zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

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Quartz "accuracy" = old wives' tales.

In Response To: Chronometer Chroshmometer - Quartz Is Superior ()

I completely fail to see the point about the phenomenal accuracy everyone seems to find in quartz watches. My wife has a quartz SMP and the damn thing gains like hell, 2.5 seconds a week. According to Omega, this is within spec.

Now here comes my comparison between mechanical and quartz. If a decently regulated mechanical watch with its gears and levers can keep time to within 30 seconds a month, then why can Omega quartz movements only operate within a specification of (0.4 x 30 = ) 12 seconds per month? It's electronic, it's computer-engineered even (not unlike the mechanical calibers, I guess), and it still can't keep really accurate time. And no watchmaker seems to be able to regulate a quartz in his own workshop. Not particularly impressing, if you ask me.

If you want accuracy, get a radio-controlled watch , which works with an external time reference and uses quartz only as the back-up in case there's no radio signal available.

If you and your friends don't want to afford luxury-grade automatic watches (like Omega) and prefer to go for quartz in order to save a few quick bucks, that's fine for you, but stop bashing on mechanical movements. I'd rather go with a cheap automatic than with an expensive quartz, thank you very much.

-hacmac