Questioning The Quartz Watch Haters

The introduction of quartz watches in 1969 revolutionised the watch industry but in the aftermath quartz movements have been criticised, disregarded and generally pilloried. It is time for a re-assessment.

There is nothing wrong with marketing, explaining your products virtues, and attempting to woo buyers to your offer. But, as we well know, sometimes marketing fails to give balance. Like a steam train the marketing story builds up momentum, and is in danger of getting away. Every now and then it is wise to stop and re-assess. I am suggesting that now is a good time to correct the negative attitudes towards quartz powered watches that were largely sponsored by the marketing train and self-interest of the Swiss watch industry.

In 1969, the first quartz powered watches were introduced and that changed the face (or dial) of watchmaking forever. An industry dominated by Swiss mechanical watch movements all of a sudden had competition with a significant advantage – quartz watches were incredibly accurate. And after all, the purpose of a watch is to efficiently tell time. Mechanical watches required regular adjustment to keep them on time. Errors of + or – between 5 and 20 seconds per day are common with mechanical movements, but quartz watches experience that sort of deviation over a month, and in some cases, a year. Creating a watch that didn’t require regular winding or adjustment was a huge step.

The impact on the Swiss mechanical watch industry was immediate. Quartz watch sales soared even though for much of the seventies they were more expensive than their mechanical counterparts. Many Swiss watch brands did not survive as quartz watches stole their market and of course through improvements in production, quartz gradually added low cost to their arsenal.

Let us take a look at just one of the 70’s quartz watches to see what all the fuss was about. The Seiko Superior 3883 introduced in 1972 ushered in a new era of accuracy with the GFA version achieving + or – 2 seconds per month. Most mechanicals of the time struggled to achieve that accuracy per day. These watches were not just about accuracy. Some were produced with amazing dials and features like individual applied minute markers. The “morpho” dial version (see photo at left) will set you back around $5000 today. Later in the 70’s the Superior would achieve accuracy of 12 seconds per year. And then, towards the end of the decade, came the twin quartz versions with temperature compensation that were accurate to 5 seconds per year.

So, what was the Swiss watch industry to do? It fought back with a focus on the characteristics of traditional mechanical watches that quartz couldn’t duplicate. In other words, they adopted some marketing techniques. Firstly, they emphasised history – a wonderful background of amazing human innovation, over centuries, to manage time, and its primary influence on human beings and their environment. There were some amazing inventors, some ground breaking inventions and some very successful watch companies.

Then there was mechanical sophistication. Early quartz watches were made largely of metal and often contained drive trains that mirrored the mechanical movements of the time but slowly, through efficiencies in production, they started utilizing plastics and cheaper circuitry in their construction. A mechanical watch on the other hand, even some of the cheap Chinese versions, is an impressive piece of kit. The combination of tightly wound springs, gears, and particularly that whirling dervish of an escapement, continues to amaze most of us.

Mechanical watches are largely hand assembled, with workers in sanitized work rooms poring over eye level work benches with eye loupes and finely tuned instruments. Quartz watches on the other hand are seen as machine-made despite the fact that higher end quartz movements are indeed hand assembled. 

To take that thought a bit further – mechanical watches have soul. They have been likened to a beating heart – BUT WHOA! Let’s hold it there. Are we letting emotion run away here (like a steam train)? There are a number of aspects of today’s watch industry that suggest we might have lost the plot. For instance, Rolex showrooms that generally don’t actually have any watches for sale. Rolex have a brand image of luxury, exuding a sense of pride & prestige. They also make very good watches but many believe (just check your watch enthusiast social media channels) that their marketing strategy has more to do with exclusivity than technical merit. Essentially, to purchase a Rolex watch from a dealer you need to jump through hoops just to be placed on a wait list. You may then “get the call” a few months later to visit your dealer and shell out thousands of dollars on a watch (can I add in here “that will not be as accurate as a good quartz timepiece”). 

I don’t want Rolex’s marketing techniques to distract us too much but the point is that intangibles like emotion are part and parcel of watch buying. Shouldn’t we be placing accuracy in time keeping above those sentiments, and if so, quartz has been getting a bum rap.

Over time the traditional watch industry has successfully focused its promotion of mechanical watches. You could say there has been a recovery of sorts and the luxury end of mechanical watches is showing strong figures as recently as 2021. Many old watch brands that disappeared in the 70’s have returned (Yema, Blancpain, Tornek Rayville, Doxa etc.) and we certainly have a rich choice on offer for the watch buying public. But has the anti-quartz sentiment gone too far? 

Some of those traditional old watch companies do include quartz movements in their range today. Longines, Grand Seiko, Breitling, Audemars Piguet, and F.P. Journe all have quartz offerings. But generally, quartz has a bad reputation. It has taken Seiko years to get respect for their high-end Spring Drive movement because it utilizes a quartz component. A Spring Drive movement is powered by a mainspring just like any other mechanical watch but a quartz oscillator is used to control the release of power from the spring giving incredible accuracy. Seiko have successfully overcome a lot of anti-quartz sentiment and their Spring Drive movement is now highly regarded.

And, in fairness, the quartz manufacturers partly have themselves to blame for a poor reputation with some of their members leading a chase to the bottom in quality and price. You can buy quartz watch movements for as little as $5 on Ebay.

I have mechanical and quartz watches in my collection (a little less than half are quartz). Some of my quartz watches are more than 40 years old and remain incredibly accurate. I understand the attraction of mechanical timepieces, but when their appeal is described as “the magic of mechanicals” I am inclined to be a little more pragmatic. Accuracy is way up there for me. I think it is time for discussion on the merits of mechanical and quartz movements to be more balanced. 

There are intangible aspects of watches that have merit, but essentially they are designed to tell time. Putting on a quartz powered watch, already running, and accurate within 20 seconds per year, is very reassuring, indeed that is an important ingredient of my journey in horology. I recommend it to you.

Further Reading:

https://fee.org/articles/markets-in-time-the-rise-fall-and-revival-of-swiss-watchmaking/

https://whichwatchnext.com/quartz-crisis/

https://www.watchtime.com/featured/high-accuracy-quartz-guide-longines-vhp-breitling-bulova-citizen-chronomaster-omega-grand-seiko-9f/

https://www.watchonista.com/articles/novelties/citizen-caliber-0100-worlds-most-accurate-watch