"HOW INNOVATIVE QUARTZ TECHNOLOGY IS

Transcription

Seiko & Citizen Forum
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"HOW INNOVATIVE QUARTZ TECHNOLOGY
IS MADE" (translation)
December 19 2004 at 12:53 AM
b_andersen (Login
BlueNote1577)
from IP address
218.123.162.25
HOW INNOVATIVE QUARTZ TECHNOLOGY IS MADE. After Seiko Invented Quartz Watches
They Continued To Tackle Further Challenges.
{The following is a translation from Japanese into English. I assume most will know a bit
about Kinetic and Spring Drive technologies before reading this, however, I have included
links at the bottom of this article to sites that briefly explain the technologies for those
who don't.}
From: "Goods Press," November 2004
(ISBN491013263114900571).
Diverse Directions—merging quartz with the self-powered generation technology of
mechanical watch movements.
Seiko not only won championships for mechanical chronometer watch movements at
Swiss watch competitions [in the 1960's], but it also gave birth to the quartz watch.
Because the company possessed some of the best watch manufacturing techniques and
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=78440&messageid=1103446436
12/19/2004
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technologies in the world, they were also able to develop new unique watch movements
[such as Kinetic and Spring Drive] that don’t belong to any other genre. How will quartz
watch movements continue to develop in the future?
Kaoru Iida
Seiko Epson Watch Division
W Precious Merchandise Section
Director
Question: What is the positioning of mechanical and quartz watches at Seiko, since you
gave birth to the quartz watch but also make some of the best mechanical watches in the
world?
Answer: (Iida) Seiko carried out mechanical watch movement accuracy to an extreme
level in 1969 when we won the accuracy contest for chronometers in Geneva at the
Astronomical Observatory contest.
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Making Grand Seiko mechanical movements.
That same year we released the first quartz watch in the world, the Astron. After that, our
next target was to create very accurate quartz watch movements. We then accomplished
accuracy of +/- 5 seconds per year with the Twin Quartz. After that, our further challenge
was creating innovation in energy production.
Q: So, you invented the AGS (Automatic Generating System) technology in 1988 to power
watches, and that later became known as Kinetic.
12/19/2004
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40th Anniversary Crown Chronograph Kinetic movement.
This movement is made of 357 parts, which is more than
most mechanical movements.
A: (Iida) As quartz technology evolved, we thought, “What kind of watch would we truly
like to use?” So, because people wear these, we made a plan to make a watch powered by
a person's body movement. Our original plan was to make a quartz watch that would
never need a battery change. At the beginning, when we first released watches with
quartz movements, it was hard for owners to find stores where they could get batteries
changed. In addition, there are parts of the world where it’s very hard to get batteries.
This was during the Oil Shock [mid-‘70’s] when people were concerned about the shortage
of resources and therefore we had the idea of making quartz watches powered by the arm
movements of human beings.
12/19/2004
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Making a Seiko watch spring at the SII factory in
Sendai, Japan.
Q: That means you were looking to venture deeper into the possibilities of quartz, doesn’t
it?
A: (Iida) In Switzerland, makers put their energies into mechanical watch production
along with their government’s support, we, instead, decided to make our own
revolutionary technologies. We wanted to prove that quartz watches could equal
mechanicals in terms of being high-quality, fine watches.
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The Grand Seiko Spring Drive is a limited edtion of 300 units.
Q: Are Spring Drives state-of-the-art watches combining taste and accuracy?
12/19/2004
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Eiichi Hiraoka
Development Division
W Designing Technology Group
Chief
A: (Hiraoka) We engineers were delighted to complete this system that is the result of the
evolution of cutting-edge quartz technology coupled with our remarkable technical
tradition of making mechanical watches. It should be mentioned that the techniques
developed for Kinetics, of generating low power using an IC and quartz, and the way the
coil is made, and so on, are combined with the need of accuracy in making watch
movement parts such as wheels and so on requiring traditional watch making skills. Seiko
treasured traditional watch making skills even during the tides of change brought about by
the quartz revolution. The fruit is the Spring Drive.
12/19/2004
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Page 55.
Translator’s note: Over the years, people on this forum have often asked, “Why does
Seiko make Kinetic watches, instead of focusing on solar power like Citizen?”
In a different article in this same magazine (page 52), Seiko engineers discuss the
company's view of innovation in quartz technology. They liken how Kinetic and Spring
Drive technologies work to the way electricity can be generated a spinning bicycle tire and
used to power a bike’s headlamp.
Most bicycles in Japan
come with a light like
this one attached
12/19/2004
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to the front fork.
When engaged, it creates
electricity that powers
the headlamp when a
small wheel presses
against the tire.
In the afore mentioned article, Seiko engineers went on to say that when considering how
to generate electricity to power quartz watches, solar power was an obvious answer, but
Seiko instead decided to pursue the more elegant solution of combining their expertise in
making top-tier mechanical movements with the groundbreaking quartz technology they
invented in an effort to synthesize the two.
More:
A very brief explaination of AGS (Kinetic) technology can be found on Epson's website:
http://www.epson.co.jp/e/company/milestones_19_AGS.htm
And on Spring Drive technology here:
http://www.epson.co.jp/e/company/milestones_35_spring_drive.htm
Here is a press release I found when doing research, regarding Soitec supplying
semiconductor wafers used in Seiko (Epson) Spring Drive movements:
http://www.picogiga.fr/fr/news/pr33_p.htm
B.Andersen
{Note: My photo host will delete these images around the first week of the new year,
please save this on your hard disc is you wish to keep it for future reference. It will also
be saved as a pdf. file for future access by Larry, who I wish to thank in advance.}
Respond to this message
Responses
z
z
Thanks Bryan (and wife) for another interesting article..>> - LesZ on Dec 19,
2004, 1:25 AM
{ {Updated} Citizen & Seiko advanced quartz technology power sources (links) b_andersen on Dec 19, 2004, 3:53 AM
{ I always wondered why Seiko never pursued Solar... - petew on Dec 19,
2004, 5:29 AM
Thanks for taking the time to put the post together, Bryan. Most
appreciated! (nt) - Lee® on Dec 19, 2004, 4:36 AM
12/19/2004
{
z
Page 10 of 10
You are very welcome, Lee. My pleasure. -nt- - b_andersen on Dec 19,
2004, 6:25 AM
Yet another example which shows us.... - petew on Dec 19, 2004, 5:22 AM
{ Thank you for your comments, Pete .. - b_andersen on Dec 19, 2004, 5:49 AM
12/19/2004

"HOW INNOVATIVE QUARTZ TECHNOLOGY IS

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