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HAQs That Aren't

2K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  CaptainTod 
#1 · (Edited)
So, it seems it has been a quiet summer around f9. I see some signs of normal, sensible business starting to resume and I am sure we will be seeing a lot more graphs and serious analytical stuff fairly soon. Before we do, though, I thought I'd share with the forum a few watches I have been playing with over the summer (and one that I have only just acquired). These are HAQs-that-aren't:

1. Seiko SLT019P1
I actually bought this watch months ago, but had it delivered to my brother in the UK, since it was a local UK delivery. As I was holidaying in the UK, this summer, I picked up the watch and had a good play.

Principal points of interest:
- HF movement (8F56) originally spec'd to 20 SPY
- 24hr GMT hand (24hr markers on bezel)
- Independently adjustable hour hand
- Perpetual calendar

I have brought the watch back to Hong Kong for timing and testing, though of course I would not get too excited about the results as it is an 8F. A HAQ, then, by some definitions, but not TC and one that doesn't really stand much chance of coming in under 20 SPY these days. So, not a HAQ.

Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Wrist


2. Longines Conquest AHP
Another watch I acquired ages ago and shelved with my brother in the UK until this summer. This one, however, I have left in the UK. Nice enough watch, if you like the Conquest line. It is a bona fide Longines, with an ETA quartz movement and the 'High Precision' moniker on the dial, and yet it is no more accurate than an ordinary quartz. The catch? It's not a 'VERY High Precision', it's an 'ARMPOWERED High Precision' - an autoquartz. An amusing diversion but not a HAQ and not worth bringing back to Hong Kong for testing.

Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Jewellery


3. Swatch Jelly Fish Chronometer
Yes, that's right, Swatch produced a COSC-certified chronometer in the mid-80s. I saw this going on eBay, complete with the COSC certificate and I had a little chuckle and bought it. I had harboured a thought, somewhere deep in the back of my mind, that I might one day pick up an old Oysterquartz in order to get an example of a quartz chronometer under the old COSC standard, but as soon as I found out that even an ordinary Swatch Jelly Fish could make the grade back then, well I just had to have it. Yes, COSC have updated their standards, but to those among us attaching pride and / or monetary value to a COSC certificate, let this serve as a reminder that COSC standards can be easier for manufacturers to attain than we might imagine.

I left this one in the UK, too.

Watch Wrist Fashion accessory Metal


4. Pulsar PSR 20
In the post, so no 'real' pic., yet. What's left to say about this watch that hasn't been said before? I found one in battered and bruised condition on eBay and won it for a not-too-extortionate price. Using the Y302 movement it is also another HF, non-TC watch that once promised 20 SPY but which is highly unlikely to achieve that, today. A HAQ, then, that isn't.

Since this watch ships from the UK, I have also let that one go to my brother and await my next visit. I've got enough watches to be getting on with, here in Hong Kong, now, anyway.

View attachment 5112122

5. SBGA105
Finally there's the watch that I rather regret. The most accurate mechanical (or quasi-mechanical) watch on the planet because it has quartz at its heart. Even among spring drives, the 9R15 movement in the LE watch is said to be even more accurate than normal. Amazing stuff. And yet I just can't get over the fact that its accuracy still kinda sucks. And that almost perfectly smoothly gliding second hand? Impossible to tell when a second has begun and when it has ended! I find it hard enough, these days, to live with 'ordinary' quartz watches and their inaccurate movements and poorly aligned second hands, but a spring drive?! Oh, I am a fool!

I bought this watch months ago with the brilliant idea that I could flip it for a profit, given the fact that the price in Hong Kong seemed to be way below the international MRSP, but I guess I'm not too good at selling things because no-one bought it and I have reluctantly finally unwrapped it and moved it into my personal collection. A highly accurate watch, then (apparently), with a quartz regulator. But not a HAQ.

Analog watch Watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap


That is all. Oh, apart from the Seiko SQ Twin Quartz (5 SPY) that I picked up, but that's a story for another day.
 
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#2 ·
Interesting list. While the complexity of the Spring Drive scares me I do love that GS Seiko's overall design. The sword like hands and blue dial are gorgeous.

A question about the "ARMPOWERED High Precision" Longines. Is it a similar concept to the Seiko Kinetic?
 
#4 · (Edited)
A question about the "ARMPOWERED High Precision" Longines. Is it a similar concept to the Seiko Kinetic?
Yes, I believe the principles are broadly similar. I think Seiko were the first to come out with an autoquartz (which, at that time, they called 'AGS', rather than 'Kinetic'), with ETA, Citizen, Ventura and possibly others not far behind. I believe that in all autoquartz systems you'll find a rotor (not unlike that in an auto mechanical), with the generated power being fed into either a capacitor or (more commonly, these days) a rechargeable cell.
 
#3 ·
Well you have been busy! The GS SD always seems a bit pointless to me; neither one thing nor another. It's a very nice looker, though. The other Seiko has a good feature set but would benefit from more restrained packaging. You should certainly have put the Jelly Fish on test - it might have embarrassed us all with its accuracy. And the Longines must win a prize for one of the weirdest names ever.
 
#5 ·
The AHP is a bit weird, I grant you, but it was that or another VHP and I've already got two of those, which is mad enough. I mean, who would really want more than one of the same watch?

I do agree about the GS SD, though, and for the price there are plenty of other watches I could have had and probably regretted less. But anyway, that's it. I'm done for the year. Just going to step away from eBay, sit back and focus on timings.
 
#6 ·
Great post as always Tom.
Glad to see that despite your intentions, there's no slow down in your collecting habit.

I agree that it's a real shame the SD isn't thermocompensated. Considering how much it costs, surely a little extra circuitry wouldn't be noticed? Perhaps they had an issue with power consumption.
As a lover of both mechanical and quartz watches, I would love to own a SD. However, as a HAQ fan I can't quite bring myself to spend that kind of cash on something made not as good as it should be. Also can't help the feeling it is deliberately much more expensive than it needs to be.
 
#9 ·
I would be curious to know what the GS SD sales figures are...because, yes, it doesn't seem to fit anywhere. It is gorgeous, gauging by the pictures, but more than a tad outside my price range. :) Perhaps it maintains appeal for the mechanical crowd, despite that it has a quartz aspect, because of the drive's workings. I'll admit to a degree of image consciousness, and going, gee, a Rolex or Omega would be cool. (This would've been c. 1975.) But, I can get the same fit and finish and attractiveness from a 9F GS...at half the price of the SD, with better accuracy, and with the same cachet to 99.9% of the planet. (Both good AND bad, as some will turn up their nose because it's not Swiss, and it's quartz.)

Interesting read, to be sure.
 
#11 ·
I don't normally go for funky designs but it's so over the top it's nearly irresistible. It probably would be irresistible, actually, if the movement didn't exhibit such atrocious aging. I have an 8F56 Alpinist that sounded perfect on paper but is 50 seconds fast so far this year.
 
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