The Rise of Japanese Watches (& How the Swiss Lost)
2024 ж. 6 Мам.
346 859 Рет қаралды
At the time of Japan's opening up, almost all of the world’s watches came from either the United States or Switzerland.
The Swiss sought to keep their secrets from leaking out to other countries. But those secrets still got out, and with them Japan became one of the biggest makers of watches in the world.
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The 32,768 Hz frequency is not an inherent property of quartz. It’s a convenient frequency as it’s a power of 2 that can easily be divided electronically to 1 Hz or one tick per second. The quartz crystal must be cut to vibrate at as near that frequency (or any other desired one) as precision allows. I keep seeing it implied if not stated online, in text and videos, that the particular frequency is part of the nature of quartz. It isn’t.
Exactly
That is correct.. Keep up with educational comment.. This is why I like educational/entertainment channel in YT especially due to comments.
You beat me to it. I was going to comment on the same thing. But to add a bit more: Quartz is convenient because it's piezoelectric: it can produce potential differences ("voltages") on its surface when subject to mechanical stress (like when applying pressure) and viceversa.
Thank you for explaining that, I always thought it was an inherent vibrational frequency of the quartz material. I remember being confused as a kid upon learning that how a shard of crystal vibrates when you apply electricity to it, but that makes more sense understanding now that it's vibrating more or less like anything else electrically and that frequency is chosen by the size of the crystal. But there's also the cesium standard where cesium-133 atoms transition ground states at 9,192,631,770 Hz which is an inherent quality of the substance. Perhaps that's how it and quartz got confused in popular understanding.
Yeah it bothers me too whenever I hear it. Quartz crystals are used everywhere in computer manufacturing and absolute majority of them are cut to oscillate at much higher frequencies, whatever suits the final product. 32768 is just a convenient value for low tech watches as dividing by two sixteen times in a row to get second rate can be done in very few low tech parts.
I remember when the future arrived. It was the day $10 digital watches and $6 calculators were sold at every corner dairy.
You could get digital watches and calculators at Dollar Tree for a buck not too long ago. It shows that smartwatches and smartphones have replaced them.
AHH the corner diary ... now replaced by Google calendar...
Well that and the like the Nintendo game and watch product lines. Or the ones that were based on transformers. I still have fond memories of the Casio calculator watches. Way to wear your geek cred on your sleeve as it were.
Still can’t beat Casio multifunctions for barometer, altitude, temps, distance covered, etc., at a glance, without pulling out & navigating a balky phone. Try that during a surf session or rock climb!
@@Crunch_dGH Which model exactly?
Swiss didn’t lose Japan just stepped their engineering game up majorly. I’ve owned a Volkswagen wagon and a Nissan and at 150k miles the VW was starting to die and the Nissan is still like new. Japanese are just great engineers.
Volkswagens best engines were killed by regulations. VWs diesels were incredibly special before the EU efforts to reduce emissions destroyed them, (*and the sneaky germans tried to cheat the system) Japan on the other hand, stuck to tried and true reliable methods of incremental improvements built on solid bases and regulation didn't hurt them as they focussed on petrol engines Its not really a culture thing, its a bet. Japan bet on petrol/hybrid tech- Germany bet on diesel. Both engines at the turn on the century were incredible, i would wager an old VW pd diesel would outlast even the best honda, if maintained.
Nissan is French-Japanese but yes very good I buy only Japanese myself to
@@documentthedrama8279Volkswagen only cheated because they bet on the wrong technology to reduce diesel emissions. The lean NOx trap to hold NOx and regenerate periodically at stoichiometric was tried by other companies and they failed. They went with SCR systems while Volkswagen doubled down. These weird national stereotypes make it seem like regulation and luck is what makes the difference. It isn’t. VW just got cocky and thought that management by yelling at engineers would overcome basic physical reality. It’s easy to believe this is possible when dealing with malleable humans but physics is unforgiving.
I really miss old Nissan. They used to be so cool. My old maxima with a 5 speed is up over 300k. :,(
I own like 50 watches and nothing is more reliable than a $20 Casio at the end of the day.
Yes but the time is off
Those 50 watches sound like toys
@@mr.personal-ity closest thing to that is a 1960's swiss made mickey mouse watch. Still works.
@@rahimi4762 quartz is quartz is quartz. But I also have a Casio that automatically syncs with an atomic clock remotely
@@mr.personal-ity Mechanicals have come a long way and the best ones lose or gain about 1-5 a day which isn't really bad but the beauty of a mechanical watch cannot be compared to a quartz driven movement. Hence why some mechanicals costs thousands of dollars which I doubt can be called toys.
My father, an IBMer, told the story that IBM looked into manufacturing electronic watches, but concluded that there was no future in it, because they would saturate the market in a week (or month or year).
I think there is a world market for maybe five electronic watches.
IBM is notoriously short-sighted
@@CatnamedMittens I don't know if they were in this case
@@CatnamedMittens IBM was right at that time when product were designed top quality and hardly breaking down, not until industry adopt planned obsolescence where everything designed to broken after warranty period end.
Electronic watches would be very short life as an updated or upgraded version would comes every so often .. That happens nowadays with all that " smart" watches,they can be efficient and cover a large range of simultaneous activities, but they have a 5 minutes of fame then becomes old fashioned piece of crap. Cannot compete with automatic or mechanical timepieces that are more able to be part of a collection And price doesn't devalue much from the original, even in many cases can increase if is a well cared and expensive piece..
Fun Fact: Before pocket watches, Japanese carried cats and used them to tell time May sound like a weird joke, but there are diagrams of cat pupils that a lot of Asian cultures used to tell time based on how much natural light cat's eye receives These are known as Cat's Eye Sundial today and it's easy to find references to them in a lot of books Another fun fact: Most of us learned about it from a video game
Yo anton! Love your content man..
Anton
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Very interesting fact !! Good to know you also appreciate Japanese timekeeping Anton. Love the videos
which is utterly stupid because the amount of resolution and accuracy you would get from that can be easily matched by going outside and looking upwards. But anything to mystify things...
I'm a watch collector and student of watch history, and this is the best piece of its kind in any medium. In other words, a lot has been written on the quartz crisis and the Japanese watch industry in general, but yours is the clearest and best of those pieces. Thank you.
Obviously No Doubt About It.......
Patek Philippe actually launched a men's quartz watch with auxiliary LCD digital display. Look it up. That's what I say to people who yell at me for stating this truth
In the mid 1960s, Seiko introduced the Grand Seiko watches and entered them in competitions for watch accuracy where they eventually dominated to the point where Switzerland ended these competitions, and to this day Grand Seiko watches are perhaps the best made mechanical watches in existence (at least for the price). I'd take a Grand Seiko with a Spring Drive movement over a Rolex any day.
Maybe, I've owned a Rolex over thirty years. It's been through fire and water, put through the washing machine on a spin cycle by mistake! It still keeps good time and I have it here on my wrist. I had a Seiko automatic and several battery watches but although they kept excellent time were not robust. Each to their own as they say!
@@robinclarke9978 yep, just preference really
@@robinclarke9978 comparing a normal seiko with a Rolex. The Rolex probably cost you 50x the Seiko. I love it when Rolex fanboys make apple and orange comparisons.
@@robinclarke9978 Seiko, or GRAND Seiko? There is a huge difference in quality!!
And a Walmart casio beats both of them at telling the time. This video was about devices that tell the time and not luxury goods.
The story continues with Grand Seiko challenging the Swiss in the luxury space, and so on.
Not really. Seiko is quite ugly. Don’t care what anybody says.
@@TheBooban salty
Seiko mades some fantastic mechanical watches, and the Grand Seiko line is every bit as good of a watch as anything made by the Swiss (regardless of your cosmetic preferences)
The Swiss, Japanese & The American Done Vital Contribution For The Uplift Of The Global Watches Industry Segment But The Harsh Truth Is That The Russian Made Watch Industries Kept The " Unbreakable World's Record " As The World's Fist Space Watch " Sturmanskie ( Navigator ) Become The First Watches In The World To Have Been In The Outer Space Under The First Moscow Based Watch Factory Made In CCCP ( Made In USSR ) By The Universally Most Reputed Russian Cosmonaut " Yuri Gagarin " . The Astronauts Form France, Germany, Japan ,Poland, India & Other Countries Who Participated In Joint Flights Under The International Space Programme Took Their Stumanskie Watches With Them On Space Missions.....
well not really, Grand Seiko are wonderful watches.... but it's only one brand, not enough to challenge multiple luxury brands
Btw, the Swiss used to be the cheap upstarts in the world of watches once, too. Quality watches used to come out of Britain.
That’s the biggest egregious omission of this video. And before Britain there was France.
@@rashakor The video has to start somewhere. So I don't mind that he didn't mention Britain nor France.
@@MatthiasGorgens Historically, when Seiko actually started, Switzerland was not yet the watch making center of the universe and Rolex was a British company. I agree with you for France, but adding 5 more seconds of historical perspective to this excellent video would have enhance it.
A little known thing, is that there once was a term 'Swiss fake' watch. It didn't mean what most people think; It did not mean an American watch made to resemble a Swiss brand. American watches were then made very well, and cheaper Swiss versions were not, and it was a reference to a cheap Swiss watch made to resemble a quality U.S. made brand.
My Tissot Seastar was a gift from my wife that she bought after saving for it for more than a year. It is now 30 years old and it looks like a new watch. I wear it almost every day. I used it in the army and it took a beating, but it just kept on going. My 82-year-old hand-wind army Omega also works fine, but I wear it only on Sundays. It is a small watch for soldiers from the 1940s, around the time when my father was born. There is something about these Swiss watches that makes me feel good every time I put them on.
Sounds like you wear your Omega to church, I wear my Bulova to church.
@@anthonyxuereb792 🙄
It is because they are attached to memories. If you would have received a Seiko - you would feel the same.
Everything is fine with them, except for the small diameter. Too dainty for men's wrists these days.
@@lukespector5550Don’t confuse fashion with style.
I'm so happy I got to witness the immense production of nearly everything in post war Japan. I remember back in the 80's that owning Japanese electronics was a status symbol. Digital watches are still my favorite kind, thanks to Japan.
The "dude looked fly as a young guy" was a nice touch lol.
I’m not sure it is fair to characterize U.S. watches of the 19th and early-mid 20th centuries as “cheap.” Hamilton and Illinois watches were quite fine and Elgin and Waltham had high grade watches in their catalogs - particularly the railroad watches. The American School of Watchmaking was notable for standardization, interchangeability and use of machines (rather than hand fabrication) for production of parts. American watches of that era may have been more affordable than Swiss; however, they were still an expensive purchase in their era.
particularly the railroad watches. EXACTLY RIGHT. MY GRANDFATHER WORKED FOR RAILROAD FROM 1917 => 1971 AND I HAVE HIS TRAIN ENGINEER POCKET WATCH, WHICH WAS HOW THE ENGINEER (DRIVER) KEPT THE TRAIN ON SCHEDULE TO AVOID COLLISSIONS. ONE COULD IN FACT SAY THAT THE ACCURACY OF THOSE POCKET WATCHES WAS ONE OF LIFE AND DEATH.
"Cheap" or "expensive" requires baseline assessments. When compared to the Swiss and Japanese watches of that period, US watches appear "cheap" because they were mass produced. Furthermore, US watches of that period were considered "tools" for work, like the railroad watches you mentioned, rather than a "show piece" approach of the European and Japanese.
@@tonysoviet3692 Go look at one of those railroad watches being opened up. They are incredibly beautiful and every part inside it is decorated. Lost art. The Swiss in the 1800s were the budget option until the end of the 1800s, due to being incredibly innovative at the time which allowed their accuracy to gradually become good enough that they dominated the European export market.
@@BosonCollider That's not true. The Swiss industry started to rival the English one by 1725 already and by 1800 Switzerland was the dominant supplier of watches in Europe. In the late 1800s, Switzerland along with England was the unchallenged center of fine watchmaking. It was really only during the Philadelphia exhibition that year that the swiss industry started to take note of the American one; In particular, they were astonished by the industrial capacity of American companies but noted the inferior quality of American watches. This is well documented in a report presented to the Federal High Council on The Horology Industry by E. Favre-Perret. There are a few good translations out there and its well worth a read.
My grandfather was a railroad man. He also served in WWI. I have a French pocket watch he brought back from WWI and the conductors watch he used in the 30's running steam trains for Illinois Central. My father in law is a jeweler and he as all of the precision tools and parts for the watch repair trade that no longer exists. When I want to know what time it is, I look at my Cell phone.
And ironically, when you take your cell phone out of your pocket to look at the time, you're doing the same thing people did with their pocket watches before wrist watches became a thing.
@@capmidnite Not quite -- a railroad pocket watch is one with a clear cover so you can see the time without opening the lid, so I've understood. Unless your cell phone has an always-on time display, pushing the button is like opening the lid on a non-railroad pocket watch. Picky picky :)
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 I was referring mainly to the act of reaching into one’s pocket and taking out the phone or watch, as opposed to looking at one’s wrist to see the time.
@@capmidnite Yes, a wristwatch is still the most convenient way to track time, especially if your hands are full. A phone is a fancy pocketwatch.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 Many Android phones have an always-on time display, for example, the Samsung S21. This was also in S7.
12:31 the frequency of 2^15 Hz is just a convenience because that makes counting seconds easy, the frequency depends on the size of the crystal
*cut of the crystal
@@Enrico- yes, important difference, thanks :)
Watch/clock companies did not stop production during WWII. They made plenty of wristwatches for servicemen, airplane clocks, marine chronometers, timed fuses, and other things requiring timing and/or small geared mechanisms. The evolution of the global watch industry is interestingly complicated, interwoven with a lot of other industries, manufacturing practices, material science, fashion, etc. The treatment here is a bit shallow for a narrow focus on Japan.
Yeah, if anything the opposite happened and today a lot of companies or models are linked to WWll. The Omega Seamaster, German Fliegers, Panerai, Suwa Seikosha which is now EPSON.
I really like your first paragraph. If you want to see just how busy the AMerican clock company was look up Chelsy They were everywhere. I do not know if still in business, they were the last clockmakers that made their movements. Built like tanks,, what else would go on a battleship? And flawless timekeepers too, they had to be if you navigated with a sextant and chronometer.
In Waltham MA where American watch industry was strong, you could go into a few factories after the WW2 and buy "fake" US aviator watches, they were good for a few years but not as good as the Swiss ones.
My CASIO with Tough Solar & Radio reception has so far lasted me more than TEN years. Never needs battery and time adjustment. It is accurate to the SECOND if you could believe it as it corrects itself FIVE times after midnight. Have dropped it multiple times, exposed to rain/heat/dust and you name it, as far as I'm concerned CASIO has indeed, achieved Watch Perfection. No Rolex nor any fancy watch can even hope to touch it. As good as it gets and absolutely incredible workmanship. It's as close as we come to a "perpetual machine."
Correction: it tries to connect up to 5 times to a radio control tower. If it succeeds, it stops trying.
I was glad to see you cover this topic -thank you! I am one of those who wears a watch daily, and my watches of choice for the last forty years or so have been Seikos. I look forward to someday owning one of their brilliant Spring Drive watches that took them at least thirty years to develop.
I recently bought my first Seiko quartz watch. It's a chronograph. I had to go through a whole check list to be sure it was not a fake.
When I went to study in Australia in 70s, a fellow scholarship student bought Seiko LCD watch costing hundreds of dollars that could only display accurate time and date, nothing else. It was heavy as hell. The battery lasted only 3 years. 10 years later I bought Casio LCD watch costing less than $100, very light as the band is made of rubber and the battery lasted 8 years. Early taker of tech product paid more with less features! The same is still true of PC, and mobile phone as well as carbon bicycle.
I remember buying an LCD TV when they were rare. I was the coolest guy on my block for a few years, until price for them imploded.
And Apple watch batteries last less than a day before needing to be charged!
the person is called an early-adopter
"Early taker of tech product paid more with less features!" You are describing the "early adopters" who are paying for the R&D, early capex, etc of a company that will consequently make the cheaper models that later customers will enjoy. In other words, they are subsidizing later customer's options :) Witness people complaining about Tesla's 1st electric car "who can afford $100,000 you're crazy! Make it $30,000 then you can have my money". The point is those early adopters are paying for the means by which Tesla can make a cheaper car later, it's literally in Tesla's "Master plan" from 2003: * Build sports car that runs on zero-emission electric power generation * Use the revenue to build an affordable electric car * Use that revenue to build an even more affordable electric car solartribune.com/master-plan/ You don't get 1st gen products at 10th gen prices :)
whAts a carbon bicycle
Wow, super excited to see this video pop up in my feed! A total collision of my subscriptions, as my feed is virtually all watches, science, and electronics. I never expected Asianometry to make a watch video though 😁. The funny thing is, reading the comments I'm apparently not the only one with this mix of interests. In fact I even see some watch channels I subscribe to commenting on the video in here -- love that! KZhead never ceases to amaze me heh. Really terrific video, thanks for making this one!
another great video. well researched and presented. thank you for all the work, and then sharing.
My father introduced my to watches when I was a kid. I still remember him loving high end watches but specially from Japan. I have some watches of my own but my favorite for day to day activities are a couple of Eco-drives from Citizen and an Automatic Orient that I have owned for twelve years and are still running smoothly
I have a citizen eco drive divers watch and it has taken an absolute beating and still keeps very accurate time. I work in sheet metal and have literally had to Tig weld the bracelet back together in a few places and it never even touched the functionality of this timepiece
Thank you very much for this very educational and historical information, now I will be looking at clocks and watches with a different eye. Great show thank you.
Great video as usual! Could you do a video on Sea-Gull? Their history seems pretty interesting, fan of their watches as well.
I remember some 40 yrs ago a friend o mine learned to be watch technician and to the pass certificate he had to machine axle for balancing wheel out of dentist drill. The precision behind mechanical watches is ... quite something else, what a beautiful things they're.
I love how you sound and present a very professional video and mature way of speaking and then throw in one liners or funny pictures.
Great video. Very detailed and informative. Thanks!
7:33 and at that moment i realized that the voice behind the info was coming from a source that I knew I would enjoy having a beer with in real life ... serious commentary from a commentator that doesnt take themselves to seriously, SUBBED!
Excellent video! Really enjoyed this one.
Awesome video about watches, which is a big contrast compared to your usual content. Five years ago, I bought my first watch, and I went with a Citizen Eco-Drive. As long as the Eco-Drive gets enough light, it runs fine, and I don't have to worry about replacing a battery. The watch has survived through several jobs, where I moved around a lot, and has the battle scars to prove it. I think the world benefited a lot from Japan commercializing watches for everyone compared to the Swiss enjoying their duopoly with the U.S.A.
Completely random fact, but if you played Zelda: Majora's Mask as a kid, you remember that the central town is called "Clock Town" (for everyone else: it's an apocalyptic and surreal game, where the world is invariably destroyed in 72 hours, via the Moon (which has a face of terror) crashing. Time is the main theme). In German, the town is called "Unruhstadt", as "Unruh" means central spring of a watch, but also "unease", as in disquiet. There couldn't have been a better name.
Great game, and the music in that town changes and go faster for each day it passes, so is kind of frantic on the last day, which combined with that moon with an sinister face almost completly hitting the ground and the continous ticking clock makes it a bit yeah uneasy.
I found that quite interesting, thanks for sharing!
From EUV to watches...bro your channel is sooooo good. I've learned so much from you that I've never even seen any other channels touch... Also, your dad is a badass, he's done so much. What an incredible man. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree apparently.
Who is his dad?
@@baotran9572 yes, who/what is dad? I agree on the quality of Jon’s videos.
The Extremely Vita Information On The Watches Making History & The Watches Manufactures Profiles. Keep It Up.
Just recently got into watches about a year ago after being a computer nerd for many years 🤣 its like you are reading my mind. 🔥 ty for the content
From a big fan of vintage mechanical watches (Omega 1952-1968 mostly) that was a most enjoyable and educational video. Thank you.
I still remember my uncle coming to visit us back in the 1970s, when I was about 7 years old. He had gotten me a gift of a quartz watch with a red digital readout. I don’t remember which brand it was, but it was beautiful and became my companion everywhere I went.
Absolutely fascinating. Your videos always turn a somewhat dry story into something you want to know more about
As a watch enthusiast I really appreciate this video and other videos you’ve produced.
I am surprised Hamilton did not get more of a mention. They used to be a big deal in the US, or I think they were. When you reached retirement or an important career/personal milestone I believe it was customary for a Hamilton watch to be given to designate the event. My great-aunt would say, "You knew you were someone when you had a Hamilton." They also have a fairly significant military following/usage with the Khaki line. Paradoxically, today the brand lives on but typically they have quartz movement on the low end and Swiss movement on the their mid to upper-mid product lines. I have a Hamilton Khaki automatic with Swiss movement (I think 17 jewels) just because of the history behind the brand, ecen though I believe they are now a subsidiary based out of Switzerland at this point.
16:00
Hamilton acquired Buren Watch Co in Switzerland in 1966 and shut down the Pennsylvania Factory in 1969. They've been "Swiss Made" ever since (although who knows where their cheaper watches are actually assembled today...)
Very precise historical description. Thank you very much.
Your stories are really top notch. Adore your channel man.
What a great collision of interests! Thanks for a very informative and fun video. One thing to note is that in the middle of the 19th century, the Swiss were actually well-known for producing cheap watches, with a well-developed division of labour that allowed for low average costs despite the lack of mechanization. At that time English watches were generally considered better quality. The Americans' innovation - applying factory methods to build affordable timepieces of consistent quality - was imported to Switzerland in the late 19th century. Longines, which you mention at the beginning of the video, was one of the Swiss companies that reorganized itself on these lines. As the American industry was in terminal decline, the Swiss started supplying mechanisms to the companies they had once taken inspiration from. So at 5:35, where you show a vintage Swiss pocket watch, it is a Swiss Unitas 6497 movement. But the watch itself is a Hamilton, an American brand that made some of that country's greatest timepieces. A nice irony! Thanks again and keep up the great work.
Brilliant presintation. I have tried for forty years to discover what you have presented here.
Very informative. Thank you Sir.
Great video, very well researched as always. I didn't expect you to make a video on one of my other interests. I know this treads outside of "asian" territory but it would have been cool to see a deeper explanation about how Swiss watches transitioned from regular consumer products to Veblen goods. The same thing is happening now to all traditional watches (even the cheaper japanese ones), with most people wearing smartwatches or using their phone for the time, so it could be worth exploring.
When a $5 USD watch can do the pretty much the same thing as $500 one, The lower end market will just run to the bottom and see who will stand the last. The only way is going up for the Swiss and Japanese watch maker. Especially after Apple Watch enter the market. Now the AW can do things like a mini computer, there is no way for normal watch maker to compete with Apple in the smart watch market. And it leaves the Japanese maker in a bad position. Japanese watch is never luxury enough for the rich people. Even in $5000 market, I will be rather get a cheap Swiss watch than a Japanese one. Sure there are some nice $1-2000 Seiko, but I don't think most people will recognize the "luxury" value of the watch.
@@Theoryofcatsndogs Lower priced watches can still coexist with smartwatches. Casio will keep selling its $10 digital watches until smartwatches a) reach price parity and b) only need to be charged on a yearly basis (these are the two advantages a Casio has over a smartwatch). And GShocks will always have a market. And I disagree with your assessment that japanese brands cannot make it in the upper luxury market. Maybe they don't do as well as certain Swiss brands internationally, but high end Citizen and Seiko+GS sell just fine, especially in the domestic market.
@@br7915 high end Citizen and Seiko is hardly considered luxury. They are not cheap for common people but it is far from luxury. G-Shock of course has it's market, as it is very different from smart watch.
@@Theoryofcatsndogs Hodinkee, Fratello, Monochrome, Chrono24 everyone considers Grand Seiko or Seiko LX as luxury. They're not high horology but that's another thing.
@@Theoryofcatsndogs 'Luxury' is in the eyes of the beholder. For those who see a fascination in Japanese watch movements just as fanatical as Swiss watch fans see in Swiss watches, well then, those Japanese watches are considered luxurious. There are some Japanese watches which are good looking in their own design, and that alone, makes them luxurious. The outrageously expensive Swiss mechanical watches have now reached the point, where they are simply examples of conspicuous consumption, a blatant piece of jewelry to show off how much money you have to throw away on something which is of no importance anymore, other than to look at if it's pretty. Why? Because accurate timepieces are now 'a dime a dozen'; everyone has a cell phone with accurate time, and many other still wear a watch rather than dig their phone out of a pocket or holster. As an example, we no longer use the very accurate railroad watches in order to prevent railroad accidents. Mechanical watches are so last century, no matter how expensive, or how pretty, they are.
17:12 that "Timeon" is actually a rebranded Seiko watch, which it was gifted to me in 1979 as a fifth grade graduation present. It was very expensive and probably the first solar watch ever produced (it was sold in jewelry shops). The solar battery was different and had a bluish tint but the watch is the same. I still own it, but the capacitor is out of production and the solar battery does not work anymore.
I was looking forward to hearing more about Seiko in the time period where you left off and the present. Seiko continues to make sought after mechanical self winding watches and, in fact, supplies movements to lesser Swiss watch companies while also selling quartz watches. Then there is the next big revolution in watches, those that set themselves from national atomic clocks and those that are light powered, and the combination. I have a Casio that doesn't need the battery changed every couple of years and always has the correct time and date. I prefer to wear it to my Rolex. I value function over form.
Thank you for posting your excellent videos.
Super interesting topic. Great video
Quartz resonant frequency is not fixed, it can be manufactured to any Hz you want, watches use a precise frequency of 2 to the power of 15 (2^15=32768 Hz), you can't just round it up to a meaningless 33kHz lol
The exact mechanics and frequency of quartz watches aren't really that that relevant it's a story mostly about economics, and I feel like in that context 33khz and the explanation given is fine. If this was a video on engineering or physics then it probably wouldn't be but context is key. If you want information about exactly how a quartz watch or piezoelectric effect work there's loads of good video out there, Steve Mould one is pretty good.
Yeah, and the implementation is clever too! There's just a 15/16 bit integer (off-by-one errors not withstanding) that counts up by 1 on each vibration, then when the highest bit changes value you know that exactly 32768 vibrations have happened, or exactly one second as it's at 32768 Hz (1 Hz = 1 vibration per second). This then drives a stepper motor for the second hand that rotates 1/60th of the circle, and the minute and hour hands controlled by either gearing or secondary/tertiary motors from there.
Great content, I'm really happy to see that you clearly read Pierre-Yves Donzé's book 👌 the best source possible on the topic ! Good job 👏👏
I look forward to my first Seiko watch, but my family have a Seiko wall watch that still works today, 30 years of service. No maintenance (they recommended maintenance every few years but we kinda forgot)
As everyone else is commenting on, fascinating subject. Well presented. A deep dive into Swiss watch making tooling would be cool, but that's a whole other subject. There was a Seiko lcd featured in another Moore Bond film. I still have one in my dresser drawer. Guess which movie and the name of the watch, anyone? Cost a bloody fortune back in `79, '80.
Superb documentary on the Watch Industry. Particularly on The Japanese Industry's Supremacy. Being a huge watch Fan i really enjoyed this. Having said that i am a Big Seiko Fan and use a Seiko 5 Sports Automatic. 👌
My Casio has been with me for 12 years now and got it as a gift. By the time I started working I bought my first watch which was a Revue Thommen 3 years ago. I still wear my Casio for everyday use and the Revue for special occasions.
Fantastic episode! I have a dress watch (mechanical made in Swiss) which I wear now and then. When I go outdoor and need a 100% dependable watch, I would wear my $14 Casio which is rugged, accurate, functional, can do stopwatch, and 5 independent alarms which I sometime needed. By the way, perhaps an episode about Japanese camera industry catching up to German would be splendid.
The Japanese camera industry catching up with the Germans can be explained in a nutshell. They copied German designs mostly until the late 1950s. Then Nikon came out with their F series SLR and the rest is history.
@@capmidnite isn't that basically any industry from Japan around that time?
@@RodrigoCh True but I don’t think any other industry got dominated so swiftly and completely like the camera market by the Japanese. For example it took decades for Japanese car makers to establish themselves and there is plenty of competition from other countries. In contrast, the Nikon F was quickly adopted by professionals and German makers became a niche part of the market.
I bought a Nikon F2 around 1975 and loved it to death, all the controls seemed perfectly placed, and I could crank off 2-3 aimed and focused shots a second without motor drive. But when I bought my first digital camera (1990s?), it was all over. The hassle of film was gone, and I could see my picture right away instead of taking several to increase the odds of getting what I wanted ... it was no contest. I kept seeing reports of retrofit digital camera backs for the F2, none ever came to fruition. I'd have paid a lot for one to keep the good controls and solid feel. Took me probably 20 years to finally give the Nikon to a relative who liked old cameras.
As a watch enthusiast I absolutely love this video!
I have about 60 watches(automatic and quartz) and find there is much to like in each. The quartz with the accuracy and some with additional features as well. The automatics are more a thing from the past(not as accurate usually and the history and design). Watches face a challenge today from phones as one check the time on them.
If phones are all that's needed to tell time, phone companies wouldn't be investing in billions on Smart Watches. Watches are as important to your arms as shoes are for your feet.
Really interesting to watch your video content. Sean Connery was the template for James Bond franchise.
The video is interesting but does not mention something important. In the sixties a watch that was guaranteed to work out of the box, keep working for years wihout a problem, was shock proof, and waterproof, was also very expensive. Except for Seiko which had all of those properties but for a moderate price. Their main advantage was massive production volumes with reliable electronic quality control testing. Their automatics were beautiful watches that anyone could afford. They sold by the millions before quartz watches were even invented.
Aaah this video bring soo many memories back...my late father was a watchmaker...I still keep all of his books, instruments and watch parts in his honor, as well as one Omega Seamster (1961526) from early 90's...I was facintates by this watch as a kid
When I was young I had an Ingersoll mechanical watch. I kept busting the winding as I over wind it - alas I was young. Then digital watches came along and I could only afford LED version (timez?) on my meagre schoolkid saving. One lucky friend his father brought him a LCD watch. We was all jealous as his watch battery lasted 6 months(maybe a year) whereas my and other friends LED lasted a month. The more you press and display the time the more it goes thru the battery . Ah those was the days..
No mention of the spring drive grand seiko? Combination of both mechanical and quartz.
High quality. Thx you
I have a number of watches, a few quartz that don't get a lot of use, quite a few Seikos an Orient and a sea-Gull but the best ones are all Swiss, Hamilton, Tissot, Certina Christopher Ward and Rolex plus vintage British (but Swiss really) Accurist Avia and Rotary.
Surprisingly, you didn't elaborate on Swatch's success story, which continues to this day. However, the trend toward the smart watch seems to have been missed by the Swiss industry.
Swiss watches keep going up in value
@@rahimi4762 its just a matter of time. Most brands will dissappear besides some elite ones
Some brands like Tag Heuer tried and it flopped
Swatch is for the most part irrelevant.
Well the smartwatch is just a computer in fancy packaging... They'd need ideas of apple calibre to also dominate on this market, it would be outright insane to pursue that goal.
This video was amazing. Very educational. I love it 🍻
I have always bought Seiko watches. Very well made and reliable. And affordable. Swiss quality watches are ridiculously overpriced.
I beg to differ. Many Swiss brands, especially those from within the Swatch group, have managed to bring impressive offerings at reasonable prices over the years while Seiko raised their prices for no apparent reason whatsoever. Combined with their notoriously lackluster quality control Seiko has gained a somewhat mixed reputation within the watch community in recent years.
I agree with u. I dont buy western watches anymore. I try to support asian brands
@@Robozgraggi There is nothing impressive about a Swatch lol. Those silly movements are non hacking. Talking about cheap. They have terrible water ratings. Materials used are garbage. Nothing is cheaper than a Swatch.
@@DJGeorgeDisco Oh ffs, please read my comment again - I was reffering to brands within the Swatch GROUP - Not Swatch as the brand itself!
Watches, as an instrument to tell time, is dead thanks to the smart phones. On the other hand, Swiss mechanical watches survived as a jewelry or works of art.
Bro 😂I honestly LOL when you said “Nice” regarding the 69 reference … great video by the way, Thanks!
I'm saving up for a Seiko spring drive. The continuous motion is fascinating and such a beautiful blend of new and modern. Costs a few thousand but who cares!
I must say that Seiko is only watch brand in the world with maybe 30 iconic watch models.Just sheer catalogue of legendary Seiko divers will dwarf any other brand!!
Casio.
Really enjoyed your clip. Most of my free time is dedicated to Japanese HiFi, cameras & watches of which I have a few. My favorite is a Seiko which I bought in Tokyo a few years back, nothing extremely fancy, but I love it: the Prospex Shogun Titanium. I prefer it to my Omega Seamaster (bought it when my son was born & gave it to him for his 18th birthday) or my Tag Heuer. There is something about Japanese engineering which I find sublime.
Nice video, but you really messed up the end: The restructuring into the Swatch group didn't work because of the luxury watch nieche. It was by creating trendy cheap quartz watches with a traditional dial (essentially making watches a cheap fashion commodity) that allowed them to cash in and only in a second step revive their expensive brands with that money... Look into how Hayek saved the Swiss watch industry - quite a feat!
This.
This.
Where do you even find all the sources for such amazingly detailed research in such a short time?
Shhhh! He's an alien from the future. Time travel allows lots and lots of research.
Thanks for this video
Amazing video, thanks!
I don't anything about luxury watches. But when I first wore a watch in the earlier 90s, the $3 casio watch was rocked solid and lasted for years.
Your denouement was on point, watches changes from an everyday appliance, which is now taken up by phones, etc., to a display of luxury, which is why the Swiss and European brands now have that market, the Asian manufacturers, other than the Apple watch, not really a market anymore.
There were no clocks in Japan until 1888? You are wrong. Of course there was. Japan used a yin-yang calendar, so they made more complicated clocks than simple solar calendar clocks. if you search for Wadokei (和時計), you can find images. It is a complicated clock with more than 10 gears alone. Since watchmaking technology had been around since before 1888, solar calendar clocks were probably easy to make and could be mass-produced quickly. A clock with hands that just turned in circles at a fixed speed would have been too easy and fun. In the yin-yang calendar, each month has a different length of an hour. I have no idea what the corresponding clock structure is, even though I read the explanation. Japan made that, before 1888.
I’ve been a big fan of your channel, and as a watch fan I’m delighted to see this video! And decades after the quartz revolution, Seiko for sure upped the game another level with their amazing Spring Drive movement, which is also virtually “uncopyable”.
No, Quartz vibrates at whatever frequency you need. Depends on how you cut it. And the 32786 frequency is simply by 2^15, so you can use simply dividers to get to 1Hz.
Great, thank you!
5:29 Technically that pocket watch isn't Swiss. While the movement is sourced from Switzerland as it's evident by the engraving on it, the manufacturer, Hamilton, was an American company back in the time of pocket watches (albeit now they're based in Switzerland).
Amazing video! Thanks
Best subject yet!
These documentaries are so detailed and presented so seriously, the nice at 7:39 threw me off 😂
Quartz isn't special because of a specific frequency; the resonant frequency of a quartz crystal depends on the size of the crystal. Piezoelectric materials are used because they vibrate at all.
Dude, it's Sir Roger Moore who starred in Live and Let Die; Sean Connery was already retired from that Bond franchise at the time of the watch's release in 1973
Hence "I never watched that one, I'm more of a Sean Connery fan"
Another great vid👍🏻🇬🇧
Hey, do you have a list of sources? I would like to do further reading if you have a list. Thanks!
I plan on buying a Seiko automatic watch. I even picked out the model I want.
I would like to see you do a video on microphones. It seems the technology in and about them hasn't changed much over the last 50 years either.
Asionometry has uploaded, and it's about watches. It's a good day.
I remember in the 1980s having a conversation with a young Swiss watch maker, who came to study at the language school where I worked. He showed me, with pride, his Swiss watch and said that it cost something like 450 GBP. I showed him my Casio watch with pride, and said cost something like 12 GBP. Mine was waterproof, had dual-time, a stop-watch, a countdown timer, an alarm, which his didn't. And it turned-out mine was more accurate than his. And yet neither of us could persuade the other that our watch had the greater value. For him, watches had no business doing the things mine did: "It's a watch". And yet they had every justification in commanding tens of times the cost because of the workmanship, even though "it's a watch". I don't suppose he ever changed his opinion, and probably endures to this day in resentment for the fall of his industry. _Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis._
precisely why I'd never attach sentimental value to a certain piece of technology, because it could always be improved. While I admire the pinnacle that mechanical watches could reach, digital watches are always better. Had that watch been given to me by a loved one I'd have kept it with me forever. But we all know digital watches are better than mechanical. I have to admit this even as a mechanical engineering graduate. I just wish they'd some smartwatches which are more robust and last for a decade (like the good old nokia phone)
@@hidum5779 Yes, I agree. I guess my Casio watches are like the good old nokia. My boyfriend gave me one in 2007, and with solar charging and radio clock (MFT) syncing, it needed no adjustment or battery replacement until it started to fail in 2020. I got another of the same to replace it. I've since been presented with two smart-watches, but reliability hasn't been the problem... they need charging each day, and I can't believe they are sufficiently waterproof. So they just sit in a drawer.
@@tsuchan yeah. and they can actually make smartwatches durable, waterproof and other things. They don't do this for the same reasons as they don't make durable phones anymore. Or even cars for that matter - Consumerism being good for business. Microprocessors improve every year so that's also one of the reasons. But yes maybe they can make something for military which is robust and lasts long and I can hope to get my hands on such hardware one day. Your casio seems great though, because it did a very good job. Because if you got one in 1980s and if it went on till 2020, now I was just born in 1998 😆😆
"Someday, all watches will be made this way." ... why do I find that simple statement so epic...
Unexpected, but very cool and interesting subject! I've been wearing an automatic Invicta (Swiss) watch with Japanese movement for about 18 years now, and still works as well as the day I got it. 😀
I thought Invicta was American?
Invicta does have some swiss watches but yours with its Japanese movement is made in china. Invicta is american owned. The original swiss invicta died and some time later some americans bought the name.
I love my Swiss Movado. But it's still fun to learn about other countries.