Ultimate Quartz Watch Second Hand Face-Off

"Brought to you by WatchCrunch, the premium site for those with too much time on their hands (or wrists)." And this post proves it. But since I have no fewer than 19 quartz watches that are all kept up and running, it falls to me, in service to watch collecting humanity, to evaluate their ticking second hands. I don't have photos but include model numbers if you want to look them up on Amazon where they were all purchased, and take up even more of your time.

I will evaluate the second hand of each watch and indicate the price paid. At the under $200 price point you'll notice there's no correlation between price and second hand accuracy.

1. Berny 2678 $18. This is a copy of a $125 Mondaine watch I used to have, and is better in almost every way. (Sorry, Switzerland). Hits marks, no shudder.

2. MDC MAR-045-0 $25. I wanted a Bulova Hack but it was too much money. Then I thought I saw somewhere that there was a quartz version of this watch. Maybe not. Does anybody know? Does anybody have one? Anyway, I bought this instead. Hits marks, no shudder.

3. Casio Edifice EFV-100 $65. Slightly off on some marks, though consistent, and occasional shudder. I couldn't care less. Have you seen this thing? Spectacular case and dial.

4. Seiko SUR257P1 $75. Silver scalloped dial, kind of a Cocktail Time for guys who can only afford draft beer? Barely off the marks, though consistent, with no shudder.

5. Bulova 96A164 $130. No spec monster, but check out that dial and case. Its inky black second hand is consistently the tiniest fraction off on the marks, rock solid with no shudder. I admire its conviction.

6. Wenger 79076 $85. This is a 39mm diver with uni bezel, which means the dial is going to be small, and the minute markings are going to be squeezed close together. This would seem to be a recipe for quartz disaster but no - the Wenger's diminutive red arrow second hand hits them all, with no shudder or shake.

7. Wenger 1041-10 $65. Unfortunately, it looks like the guy who put the Wenger dive watch together had the day off when this watch was assembled. This is a minimalist dress watch with no minute markings, leaving only 12 hour markings for the second hand to hit. You would think that would be easy, but it can't do it. Hits just forward of all 12, and will shudder and shake at me once in a while just for spite, I think.

8. Casio MTP-V005 $20. One of the worst, but not THE worst. (You have to keep reading). Another minimalist dress watch, and I think this $20 Casio is elegant enough for every occasion except maybe a Coronation or the Ambassador's Reception. So I couldn't possibly care less about its erroneous and shuddery second hand.

9. Hemsut Tangente Copy $25. I like the Nomos Tangente so much that I wouldn't dream of paying $2500 for one. So I picked this up at 1/100th the price. Such a great deal. And it has a bonus that you won't see on any Nomos - dirt and tiny paper crumbs on the crystal and dial. This watch has a subdial with small second hand, which is sort of cheating. It virtually eliminates shudder, and the tiny hand is almost perfect, consistently missing the 30 second marker but dead on everywhere else.

10. Seiko SNE529 $99. This green dial watch has a solar quartz movement. Its gold second hand lands just ahead of every minute marker with no shudder or shake.

11. Lad Weather lad053wh $33. Another solar watch. Dial looks a bit like an old- school bathroom scale. I like it. Rather shaky and erratic second hand, but not as bad as No. 8, the minimalist Casio.

12. Caravelle 43B152 $55. In photos, the dial on this watch looks like it was designed by a fifth-grader who couldn't be bothered to use anything but the plainest Arabic numerals. In person, it still looks like that, but will also reveal its secret weapon - the most intense black numerals on the most intense cream background. Talk about visibility. And you thought cream couldn't be an intense color. Like its Bulova family member (No. 5) this watch also features a solid resolute second hand landing just forward of all its markers.

13. Seiko SE-SSB089 $125. This is a bread and butter Seiko Chronograph. At 44mm it is my biggest watch. Lots of stainless steel gave its life for this watch. The subdial hand lands slightly behind its tiny markers, my only watch where the hand lands behind instead of in front of the markers. The chrono hand is mecha-quartz, leading me to ask again the question that no one wants to, or is able to answer: Why can't there be solar powered three-handed mecha-quartz watches? You'd get a smooth sweep from the second hand and would never have to change the battery, the two major gripes against quartz watches. If there was such a thing, I wouldn't have to write this article and you wouldn't have to read it.

14. Techne Merlin $95. I'm not a big fan of aviation watches, but this is an interesting take. The subdial is worth the price of the watch. And what is that tiny second hand supposed to be - a carrot, a heart, a dagger? I don't know, but it's so pretty it could move backwards and I wouldn't care. The small size eliminates shudder and the hand hits them all except it's slightly off at the 12, the only place you would notice it.

15. Seiko SGEH49P2 $95. This and the next three Seikos are related. They all have the SGE prefix and are sometimes called the NeoClassic series. They all feature the 7N42 movement. They have stunning dials and great specs, and the four that I own all have steady and precise second hands that hit every marker dead on every time. This watch looks like a distant quartz cousin of the SARB033, but bigger and bolder. Sapphire, 100m. All for less than $100.

16. Seiko SGEG93P1 $95. And here's the quartz version of the SARB035. Distinct family resemblance. Not a cream dial, it's silver but is so subtly textured it almost always appears white.

17. Seiko SGEG97P1 $95. I don't know that it's my favorite, but it is my most beautiful watch. If this isn't a working man's Breguet I don't know what is.

18. Seiko SGE79P1 $60. This watch looks nothing like its photos. And its dial is always listed as silver, which it definitely is not - it's pure white. When I unboxed it, I was shocked that what I thought would be this solid everyday watch turned out to be this stunning shining gleaming white $60 Snowflake. It didn't suit my purpose at all but was so beautiful I had to keep it. This is the only watch out of the four SGE watches that does not have a sapphire crystal. It's Hardlex, but it's a domed Hardlex and adds even more beauty to this watch.

19. Tissot Everytime Large $125. Saving the best/worst for last. This is the worst second hand I've seen on a watch. It's so erratic it's hard to describe, but I'll give it a shot. This Tissot is 42mm and all dial, no bezel, so it needs a long second hand. I don't know if its movement can't drive it or if mine is just a one-off, but this hand will: hit a marker and spring backward, or stop and wait til the last nanosecond to spring, or initiate this weird sliding motion where it glides through about 1 and 3/4 of a second at a time like an epileptic Spring Drive, or miss every single marker on one rotation and then almost behave itself on the next. I guess I could have sent the watch back, but then I wouldn't get to see her capricious second hand skipping gaily across the markers on her beautiful silvery face, sometimes hitting them, and sometimes (usually) not. If a watch has a pretty face, I let her get away with almost anything, and I think that is the sad moral to our story.