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    Quartz Movement Info
    From: Greg Rudzinski
    Date: 2012 Apr 21, 18:51 -0700

    I came across a helpful summary on quartz watch movements by James Elsener. Based on his statements the Ronda, ETA, and Seiko are the higher quality quartz movement.


    "First and all, using quartz as a material to measure time was invented by the Canadian-born engineer Warren Marrison in 1927. He invented a quartz clock on behalf of Bell Labs. His invention made phone and at later on radio communications more reliable as it permitted to measure wave lengths of sound more accuratly.

    There are a few parameters that are important when it comes to quartz movements.

    It is important to know that all Swiss made quartz movements follow the RoHS rules imposed by the European Union. RoHS stands for Restrictions of Hazardous Substances. Not all Japanese movements and close to none of the Chinese made quartz movements are manufactured to this environmental standard.

    The second important parameter is what kind of materials are used in the movement. In order to insure a high accuracy all materials used have to be resistant to changes in temperature to the highest degree. ETA and RONDA of Lausen build so called thermo-resistant movements. In such a movement the coefficient of extension of the metal parts is identical to those of the plastics parts of the movements. This ensures that the metallic gears and the plastic base plate, etc. extend in sync. Most of the products of ETA, Ronda of Lausen, ISA Technology from Switzerland as many of the movements from Seiko for instance are built that way.

    The third parameter is the quality of the rubies used in the bushes of the gear trains of the movement. The less friction there is the higher the accuracy rate of the watch. The quality of the rubies is always reflected in the price of the movement. So roughly speaking the higher priced a movement the better components are used. This is basically valid for movements from Swiss and Japanese manufacturers.

    The fourth parameter is the protection plate of the movement. That's the plate used to 'insulate' the movement from the bottom of the watch. Here many movements from Switzerland use an extension resistant brass alloy. In Japan many movements have still a plastics protection plate. If the plastic protection plate has the same coefficient of extension as the rest of the movement you are fine. If not you have a 'bended' movement creating the possibility of inaccuracy.

    The fifth parameter is the 'electrical resistance' of the circuit board. Here most watch movements in the same price range are on par. The reason being that they most often are made on waver printing installations that are supplied by the same manufacturer. The loss of power flowing through these circuits boards together with the internal friction of the gears of the movement influence the longevity of the battery. That is if the movements are used in identical settings.

    So what about the quartz? The material used to be natural. Quartz is basically sillicate sand. The second most often found mineral in the earth's crust. So no rocket science there. Rockets having been crushed to sand ;-). Quartz sands have a a piezoelectric property. It allows them to 'swing' when current flows through. These oscillation properties of the quartz grain are used to measure the time. Very simply speaking that is. Today, quartzes used in movements are most often artificial.

    Generally speaking Japanese or Swiss movements of the same technical specs are more or less on par. It was the Swiss that applied Mr. Marrison's technical principles for wrist watches in 1965. In 1967 they presented the BETA 21 at the Centre Éléctronique Horloger (CEH) in Neuchâtel. The Japanese brought the technology up to speed from a production point of view starting in 1969 with the famous Seiko Astron. In the high end market of quartz movements however the Swiss products from ETA and above all from Ronda of Lausen are still a notch better than Japanese movements as the raw materials used in the plastics and in alloys are of a slight difference."
    __________________
    With a heartfelt 'And Times Doesn't Go Simply By'
    from Switzerland's watch making region the famous Jura Mountains range

    James Elsener
    Owner of Montres Edouard Lauzières
    http://www.edouardlauzieres.com

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