this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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Watches

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I don't understand why most quartz watches are stuck with ticking second hands rather than smooth sweep second hands. I prefer quartz movements for their dramatically superior accuracy, but I also prefer the look of a smooth sweep second hand. I have yet to see a convincing explanation for why quartz second hands must tick beyond vague gesturing at power saving, but not only that, I have seen sweeping second hands on inexpensive quartz wall clocks from IKEA, so it's clearly possible.

I regret to say I've started to think that ticking second hands on quartz watches are essentially cartelized marketing on the part of watchmakers to easily distinguish less expensive but technologically superior quartz movements from luxury-branded mechanical movements. Can anybody talk me out of this conspiratorial thinking, or confirm it?

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[–] Medium-Variation7295@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There is always the Seiko VH31 quartz, which is quite smooth. You can't really tell that it's not an auto, especially in smaller sized cases. Hasn't really caught though. It's mostly found in Aliexpress watches.

[–] wanderangst@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

How crazy is it to watch hack? Like, buy a movement I want and drop it into a watch case I like?

[–] wanderangst@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Ok cool, that’s more like what I’m looking for! It would be even cooler if the second hand moved at 8 Hz instead of 4