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Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:08 pm
by johncolescarr
Kip wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 1:01 pm I am sure that quartz watches still out sell mechanicals worldwide, but the decision by CW to exit quartz comes down to how many they sell and the resources that go into it. I think it is that simple.
Totally agree, I'm attracted to CW partly because of the companies ethos of "The cheapest most expensive watches in the world". lets face it, we all love CW as they give us high quality watches at a fair price, disrupting the Swiss brands boat in the process.

Can totally understand the drive to mechanical only as this fits this mission statement and I dont think anyone has the balls to go up against Grand Seiko or Citizen in high end quartz, Longines are giving it a go with their VHP, but lets face it, watch nerds will be the only ones interested in high end quartz and will tend to gravitate East to Grand Seiko for that (and I dont blame them!)

Still, I for one will pine after a £450 quartz trident C60 (or £315 in a sale!), im just glad I already have one

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:59 pm
by exHowfener
I must admit that I personally wouldn't spend over £200 on a quartz watch, but clearly people do. I would have thought that the value would be as an introduction to the brand (any brand) with the hope or expectation that a percentage of people would move onwards and up the range. However CW have been around long enough to demonstrate that they know what they are doing. Perhaps what we will see is the occasional introduction of "limited edition" quartz models?

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2021 1:26 am
by thomcat00
I look at my watches and estimate about 3/4 are quartz. I’ve waxed and waned with mechanical. Currently back on the upswing with automatics. I lean toward dress watches so the push to mechanical dive watches leaves me a bit on the outs. But there are still plenty of options available. I understand the prestige move of CW toward mechanical and dive watches. I will not close the door on quartz for my own interests. Over the last couple of years I’ve bought more than in the previous decade. Just feeling an itch for a few more. I’ve been on this horological kick since I was 8, so more than 40 years.

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2021 4:13 am
by jkbarnes
This has been an interesting thread to follow. I’ll say this, when I got my first mechanical watch, I became pretty dismissive of quartz. Probably in the same way a neophyte vinyl collector is of CDs or streaming music. That dismissal of quartz was born of an uninformed arrogance.

I didn’t consider a quartz watch until the C65 AM GT LE was released. I loved the look but disliked that it was quartz. I also know an automatic chronograph movement was beyond my price range, so I gave a serious look at the C65.

As I read more about HAQ movements, the more impressed I became. Accuracy to within 10 seconds a year is pretty impressive. I’m totally on board with a quartz watch as long as it’s not the run of the mill quartz movement.

As for CW no longer producing quartz watches, I see why they’re going that route. It makes sense.

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2021 9:01 am
by strapline
jkbarnes wrote: Sun Mar 07, 2021 4:13 am As I read more about HAQ movements, the more impressed I became. Accuracy to within 10 seconds a year is pretty impressive. I’m totally on board with a quartz watch as long as it’s not the run of the mill quartz movement.
I'm in your camp, Andrew. A good quality quartz engine is fine by me. I have a Swiss quartz that runs at -9/10 secs a year and it's not even a HAQ. The movement is gold plated, bejewelled and repairable, should the need ever arise. I've said it before, but for me a watch is about so much more than the movement. A really well designed watch made with premium materials and constructed to tight tolerances carries as much, if not more, weight than the movement inside.

As to whether CW continues to make quartz, as has been said elsewhere, that's their decision.

Des

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 12:08 am
by Templeton
I am looking for a good chronograph, but the mechanical ones tend to be too heavy or too thick in the case. This is where quartz wins out.

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:31 am
by jkbarnes
Templeton wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 12:08 am I am looking for a good chronograph, but the mechanical ones tend to be too heavy or too thick in the case. This is where quartz wins out.
Add to that too expensive, and it’s exactly where I was on chronographs. That’s why I went with the HAQ - it’s affordable, not too thick, and offers impressive engineering on par with a mechanical.

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:47 am
by Peteo
jkbarnes wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:31 am
Templeton wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 12:08 am I am looking for a good chronograph, but the mechanical ones tend to be too heavy or too thick in the case. This is where quartz wins out.
Add to that too expensive, and it’s exactly where I was on chronographs. That’s why I went with the HAQ - it’s affordable, not too thick, and offers impressive engineering on par with a mechanical.
I was listening to a watch podcast not too long ago, and one of the hosts said that he prefers his chronographs to be quartz because if he is timing something, he wants it to be accurate. I get where he's coming from, but in the overall universe of owning mechanical devices that tell the time, it still seemed like a weird argument to make.

Thickness and cost (both up front and service) seem like much more cromulent arguments to me.

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:31 am
by Ukyo
jkbarnes wrote: Sun Mar 07, 2021 4:13 am This has been an interesting thread to follow. I’ll say this, when I got my first mechanical watch, I became pretty dismissive of quartz. Probably in the same way a neophyte vinyl collector is of CDs or streaming music. That dismissal of quartz was born of an uninformed arrogance.

I didn’t consider a quartz watch until the C65 AM GT LE was released. I loved the look but disliked that it was quartz. I also know an automatic chronograph movement was beyond my price range, so I gave a serious look at the C65.

As I read more about HAQ movements, the more impressed I became. Accuracy to within 10 seconds a year is pretty impressive. I’m totally on board with a quartz watch as long as it’s not the run of the mill quartz movement.

As for CW no longer producing quartz watches, I see why they’re going that route. It makes sense.
Wow, that's basically me as well. My only difference is I wasn't aware of the first LE. And now that I have the 2 VEV, I've been wearing it all the time. I wind up my C60 Sapphire or my Sinn 856 and don't even wear them for an hr, and I go straight back to the 2 VEV. I still don't know what attracts me to it, but maybe I'm just in the honeymoon phase, and it'll pass over time. I think it's that it's a smaller sub-dial for the seconds. I'm sorta OCD, and if the second's hand doesn't tick ON the markers, I hate it, and it irks me, so that's why I was never a fan of quartz watches. However, with the seconds on a smaller sub-dial, the ticks hit every mark so I'm ok with it. lol

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 9:03 am
by Templeton
jkbarnes wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:31 am
Templeton wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 12:08 am I am looking for a good chronograph, but the mechanical ones tend to be too heavy or too thick in the case. This is where quartz wins out.
Add to that too expensive, and it’s exactly where I was on chronographs. That’s why I went with the HAQ - it’s affordable, not too thick, and offers impressive engineering on par with a mechanical.
I will check out the HAQ...is that a brand?

The problem is, I have been searching low and high, across all brands, for a “dressy” quartz chronograph...I finally found one I really like and it is a CW...but it is the C3 Malvern Mk III (especially the Forum LE), which of course CW no longer sell, even though it is only a few years old. I wish CW did not have such a high churn of models. I am not so keen on the latest C3 Morgan Chrono, I think the Malvern was more refined looking.

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:07 am
by strapline
Peteo wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:47 am Thickness and cost (both up front and service) seem like much more cromulent arguments to me.
Never came across the word 'cromulent' before, had to look it up in fact. Didn't seem to appear in my Oxford English dictionary. According to Google it entered the popular lexicon in 1986 after making it first appearance on The Simpsons - Doh!!

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:23 am
by bonecrusher
Templeton wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 9:03 am
jkbarnes wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:31 am
Templeton wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 12:08 am I am looking for a good chronograph, but the mechanical ones tend to be too heavy or too thick in the case. This is where quartz wins out.
Add to that too expensive, and it’s exactly where I was on chronographs. That’s why I went with the HAQ - it’s affordable, not too thick, and offers impressive engineering on par with a mechanical.
I will check out the HAQ...is that a brand?

The problem is, I have been searching low and high, across all brands, for a “dressy” quartz chronograph...I finally found one I really like and it is a CW...but it is the C3 Malvern Mk III (especially the Forum LE), which of course CW no longer sell, even though it is only a few years old. I wish CW did not have such a high churn of models. I am not so keen on the latest C3 Morgan Chrono, I think the Malvern was more refined looking.
HAQ = High accuracy quartz. Think Swiss ETA / Grand Seiko, rather than cheap generic Chinese

Re: CW stopping quartz watch development

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:25 am
by H0rati0
I've been following this thread with interest because quartz is still relevant for me but as an "in it's place" kind of thing. By that I mean, a quartz engine in a specific design of watch (especially if the engineering excites) can be a better proposition than mechanical, eg pressure functions, compass, GPS worldtime, shock/magnetic field resistance or low profile casing as mentioned.

I feel that the achilles heel of quartz watches is that electronic components quickly become obsolete so old watches even with what were state-of-the-art movements in general lose all but maybe sentimental value, thus spending big money is a hiding to nothing. I particularly dislike batteries that need changing!

I have five quartz watches currently, two are very specific tools (solar), two are old sentimental pieces and one (classic kinetic) is grab and go. With that in mind, I may well add a HAQ at some point, GS and Citizen do some very cool and refined high end stuff, think Springdrive and surely the Citizen One would make a near perfect dress watch?

I can see why CW want to drop quartz. I think that comes down to overlap in that CW tended to offer equivalent models in both quartz and mechanical and their customers (me included) preferred the mechanical offerings so that even where quartz made more sense, those models were just passed by and ended up in clearance much of the time - where most of you forum quartz fans have admitted snapping them up!