I use an app on the iPad, you can look at your watch then hit the SET button at top, clock has markers of 0.2 resolution.

 

Nice, but with the video method you get a resolution of 0.04 seconds and its frame by frame so you can can go back and forth to double check ;-)

 

Great post!! I have three Omega quartz watches - 2 Seamaster 300's and a Constellation. I am now buying mechanical watches and just got my first Seamaster 2531. Love it! I do have a question for you Archer...I want to put my three quartz Omegas away to perhaps give to grandchildren when they are old enough to appreciate them. So, what about long term storage?? I'm talking 10-15 years. Remove the battery?? Any other guidelines I should follow so they don't degrade over that period?? Thanks.

 

Without a doubt remove the battery...or, over time, it will leak all over your nice watches and ruin them!

 

No watch battery should be left in the watch after it has died. You run a very great risk of leakage that will ruin the movement.

Cheers, Al

 

Thanks for the confirmation on the battery. Is there anything else I should do before putting it away for a period of years??

 

No, not really.

Cheers, Al

 

The quartz clock in my gs300 doesn't display seconds, and of course it doesn't have any mechanical stuff to move/drag, so it's a vastly simpler mechanism to anything that goes on a wrist. But I am amazed that I haven't set it in over 3 years (maybe 4 or even longer, it probably was the last time I replaced the battery) and it's still correct to within less than a minute. If I was really anal about it, I'd observe when the digits change and use that as zero seconds, but I've never been that bored. This is in a car that goes from 60 to 130 F interior temp in a single day, and 20 to 140 interior temp over the course of a year. I don't know if it's temperature compensated but I doubt it as that would be impractical in a car. (temp compensated quartz time sources usually live in an "oven" because it's easier to maintain a constant high temperature than a constant low temperature.) But as one of the oldsters who was part of the watch buying public when quartz watches first appeared I've always been amazed by them.

 

No satnav in my car, I just have a 5 year old garmin with maps that weren't accurate even when it was new.

 

My dad's Seiko 6923-808a, known as the A View To A Kill watch (worn by Roger Moore in that film) has started to lose time. It will be fine for two days and then he will look at it and suddenly it is an hour behind. The watch is mint (original band long gone but the head looks brand new), however at nearly three decades old I wonder if this is it. The battery was changed about four months ago.

This is a very uncommon watch, but by no means a collectors item. But it has real sentimental value. I'd really like to keep it going for him. Any ideas what this issue might be? I certainly can try a new battery for starters.

 

If you don't have equipment to diagnose quartz watches, then the only thing you can do is to try a new battery. Just make sure it is a fresh one.

Cheers, Al

 

Yeah that's about the only choice. This model isn't exactly worth anything so if it's toast, it's toast.

 

WOW. What an amazing article.
Thanks Al

Best,
Pinzon

 

Now that the quartz topic has come up, what about batteries? I know some claim longer life than others, some tend to leak, some are erratic. Can you summarize your thoughts on the different batteries? Renata, Varta, Energizer, Seiko, etc.

 

Very interesting. Worthy of a sticky somewhere, I think.

 

Just getting a chance to read this. Very awesome information. Thanks Archer.

 

Thanks Al! Very interesting. Bookmarked. Question: I have two Seiko Quartz watches: one is a late 90's dress type and the other is a c. 1980's Seiko Quartz 100 day/date diver. A reputable local jeweler was kind enough to change the batteries for me for no charge. On the diver, he noticed there's was a bit of corrosion and he cleaned it out for me. The second hand was not moving after the battery swap but he told me to wait a few minutes or longer and it should start if there was not any damage. Any idea why there is a delay? I looked online and could not find a reference. Thanks!

 

I use Maxell personally, and have been very happy with them. I hear horror stories from almost all the brands, but Renata is the one that comes up most often as the brand that has leakage issues. Ironically the battery that Omega uses as OEM...

Cheers, Al

 

Some movements have to go through arrest procedure, so there is a slight delay before they start ticking again. Some you have to manually "short" the circuit to get the movement to restart - it's specific to each movement. I don't work on Seikos much so I can't tell you what the specific reason is on the one you have.

Cheers, Al