I read with interest today an article Al posted in December 2012 on WUS regarding service intervals and the pros and cons of following the recommended service interventions. A really well written post with some great photo's and information. And I thought I'd ask the following, I recall reading somewhere that Al doesn't generally work on or repair quartz movements (correct me if I'm wrong Al) but what are peoples views on the service requirements for quartz movements? I'm thinking more specifically the 1538cal from the SMP and the AT. Do people just go with battery changes at the EOL indicator or more, whats really needed given the fewer moving parts?
My friend has the above SMP, when I next see him I'll ask his opinion or what he does. Personally I have no idea!
Think i've found it: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/how-often-service-watch-watchmakers-view-789280.html
I certainly do service quartz watches - I have 3 quartz Omegas in the shop right now actually. But the vast majority of my service work is on mechanical watches. There is a lot more to how quartz watches work than most collectors would give them credit for....it's pretty interesting the technology that's packed into a small and inexpensive package (inhibition, power management, etc). But that is not likely too interesting to the vintage guys here...so... My view on modern quartz is service them when there is a problem. The loads on the wheel train inside a quartz watch are almost nothing when compared to a mechnical watch, so wear on pivots really is not a big issue in a quartz movement. So what problems come up in quartz, well a few: 1 - short battery life - this is most likely due to large current consumption in the watch, which means the movement is dry and dirty, and it's taking more power to drive the movement. 2 - movement stops and battery change does not help - this could be from a piece ofd debris inside the movement. Often this debris is from the pimply faced kid at the "watchmaking" counter in the local mall or department store - he chews off a piece of metal while expertly putting fingerprints all over the battery and maybe the movement, and the small piece of metal gets worked down to the rotor, which is a big magnet. This jams the movement. 3 - bad circuit - circuits to degrade over time, and can cause running issues. 4 - bad coil - most likely damaged by the same kid in #2. 5 - corrosion - this happens when the cell dies and you let the watch sit in a drawer. The cell will leak and corrod the contacts and possibly damage the circuit. Once a cell dies, get it out of the watch as soon as possible. Hope this helps. Cheers, Al
Thanks for the reply Al very informative as always. I posted a comment some months ago regarding a Seiko I have had for about 22 years. It had been sat in a drawer with a dead battery for some considerable time but once replaced its keeping time pretty much to the second. I was just very fortunate that the cell hadn't leaked! As you say in point 5, once a quartz stops get the battery out as soon as possible a leaking battery has to be the biggest 'killer' of quartz watches. Apologies for the comment regarding not working on quartz movements, hope I didn't offend. Not sure where I thought I'd read that. Cheers Matt.
No problem - since most collectors are a bit snobby towards quartz, I don't talk about them often because no one really asks many questions. So I guess people assume I don't work on them, and that's understandable. By far the majority of watches I service are mechanical, but I enjoy working on a quartz watch every so often. Cheers, Al