Re: Quartz GMT, any good?

A mechanical watch is no more or less an art form than an electronic
one. Both types required a tremendous amount of intellectual talent
and a lot of trial and error over an extended period of time to deliver
a a products that were both reliable and accessible by most purchasers.


The electronic movement has the unique ability to deliver exceptionally
accurate performance and a wide number of features.

I would argue that the high-end quartz movements from Seiko and Citizen
and Seiko's latest hybrid electro-mechanical are in their own way as
beautiful as any stamped and machined mechanical movement. They are
clearly attractive in their own right, as the skeleton watches are to
their owners.

Personally I find display backs and dials to be distracting and not
really worth the bother. Once I've seen a movement for a while through
the dial it becomes old hat and intrudes on the ability to tell time
easily.


Mij Adyaw wrote:
A mechanical watch is an art form. Examine one of the skeleton watches such
as a Chronoswiss Opus or a Maurice Lacroix Skeleton and you can see and
appreciate all of the moving parts that essentially give the watch "life". A
quartz watch is more accurate, but it lacks this appeal. I own both quartz
and mechanicals and therefore I can appreciate both, but still prefer the
mechanicals.

"John S." <hjsjms@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1154113321.293156.313060@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mij Adyaw wrote:
Quartz watches are ok, but mechanical watches are still the best.

The best for...???

Accuracy maybe?



"John S." <hjsjms@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1154097320.359483.174570@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

whale wrote:
Hi John,

Thanks for the reply. I don't think I'll be wearing only this for the
next forty years! Haha... However, I do like the design of this watch
and I think the casing coming out of Victorinox looks and feels
comparable to watches of much higher price. Therefore, I'm hoping that
this watch will be the buy and keep for the long-term type. I ask
about
longevity of quartz movement because of this reason.

I did read some time ago that digital watches will die because it's
display unit has a life limit. That's why less people collect digital
watches. Mechanical watches, on the other hand, is said to be able to
last a long time if serviced. Parts are also readily available,
especially for the ETA movements. How about quartz? If quartz movement
is serviced, will it last as long as mechanical watches? Is there
anything inside a quartz movement that has a life span and cannot find
a substitute for it if became faulty?

To be honest there is really very little servicing to be done in a
quartz in my experience. Battery changes when needed, or if you are
going on a long trip. Also, as with mechanical movements it is worth
paying a watch repair shop to inspect and replace the seals.

As with watches from Seiko and Citizen and other well known companies I
have never heard of a quartz movement going bad. Leakage from dead
batteries left in the watch too long and moisture entering the movement
from broken seals is what usually kills a movement.

That is such a good looking watch with a useful feature like a GMT hand
that if I were you I would go ahead and buy it and enjoy.

One point to consider about the operation of the GMT function though.
One of the hour hands should be adjustable independently of the minute
hand. In my experience it is far more useful to have the 12 hour hand
to be adjustable, because that allows you to always have local time set
on 12 hours without disturbing the minute hand. If you plan on
travelling across timezones with this watch ask Princeton whether the
12 hour or 24 hour hand is independently adjustable.



.

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