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High Accuracy Quartz

Adventures in Collecting and Timing High Accuracy Quartz Watches

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The 4 MHz Collection - My collection of rare vintage watches with 4.19 MHz oscillators

March 2018 - The Most Exciting HAQ News of the Year?

Citizen have announced a new movement - cal. 0100 - featuring a thermocompensated 8.4 MHz quartz crystal oscillator and spec'd to +/- 1 second per year! Models containing this astonishing new movement will be announced for 2019 and you can expect to see an early example featured in my collection within a fairly short space of time after their release. Watch this space!

Introduction

This website is a constant work-in-progress. It was created to help me keep track of things, rather than for public education. If anything herein is wrong, then it's my fault. Sorry about that. Please offer any suggestions or corrections that you think fit.

I began my interest in watches after my wife bought a Seiko Solar for my birthday, one year. Not knowing what to buy for her birthday, just a few months previously, I had walked into a watch shop and started looking at what they had. I was taken aback by the Seiko Solar range, as they had white dials. From my youth, I remembered solar-powered watches as having clearly identifiable solar panels. I questioned the shop staff and they told me that yes, indeed, this was a solar-powered watch. I bought if for my wife and my surprise at the advancement in technology turned into curiosity. A few months later, my birthday rolled around and I had a Seiko Solar of my own. Curiosity suitably piqued, I started Googling around for more information and, before long, I started looking for which watch was the most accurate. I found both the Grand Seiko cal. 9F and the Citizen cal. A010 were said to be the current cream of the crop and, in a moment of madness, I bought both. Then I started getting 'educated' in the ways of HAQs by the members of the High Accuracy Quartz forum on WUS. Thus began a project of learning and discovery that has seen the collection swell with vintage and modern watches and a whole load of new equipment bought for timing and generally fiddling with the watches.

I describe my basic timing methods, here. For an attempt at a definition of what constitutes a 'HAQ', I have put my thoughts here. For timing results, I have created a table, here.

The Collection

My collection is not limited to High Accuracy Quartz watches, and the following list comprises every watch of every kind that I own (or that I have recently owned). For a reckoning of my 'top five', follow this link. I have also created lists for the HAQ watches, divided by SPY and HAQ method. It should be noted that I have listed the HAQ method for each watch based on what I understand to be the case, having frequented the webs for a while and read what people have written. I know that there are conflicting opinions in some quarters. Some say that Seiko use an analogue count adjustment approach while others think that Seiko must be using digital count adjustment. Some have suggested that Citizen use VCTCXO (also sometimes referred to as TCVCXO) and others say that Citizen have denied using thermocompensation at all, instead relying on secretive means of their own invention. I honestly don't know the truth of any of it, but as this site is not a public declaration of fact, but merely a repository of all that I think I know, I shall record the details of each watch as best I understand them, with additional notes and/or updates as necessary in light of new information and prevailing common wisdom.

***UPDATE - March 2018***

Due to the enormity of pressures at work, I have been unable to update this site for quite some time. I have made several acquisitions since the last update and these include two mechanical Seikos, a Grand Seiko quartz, a classic Casio, a couple of quartz Swatches and two rather rare vintage HAQs for my 4 MHz collection. More details on each of these will be added in a more detailed update as soon as it is practicable for me to do so.

 ***END OF UPDATE***

 

***UPDATE - January 2019***

Due to the mounting pressures at work and other changes in my circumstances, I am putting a hold on most of my HAQ hobby and, sadly, selling my 4 MHz collection. All of my 4 MHz watches apart from the Casios are currently either sold or up for sale. This is the single most painful life adjustment I have had to make since relocating to the UK after having lived the high life in Hong Kong for so many years. And it is made all the more painful, of course, by the absolute cut-throat prices I am having to accept. A super rare Junhans Megaquarz that hardly ever comes to market anywhere in the world - and even then almost never outside of Germany - acquired through good contacts, enormous luck and deep pockets - just sold for less than 50% of what I paid for it. I know I'm mad about these watches but surely I am not the only one in the world who appreciates just how incredibly rare this model is? And in such fantastic condition! It is a proper grail watch for any vintage HAQ enthusiast. Hm. Now that I read that back, it does strike me that the potential market must be incredibly small. Ho-hum. Less whinging; more selling...

***END OF UPDATE***

Mechanical
1. 'Ed1963' homage a faithful copy of the original 1963 Chinese Air Force watch 1963  
2. 'Ed1963' homage (black) a faithful copy of what is thought to be a prototype 1963 Chinese Air Force watch 1963 FOR SALE
£200
3. Grosvenor pocket watch vintage, hand wound Swiss lever escapement grosvenor  
4. Habring2 Jumping Seconds, Pilot manual wind, deadbeat complication, from Austria's only independent watchmaker habring2 SOLD
5. Swatch Sistem51 SUTB402 low-cost, automatic Swiss lever escapement, made by robots sistem  
6. Swatch Sistem51 SUTF400 low-cost, automatic Swiss lever escapement, made by robots sistem  
7. WUS CMW 2012 Project Tourbillon project watch with flying tourbillon WUS SOLD
Electric
1. Citizen Electronic a watch with serious ugliness issues that was thrown in for free with the Crystron 4 Mega auction electronic FOR SALE - £40
Tuning Fork
1. Bulova Accutron 'Astronaut' 1964 tuning fork watch astronaut SOLD
Spring Drive
1. Seiko SBGA105 Limited Edition Spring Drive watch with 10 SPM cal. 9R15 sbga105 SOLD
Quartz, non-HAQ
1. Casio A168 classic digital watch a168 FOR SALE - £40
2. Casio CA-53W classic calculator watch ca53w  
3. Casio DBC-611 classic Casio Databank dbc611  
4. Casio GW-5000-1JF solar-powered, radio-controlled G-Shock gw5000  
5. Citizen CB0011-77E solar-powered, radio-controlled cb001177e FOR SALE - £100
6. Longines Conquest AHP Swiss autoquartz ahp FOR SALE - £300
7. Seiko Dolce 5S21 unusual, gliding seconds 5s21 FOR SALE - £90
8. Seiko Solar V158 solar-powered favourite solar  
High Accuracy Quartz
1. Bulova Accutron II 'Moonview' SPY not stated accutron ii SOLD
2. Bulova Precisionist 'Langford' 10 SPY precisionist  
3. Casio SP-400 (No. 1) 15 SPY sp400 SOLD
4. Casio SP-400 (No. 2) 15 SPY sp400  
5. Casio SP-400G 10 SPY sp400g  
6. Casio SP-410 15 SPY sp410  
7. Certina DS-2 Chronograph 10 SPY ds2 SOLD
8. Citizen AQ1000-58B 5 SPY aq1000 SOLD
9. Citizen Crystron 4 Mega 5 SPY crystron FOR SALE
£1,000
10. Citizen Exceed A670 10 SPY a670 BARTERED
11. Citizen Exceed E510 10 SPY e510 FOR SALE
£500
12. Citizen Exceed 0330 10 SPY 0330  
13. Citizen Exceed 1730 unknown SPY exceed 4 mhz  
14. Hoptroff Hotblack Calibre Gravitas 1 SPY hoptroff RETURNED
15. Longines Conquest VHP (PC) 10 SPY vhp FOR SALE
£450
16. Longines Lyre VHP 10 SPY lyre  
17. Morgenwerk M1-X 0.75 SPY m1x SOLD
18. Omega prototype cal. 1522 SPY not stated omega  
19. Pulsar PSR 10 (No. 1) 10 SPY psr10 SOLD
20. Pulsar PSR 10 (No. 2) 10 SPY psr10  
21. Pulsar PSR 20 20 SPY psr 20 FOR SALE - £60
22. Seiko Dolce 8J41 10 SPY 8j41 FOR SALE - £160
23. Seiko Grand Quartz 10 SPY grand SOLD
24. Seiko King Quartz 20 SPY king FOR SALE - £100
25. Seiko Lassale 20 SPY lassale FOR SALE - £100
26. Seiko Majesta (5S42) 20 SPY majesta SOLD
27. Seiko Majesta (9063) 20 SPY majesta FOR SALE - £100
28. Seiko SBGV009 10 SPY sbgv009 SOLD
29. Seiko SLT019P1 20 SPY slt019p1 SWAPPED
30. Seiko SQ 5 SPY sq FOR SALE - £200
31. Seiko Superior (No. 1) 5 SPY superior SWAPPED
32. Seiko Superior (No. 2) 5 SPY superior SOLD
33. Swatch Jelly Fish Chronometer 60 SPY (based on COSC Chronometer status) jelly fish  

If you have read this far and are still with me, you may be interested to know my thoughts on the future of the collection and, perhaps, my own rambling views on a number of horological topics. I have also included a page of links for reference and further education.