company's notable products are batteries -- the company's name is a contraction of "maximum capacity dry cell" -- and recording media, including audio cassettes and blank VHS tapes, and recordable optical...
Ti-Li-ion cell, and an adapted insulator and cover plate — are included in a Seiko parts kit). Primary batteries, such as silver oxide cells, must NOT be used and it is important that repair technicians are familiar with the Kinetic movement to avoid this mistake.
- Some calibers have the backlash phenomenon; tilting the watch from side to side occasionally caused the minute hand to fall around somewhere between half a minute and a full minute. It was confirmed by SEIKO and technically it is impossible to improve the situation by reassembling the watch. This however is apparently completely normal for quartz watches generally. It is more commonly a slight play in the minute hand seen in Seiko quartz movements that amounts to perhaps 1/12 to 1/6 of a visible minute between minute notches on the dial. Arguably, this is not a practical problem and is only noticeable when the case is held motionless and the long hand is watched repeatedly and singlemindedly. Furthermore it only occurs rarely, at least in Seikos with movements manufactured in the last 15 years. Most of the time, the minute marks are hit either dead on, or so close as to hardly be noticeable. Also this does not affect the actual time keeping in the slightest, which is very precise, even by quartz watch standards. As noticed, it appears that any tendency for the long hand to come up short by the same fractional distance is related to the date dial turning at the same time between 22:00 and 00:00. The amount of actual daily time when this would occur is only about one hour.
ETA
Swatch
Swatch is a brand name for a line of wrist watches from the Swatch Group, a Swiss conglomerate with vertical control of the production of Swiss watches and related products...
group, made seven different automatic quartz movements, calling them Autoquartz. They were part of the premium Flatline series of movements and were sold to a variety of watch vendors, primarily European and American. High grade movements designed to last as long as their premium mechanical movements, they had between 15 to 53 jewels. Unlike most quartz watches, Autoquartz could be calibrated to increase their accuracy. Several vendors had their Autoquartz watches COSC
COSC
COSC aka C.O.S.C. is Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, which is the institute responsible for certifying the accuracy and precision of wristwatches in Switzerland.-Background:...
certified. In 2006 to increase production of its highly demanded mechanical movements, Swatch discontinued supplying the Autoquartz line to customers (service and parts are still available). Then in 2009, possibly due to available production capacity or stocked parts, Tissot reintroduced the Autoquartz in its PRC200 dive watch. The Autoquartz movement used by Tissot is gold plated and carries the designation ETA 205.914.
Movement calibers:
- 204.901 (small 8.75 lignes used primarily in women's watches)
- 204.911 (replacement for the 204.901 upgrading from a capacitor to a rechargeable battery)
- 205.111 (discontinued and replaced by the 205.911 which upgraded from a capacitor to a rechargeable battery)
- 205.711 (15 jeweled movement used only by Swatch Watch for a variety of its fashion watches)
- 205.911 (the most commonly available movement having 17 jewels and often ordered in gold plating)
- 205.914 (no information available from ETA)
- 205.961 (a 205.911 with the addition of a GMT hand)
- 206.211 (a 205.911 fitted with a Dubois Depraz 2021 to make a chronograph. With 53 jewels the most jeweled quartz movement ever made)
Manufacturers who employ or employed ETA movements: Tissot
Tissot
Tissot is a luxury Swiss watchmaker company founded in 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile Tissot who established the Tissot factory in the Swiss city of Le Locle, in the Neuchâtel area of the Jura Mountains....
, Rado
Rado (watch)
Rado is a Swiss luxury manufacturer of watches, with headquarters in Lengnau, Switzerland. It is noted for its use of scratch-proof materials, a field in which it is considered a pioneer...
in their Accustar line of watches, Longines
Longines
Longines is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. The company was originally founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832 and it currently holds the oldest registered logo for a watch company . Longines is currently owned by the Swatch Group.Longines is known for its 'Aviators' watches...
, Swatch
Swatch
Swatch is a brand name for a line of wrist watches from the Swatch Group, a Swiss conglomerate with vertical control of the production of Swiss watches and related products...
, Omega (Omega Seamaster Omega-matic), Dugena (K-Tech), Wenger
Wenger
Wenger is one of two companies that have manufactured Swiss Army knives. Based in Delémont, Wenger was acquired by rival Victorinox in 2005.- History :The history of Wenger S.A...
(GST Field Terragraph Autoquartz), Hermès
Hermès
Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès is a French high fashion house established in 1837, today specializing in leather, lifestyle accessories, perfumery, luxury goods, and ready-to-wear...
(Nomade), Roberge (Altaïr), Mido
Mido (watch)
Mido is a luxury Swiss watchmaker company founded in 1918.-History:Mido was founded in 1918 by George G. Schaeren in Biel, Switzerland. Mido comes from the Spanish phrase Yo mido meaning I measure....
(Multifort), Bovet (Autoquartz calibre 11BQ01), Fortis
Fortis Uhren AG
Fortis is a watchmaker founded and based in Grenchen Switzerland that was established by Walter Vogt in 1912.- History :12 years after its establishment, Walter Vogt set up production with John Harwood, the inventor of the automatic wristwatch. In 1926, Fortis released the first self-winding...
(Spacematic Eco), Belair (Autoquartz), HTO (Grand Voyager) and Cyma
Cyma Watches
Cyma SA is a Swiss manufacture of upscale and high-quality wristwatches, founded by brothers Joseph and Theodre Schwob in 1862. With equal emphasis for their accuracy and visual aesthetic, Cyma's automatic timepieces have been long reputable for their resilience to electricity, magnetism and...
.
Citizen
CitizenCitizen Watch Co.
is the core company of a Japanese global corporate group based in Tokyo, Japan. The company was originally founded as Shokosha Watch Research Institute in 1918 and is currently known as the manufacturer of CINCOM precision lathe machine tools as well as CITIZEN watches. The trade name originated...
, the world's largest watch manufacturer, also built an autoquartz-powered watch: the Citizen Promaster Eco-Duo Drive (released in December 1998). Novel to this watch was the use of both mechanical power as well as a solar cell. This model was an attempt to enter higher-priced markets (at a cost of around $1000 USD), but the technology failed to attract consumer interest and Citizen has since stopped making use of the unique movement. No other autoquartz powered watch from Citizen is known; all other Eco-Drive
Eco-Drive
Eco-Drive is the series name of a line of mainly light powered watches manufactured by the Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. The first Eco-Drive watches were sold in 1995.-Light as power source:...
models only use solar power or thermal power.
Ventura
Ventura was a small Swiss watch manufacturer claiming to be "the World's only manufacturer of automatic digital watches". Their VEN_99 movement was the only watch to ever combine autoquartz and digital readout of time (LCD) in one package. Offered were three models: the Sparc rx, fx and px. In late 2006, the company started selling their movement with an incorporated alarm, another exclusive feature. All hardware was proprietary to Ventura.In 2007 the company went into bankruptcy. Support is now available from an independent entity.
Critique
- In spite of the relatively complex mechanical parts used, Seiko has positioned their kinetic watches to be medium-priced and affordable. ETA sold Autoquartz to a variety of Swiss manufacturers with pricing below $100 (Swatch) to multiple thousands (Omega, Baume et Mercier, et al.).
- Although they are a hybrid of mechanical and electric parts and provide substantial advantages over entirely mechanical watches, the Japanese movements do rarely or never appeal to watch collectors and connoisseurs interested in higher-priced and up-market models which are nearly always mechanical. The Swiss ETA movements, especially those encased by upmarket vendors, have appealed to collectors.
External links
- watches-lexic: ETA Autoquartz
- Seiko AGS Quartz Watch The world's first automatic power generating quartz watch.
- The Seiko Kinetic: Boon or Bane?