Solar mecha-quartz?
The two biggest complaints about quartz watches seem to be the ticking second hand and battery changes. A solar mecha-quartz would solve both of these problems. But is there such a thing? I've never seen one. Is there a technical reason? There are mecha-quartz movements in less expensive chronos, and cheap reliable solars have been available for years.
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Tom
Catholic, father of two, born before the Quartz Crisis, worked in hospital for 37 years, retired, also was semi-pro drummer (drumset) in loud rock bands and hand drums drummer (African) in acoustic du...
Cincinnati
Member since
Last active: 3 months ago
7.00” / 17.78 cm
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I'm guessing that the extra power draw of the mechaquartz movement means that solar can't charge the movement reliably/quickly enough under normal circumstances.
What makes solar so good is that you never have to think about it, it is always charging, unless it's in a darkened room. If you made solar inconvenient by forcing people to expose them to bright sunlight every month just to keep running, nobody would bother with them, since it's easier to swap batteries every couple of years.
I'm guessing that the extra power draw of the mechaquartz movement means that solar can't charge the movement reliably/quickly enough under normal circumstances.
What makes solar so good is that you never have to think about it, it is always charging, unless it's in a darkened room. If you made solar inconvenient by forcing people to expose them to bright sunlight every month just to keep running, nobody would bother with them, since it's easier to swap batteries every couple of years.
I would think that if you regularly wore your solar watch or kept it out in the open and not in a box or drawer it would have enough charge, but maybe not?
Isn‘t the Seiko Speedtimer what you’re looking for?
I would think that if you regularly wore your solar watch or kept it out in the open and not in a box or drawer it would have enough charge, but maybe not?
It's possible, but I'm not sure. My guess is that the solar cells on a watch dial don't produce much power on a daily basis, so I think any extra power draw would have a large impact.
I have a seiko solar mecha quartz and while the center second hand, linked to the chronograph does sweep, it has a subdial second hand that runs constantly for the time that ticks.
Isn‘t the Seiko Speedtimer what you’re looking for?
No, I'm not necessarily talking about chronos. Just your average three-hander quartz watch. A mecha-quartz movement would provide some sweep of the second hand, and solar power would eliminate battery changes, thus eliminating two of the complaints against quartz. It seems so obvious. But I've never seen a watch like this.
No, I'm not necessarily talking about chronos. Just your average three-hander quartz watch. A mecha-quartz movement would provide some sweep of the second hand, and solar power would eliminate battery changes, thus eliminating two of the complaints against quartz. It seems so obvious. But I've never seen a watch like this.
Me neither, except for the Chronos which have the (Solar) Quartz Module and the mechanically operated Chrono module on top.