One says Swiss on it, the other says Japan.

 

Both tend to be very reliable and accurate for me.

 

High Accuracy Quartz (HAQ) aside, and talking about regular quartz watches, my ETAs were always in the range of + 3 to 4 seconds per month, my Seikos about the same, my Citizen ECOs about 5-9 sec. plus per month. My Casios (non-radio-controlled) about 9 to 13 plus per month.

 

I feel Japanese quartz watch’s second hand tend to hit the marker more precisely than Swiss.

 

I feel Japanese quartz watch’s second hand tends to hit the marker more precisely than Swiss.

For me, it's the opposite... generally.

My HAQ Grand Seiko diver is as precise as you're going to get. It's rather satisfying. This is true for my vintage Heuer diver; hits every seconds marker and it's over 40 years old.

However, many of my Seiko movements are not nearly as accurate or precise; a JDM tuna, a Prospex Adventure, and a recraft - all have a comparatively sloppy seconds hand. My three-hander G-Shock Mud Master falls somewhere between the my two groups.

 

anyone wearing quartz from both countries?

Yep. No difference in timekeeping performance between the two. My Citizen hits the second marks more accurately than the ETA, but the Citizen is sloppier to use and harder to set. Also its hour hand doesn't quite hit the hour when the minute hand is on 0/60. That's a QC thing I guess.

 

Can only speak for one japanese quartz, the 7c46 (tuna sbbn031)- hits every marker, runs at -1-2 seconds per month.
I do have swiss quartz but they're basic rondas and can't be compared to a ~200$ 7c46.

 

Just one word on the second hand hitting the markers of the chapter ring precisely. I can relate to people being extremely particular about it since I used to be quite a fanatic about it in my earlier years. To the point that I sent in brandnew watches to have the issue “fixed.” Or returned a watch altogether.

Lately I have become totally relaxed on the issue and I am at peace. That is after much research (as a technical layman, though). It seems that (apart from minute geometrie misalignments and minutely non-centered dials) it is part of the technical limitations – the gear train requires a tiny amount of slack to work properly. The Swiss kind of decided to live with that across all price ranges. The Japanese manufacturers gave it extra attention, mostly in the higher price segments. Or went the extra mile to give the customer what he or she wants and solve the issue by an independent micro motor for the second hand (as in the case of many Casio watches) – or develop and employ sophisticated technologies to assure the second hand hits the markers every time and all the time, as in the case of the Grand Seiko and probably the The Citizen (Chronomaster).

 

I own/owned Japanese and Swiss quartz, both are equally good. Even inexpensive movements work extremely well, my brother has an older Casio Duro, second hand hits every mark, accuracy is under 10 seconds a month.

 

There isn’t enough written about the GS 9F?

 

There's cheap movements and expensive movements from both countries. What matters is how it's made, not where it's from.

I can't speak for Citizen/Miyota because I haven't searched, but Seiko movements are very well documented.

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Everyone know eta quartz movement are robust and a workhorse, with easy maintenance. But Japanese quartz movement are more obscure and less info about the movement is available, which one is better in term of accuracy and for long term use?

I own 2 Japanese quartz and 3 ETA quartz movement watch and can’t distinguish performance wise, but I wasn’t sure about reliability and robustness

Japanese quartz movements are more obscure.....

 

In my experience cheap Swiss quartz is inferior to Japanese when it comes to reliability.
There is no point in overpaying for it. You will find made in China on other side of the case back anyway.

 

I can't tell a difference... All quartz is equally good for me. I own movements from eta, ronda, Isa, citizen, casio... Swiss, Japan and China. I Probably have some movements from other asia countries too.

 

Both have their advantages and either works for my needs.

 

We've gone 16 posts, so I'll mention the American made Bulova 262 kHz movement as being very enjoyable.

 

You beat me to the punch...especially the 3 hander sweeping seconds.

However american made?? I thought this one was developed by Miyota (after Citizen acquired Bulova in 2008).

 

I prefer Japanese quartz because I think its better for the consumer in regards to price, performance, service and repair.

Same reasons I would rather have a Japanese car than a Swiss Car.

 

You're right, you got me.

 

Everyone know eta quartz movement are robust and a workhorse, with easy maintenance. But Japanese quartz movement are more obscure and less info about the movement is available, which one is better in term of accuracy and for long term use?

I own 2 Japanese quartz and 3 ETA quartz movement watch and can’t distinguish performance wise, but I wasn’t sure about reliability and robustness

There is ALL kinds of information available about Japanese Quartz Movements a d has been since they were first introduced in the 1960s. i still have Japanese Quartz Driven Movements that are 25 years old (cheap ones and quality names like Seiko) that are still ticking along when a new battery is popped in.

 

I can't tell the difference unless it's a high accuracy movement. Whatever minor variations in accuracy I experience between battery-powered quartz, eco drive, Swiss, Japanese....the only way I would ever notice the difference would be on the rare occasions I hack quartz watches to the atomic clock. I might do that a couple of times a year and don't keep track. I have one relatively inexpensive ETA high accuracy quartz movement that's supposedly accurate to within 10 seconds annually. It's running pretty close to that - a stitch slower as the weather heats up, but it might start moving a little faster in the fall. last time I checked, it had gained five or six seconds in five months. For a sub-$500 watch, that's quite good.

I have a few watches that have high torque quartz movements, Seiko Tuna and Marathon JSAR. I think that has more to do with the strength of the motor than accuracy.

The only quartz movements I've worn that failed were Seiko solar - one purchased used so I don't know how it was treated, the other a Prospex solar diver our son kept in a drawer for 3-4 years. Replacing the rechargeable battery on our son's watch didn't fix it, and he didn't want to pay to service it; I replaced the solar movement on the used watch, around $120, and it was money well-spent - it runs fine now.

 

Finally, confirmation of what I tell others about Japanese solar watches. The solar feature is built onto a very inexpensive movement, typically no jewels. Many times by the time the cell needs to be replaced the movement is bad and will have a very comparatively poor charge/runtime. People complain a new replacement cell being defective, but I think the movement is bad not the cell. IMO, rechargeable cells being defective, for any application, is very unlikely.

My guess is the selling point of solar is a no maintenance watch. The makers fuel the market by producing a product that is basically disposable. Fashion/low-cost quartz are known to die by developing some kind of internal short within the movement draining the battery within hours/days.

 

My two quartz watches are both HAQs, one Swiss, one from Japan. Accuracy wise they're on the same level, still very different in movement design. Both hit all markers nicely.

 

I'm not sure about quality, but it seems that I can find watches with ETA HAQ movements cheaper than Japanese HAQ movements. New, for sure, but also used.

Maybe I'm just not looking at the right kinds of Japanese watches? Maybe a Seiko Dolce can be had cheaper than a Precidrive Tissot?

 

My watch with a GS 9f movement is supposed to have +- 10 seconds per year and I get about +1s per year.
My watch with a eta precidrive movement is also supposed to have +- 10 seconds per year but I get about +1 to +2 seconds per MONTH.

 

Both My Japanese and Swiss Quartz have been equally accurate and equally boring.

 

Based on my (limited) experience with whatever I have, I have found both to be about the same in terms of accuracy and reliability, but it seems to me that with Japanese (Seiko in particular) quartz chronographs, the center-mounted chrono hand runs more "smoothly," ...
AND more Seiko movements snap back to zero, whereas ETA does not

 

I’m sure I’ve had both and not noticed any difference.

Quartz is the ultimate accurate grab and go, be it ETA or Japanese.