charlesbrownThere was the late, lamented Seiko 5S21 movement. A mechanical watch jerks along at, at most, 8 (28,800/60/60) hiccups per second. The Seiko quartz is "retina" smooth, smoother than the eye can perceive. Check it out from 1:04.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqqs6sGfsus
The first watches with the movement had "Quartz" written on the watch face. By the time of the watch in this video, .Seiko wised up and removed that. Eventually they figured out that nobody really cares about the smooth movement of the second hand. Mechanical fans want mechanical watches just because, and the second hand movement is a convenient, but silly, "advantage" to cite, but mostly it was just a way to tell at a glance who was in the tribe, a Crips vs. Bloods style badge. When a quartz movement came out with a smooth second hand, rather than delight mechanical fans, it horrified them. How could they know for sure at a glance if someone was "one of us"?
From their Instagram feed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqqs6sGfsus
The first watches with the movement had "Quartz" written on the watch face. By the time of the watch in this video, .Seiko wised up and removed that. Eventually they figured out that nobody really cares about the smooth movement of the second hand. Mechanical fans want mechanical watches just because, and the second hand movement is a convenient, but silly, "advantage" to cite, but mostly it was just a way to tell at a glance who was in the tribe, a Crips vs. Bloods style badge. When a quartz movement came out with a smooth second hand, rather than delight mechanical fans, it horrified them. How could they know for sure at a glance if someone was "one of us"?
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f67/mini-watch-review-bulova-military-uhf-262khz-watch-model-96b229-2665906.html
I have one, it's great.