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?
The following is a copy paste of a document someone else compiled:
Quartz watches with second hands smoother than 1-tick-per-second
Quick note: A “sweep second hand” actually means a second hand that is in the center of the dial (rather than in a subdial). This was a complication in early watches, since it required an extra intermediate wheel. It’s called a “sweep” second hand because it sweeps the entire dial. These days, people often use “sweep second” to refer to a second hand that moves more smoothly than 1 tick per second, though I myself refer to these as “smooth second hands” or “smooth sweep second hands.”
These are all the ones I know about. If you know one I missed, DM me and I’ll add it. Note this excludes things like a Seiko Mechaquartz or Seiko 8M25 - only watches with more than 1 tick per second for main timekeeping.
==Truly smooth==
Seiko 5S21: first truly smooth wristwatch. Uses a damping system (a hairspring and a vial of fluid, similar to a remontoire mechanism) to convert a 4Hz stepper motor to a truly smooth sweep. Vintage only, made approx 1988 to 1995, available on ebay and yahoo JP for $200 or so, many styles
Seiko 5S42: high-accuracy quartz version of 5S21. Truly smooth sweep. Few styles. Ebay or Yahoo JP, $400 or $500.
Seiko Spring Drive: 1999. second commercial truly smooth sweep. Available in many different styles. Prices generally $3k+.
Piaget 700P: 2015, third commercial truly smooth sweep. Available in only one model, out of production, hard to find. $71k.
Accutron Spaceview 2020: 2020. Most recent truly smooth sweep. Uses an electrostatic motor for a smooth second hand. Note that the minute and hour hands are still stepper-motor activated. Limited. Around $4k. Large case size.
==Hundreds of ticks per second==
Beta 21: 1970. First commercial swiss quartz watch. Uses an indexing method similar to a tuning fork watch. 256 ticks per second. Sold by many Swiss makers; best known are the Omega cal 1300 (“Electroquartz” or “f8192”) and Rolex 5100. Somewhat fidgety to service and keep working. $1500 or so for Omega models, which are usually the cheapest.
Longines Ultraquartz: 1970. Uses an indexing method similar to a tuning fork. 170 ticks per second. Quite fidgety to service and keep working. $1200 or so for working TV-case models; $1500 or so for cushion case.
Bulova Accuquartz: 1972. Essentially a Bulova Accutron 218 movement, retrofitted to drive the tuning fork frequency with a quartz timing package. 341.3 ticks per second. Somewhat fidgety to service and keep working. Many styles. $250 or so.
==More than 1 tick per second: balance wheel driven==
Citizen 8810: 1973. First Citizen quartz watch. Used a balance wheel driven by an electromagnet, whose timing is governed by a quartz timing package. 16 ticks per second (fastest-moving balance wheel used for main timekeeping for a watch in history). Uncommon, maybe 1 or 2 per year on Yahoo JP auctions. $300 to $1000, hard to say given rarity.
Luch 3055: 1981. First Analog Soviet quartz watch. Used a balance wheel driven by an electromagnet, whose timing is governed by a quartz timing package. 8 ticks per second. Available on Ebay for about $100. Many styles.
Record-Golay mu Quartz: 1972. Used a balance wheel driven by an electromagnet, whose timing is governed by a quartz timing package. 8 ticks per second. Very rare, definitely less than 1 per year.
Timex model 62 and 63: 1972. Uncommon 49,152Hz quartz crystal. Used a balance wheel driven by an electromagnet, whose timing is governed by a quartz timing package. 6 ticks per second. I don’t follow this market but probably not too rare or expensive.
Porta 5002: Good luck. Very little information available. I have seen maybe 2 or 3 documented online.
==More than 1 tick per second: stepper motor==
Bulova Precisionist/UHF/Accutron II: 2010. Available in many styles. Has a 262KHz quartz crystal. Ticks 16 times per second. Also available in chronographs, where only the chrono second hand ticks 16 times per second. Also available in Ladies sizes; only smoother-than-1-Hz watch explicitly in Ladies. $300, huge variance depending on model.
Casio Module 5566: Available in the Casio MTD-1086, MTP-SW300, MTP-SW310, MTP-SW320, MTP-SW330. Module is stamped VH36A, related to the Seiko VH31 below. 4Hz second hand tick. Also available is the Casio MTP-SW340, probably with the Seiko VH61. (Thanks u/takealookatwrist)
Seiko VH31: 2018. 4-tick-per-second three-hander. Used in many microbrand pieces (Newmark 52, Kingsbury Monarch, etc.). $200 ish, depends on which watch. Other related Seiko high-beat movements in the VH family may be floating around as well, there are ten different VH movements with 4Hz second hands.
Junghans Meister Mega: 2018. Radio controlled. Promised 7spy with radio off but my testing indicates this is laughably missed. Uncommon 32,670Hz quartz. Stepper motor runs at 2Hz. Recommend people avoid. $1000, give or take.
This is a great list, thanks!