Self winding watch questions

[USSR]

If you permit me using another analogy, it's basically pocket knives against fixed blades: depending on the situation, one is better then the other, so you have to have at least one of each .

Quoted for truth. There are great, well made, high-end quartz watches along side enormously crappy mechanical watches. All depends on your budget and need.

 

[LUW]

Price is a VERY important factor when it comes to autos, but with quartz it's not the same. For instance, you can get a G-Shock for $100 that will easily out-perform MANY quartz watches from high-end brands in terms of accuracy and reliability. With autos it's not that easy, but it possible.

Here's another example:

That's my Seiko SQJ015, my only "HEQ" (high end quartz) watch. The big deal about HEQ is that it has an accuracy of +/- 20 seconds/year. At Chino (where I got mine) or from other reputable online dealers, you can have it for around $428. That's basically 5 to 10 times less then what I would have to pay for a HEQ from Omega, Breitling, etc.

With autos the math is a bit different. You just can't expect that a $100 watch will deliver the same accuracy and overall craftsmanship of a $1000 watch, be it Swiss or Japanese.

 

[JackNate]

Uh-oh I never thought about parts when I bought a Seiko only officially sold in Japan(bought it over there). It's a pretty basic watch though so I bet the parts may swap over. Anybody know if any of the "Prospex" line are sold in U.S./Canada?

 

[Robert.B]

I have seen prospex line watches in Australia for sale, but the Prospex line looks pretty vast...I wouldn't be surprised if you need to send it to Seiko JP for service or parts.

 

[jim preston]

I've got automatics from Breitling, Hamilton, Orient, and Alpha. I like them because of an attachment to both mechanical and "old school" stuff, a fear of batteries dying, and because they don't tick. I have a mechanical heart valve that ticks, and other sources of ticking drive me crazy... so it's quartz chronographs or automatics/ mechanicals.
Since I can get a new watch for the price of a watch winder, I haven't bothered in investing in them. I wind my watches before I go to bed. Most of my watches hand-wind, so I just use the crown to keep them at full charge. My Orient doesn't, so I gently shake it from side to side (I can hear the rotor spinning.) That's seemed to work fairly well.
Oh, and when I was wearing my other watches and hand-winding my Breitling every night, it only gained about .5 sec. That's accurate.
Oh, and the Marinemaster pictured above? There's several people in the US who can service it. International Watch Works in Cary, N.C. is one of those.

 

[LUW]

I have a mechanical heart valve that ticks, and other sources of ticking drive me crazy... so it's quartz chronographs or automatics/ mechanicals.

Sorry if I misunderstood you, but ANY mechanical (auto or hand-winding) ticks. If it doesn't tick, it's not mechanical. So you only have quartz watches? If I was limited to only quartz watches I don't think I would be into watches. But I know that a ticking heart valve can be VERY annoying, so I can easily understand your position.

Oh, and the Marinemaster pictured above? There's several people in the US who can service it. International Watch Works in Cary, N.C. is one of those.

Any competent watch technician can repair or service a JDM watch. After all, it's just a watch, so if the person has the knowledge and the tools, he/she can do it. BUT, if said person needs parts he won't be able to service it, since Seiko Japan does not sell parts for their JDM in any market other then their own backyard.

 

[LUW]

I have seen prospex line watches in Australia for sale, but the Prospex line looks pretty vast...I wouldn't be surprised if you need to send it to Seiko JP for service or parts.

A Prospex model is not necessarily a JDM, so some of them can be easily serviced anywhere in the world.

Just a clarification: like I wrote above, the problem with "servicing a watch" is two fold: knowledge (expertise to do the job) and parts availability. Any competent watch technician can repair any watch, as long as he has the right tools and the parts needed. And parts is the tough thing about JDM watches, since their parts are only available through Seiko Japan that DOES NOT sell them abroad.