Does your SMP Quartz second hand hit every marker?

[Mr Tetley]

Taken from another forum and I can confirm it's correct (I do have the official build specs from Omega about all this but can't put my finger on them right now)

The 1538 went through several different versions, and some of the upgrades done were to improve the accuracy of the seconds hand hitting the markers. This includes changing some wheels to reduce the play in the teeth of the wheels (gears), and also adding a magnet under a bridge to help stabilize the hand once it has moved. The last iteration of the Cal. 1538 is the D version.

Thanks for that. Very interesting and every day is a school day and my understanding was obviously incorrect.

[zelig]

I had a 2264.

It didn’t hit any markers.

Really bugged me so I flipped it.

z

[TheTigerUK]

This really is a first world problem :) personally I couldn't give a monkeys if it does or doesn't, pretty anal IMO :)

[Ghost Chilli]

When I had my 2264 I wasn’t a member here so didn’t care or know if it hit the markers.

Simpler times.

[Filterlab]

Most quartz watches don't hit every mark. My Sinn UX missed a few, but it never really bothered me. My only current analogue quartz, a Mondaine 40mm classic, hits a good three quarters. That's near enough for me.

I bet that even a mechanical doesn't hit every marker, but the resting time is too short to notice.

[walkerwek1958]

OK, quiz time:

Why don’t some quartz watch seconds hands hit all the markers all of the time?

Hint: Think about the concept of concentricity.

[gbn13]

OK, quiz time:

Why don’t some quartz watch seconds hands hit all the markers all of the time?

Hint: Think about the concept of concentricity.

Because the dials are either not fixed exactly horizontally or the dials markers are not precisely placed.

Neil

[TaketheCannoli]

It has nothing to do with the dial. As the second hand only ticks 60 times per
minute the margin for error is larger than that of a mechanical. What nobody ever talks about is the hitting (or not) of the markers of a mechanical movement. I bet they don’t hit markers either but we don’t notice.


most of them don’t but you don’t notice it did to the

Because the dials are either not fixed exactly horizontally or the dials markers are not precisely placed.

Neil

[Mouse]

Because the dials are either not fixed exactly horizontally or the dials markers are not precisely placed.

Neil

Whilst any misaligment or imprecise manufacture of the dial will cause issues, I think that Paul is alluding to the axial plane of rotation of the second hand shaft (whatever the technical term is for that!). If that does not rotate with perfect precision then it's going to wander and cause the hand to drift. And, being quartz, the outcome is potentially way more 'dramatic' than for a mechanical watch.

[walkerwek1958]

Because the dials are either not fixed exactly horizontally or the dials markers are not precisely placed.

Neil

Close enough to score full marks.

There are two factors that have the biggest influence on the seconds hand being observed to hit the markers, and both are related to the dial. If the dial printing isn`t perfectly concentric the seconds hand will hit some markers closer than others and here's nothing that can be done to improve this. The second aspect is the dial feet, slight spraining or misalignment can cause the centre hole of the dial to not be perfectly concentric with the hands, in extreme cases the hour wheel will actually rub against the dial and kill the amplitude on a mechanical watch. This fault can be corrected, it's something I do when I have to but it requires care, no prizes for snapping dial feet.

When I fix a seconds hand on a quartz watch I aim to get it hitting the markers between 50 and 10 secs, if it hits all the rest that's great, if not it's the best I can do.

Owners mistakenly perceive this parameter as an indication of quality, I think that's a misconception. I`ve had Omega quartz watches with a significant error that can`t be corrected, I`ve also had cheap quartz watches that have (fortuitously) being bang on. Provided the seconds hand has been fitted to give the best compromise I really wouldn't judge a watch on this basis.

Here's a little test for the OCD folks: check the alignment of your watch hands at 12 o clock, confirm this by checking at 2 mins to 12 and 2 mins after (always winding clockwise). Check again at 6 o clock. Are you happy with the result? This is the criteria I work to when fixing hands and it's far more important than a date change at exactly 12 or a seconds hand hitting all the markers. Again, printing discrepancies and misalignment of the dial will exacerbate the errors, on older watches wear to the bearing in the centre of the mainplate won't help, but it's quite common for errors to be present if you look for them. A competent repairer will always try to find the best compromise and in most cases the owner won't notice.

Hope this clarifies a few points, fitting the hands to a watch can take 5 minutes or 25 minutes and some bugger will always moan because he's read smething on the internet that raises his expectations to an unrealistic level. My strong advice is to try and understand what's actually going on, that will help to accept the imperfections that are inevitable.