[migo]

Obviously the Pulsar PSR 10 would be the most affordable ever, but it's impossible to find, so anything below the several thousand dollar range of the GS Quartz or Citizen Chronomaster?

 

[ppaulusz]

I would not call the Pulsar PSR-10 (made by Seiko) thermocompensated (I would call it high-end quartz though). It uses high-frequency (192kHz) oscillator that is responsible for the better than average accuracy (provided the watch is on the wrist for at least 12 hours per day! - sort of "body thermocompensation"). Many owners reported that the accuracy was not as tight as the claimed +/-10 seconds per year.
The most affordable thermocompensated watches in my opinion are the selected Citizen Exceed models fitted with the A690 movement (a very close relative to the famous A660 that can be found in the The Citizen) . The Citizen Exceed models are for the Japanese market only but there are dealers in Japan who are happy to ship the watches worldwide. The Citizen Exceed models with the A690 movement perform within the claimed +/-10 seconds per year accuracy-wise.

 

[dirkpitt73]

this appears to be the watch:

http://citizen.jp/exceed/lineup/theexd/741941.htmlhttp://tinyurl.com/ydlneg

anyone have it? not bad looking and reasonably priced. wonder if Higuchi or Seiya can get it ...

 

[ppaulusz]

this appears to be the watch:

http://citizen.jp/exceed/lineup/theexd/741941.html

anyone have it? not bad looking and reasonably priced. wonder if Higuchi or Seiya can get it ...

Citizen Exceed EBA74-1713 is available for around 44000 yen in Japan. Probably this is the most affordable one but it does not have calendar. The top of the line model cost around 60000 yen in Japan it offers perpetual calendar, eco-drive (battery-less technology), 100m WR, etc... These watches are excellent value!|>
Our moderator, Bruce Reding's wife has one with eco-drive and perpetual calendar (if my recollection is correct).

 

[migo]

I would not call the Pulsar PSR-10 (made by Seiko) thermocompensated (I would call it high-end quartz though). It uses high-frequency (192kHz) oscillator that is responsible for the better than average accuracy (provided the watch is on the wrist for at least 12 hours per day! - sort of "body thermocompensation"). Many owners reported that the accuracy was not as tight as the claimed +/-10 seconds per year.

http://www.bobthayerjr.com/wb5apd/psr-10.html

Looks from there that it is thermocompensated.

 

[migo]

Citizen Exceed EBA74-1713 is available for around 44000 yen in Japan. Probably this is the most affordable one but it does not have calendar. The top of the line model cost around 60000 yen in Japan it offers perpetual calendar, eco-drive (battery-less technology), 100m WR, etc... These watches are excellent value!|>
Our moderator, Bruce Reding's wife has one with eco-drive and perpetual calendar (if my recollection is correct).

I haven't been able to find the top end model for anything under 100,000Yen.

 

[artec]

The price given on the website whose link (http://citizen.jp/exceed/lineup/theexd/741941.html) was shown is 150,000 yen. 44,000 is a hell of a discount (70%). Will anyone give one that amount off? It's a nice-looking watch though! If they will, I'd be interested, too.

 

[Bruce Reding]

Our moderator, Bruce Reding's wife has one with eco-drive and perpetual calendar (if my recollection is correct).

You are indeed correct. It's keeping excellent time (under 5 secs/yr) and she loves the look and the fact that it's carefree.

 

[ppaulusz]

http://www.bobthayerjr.com/wb5apd/psr-10.html

Looks from there that it is thermocompensated.

What can I say? Yes, you are right, according to that it is thermocompensated.
However, there are a couple of points that indicates otherwise:
- That manual does not say anything about the high-frequency oscillator used in that movement. Why???
- That manual describes a thermocompensation scheme that is so advanced that there is probably no better available today. Still Seiko marketed that top technology under the "no-frills" Pulsar brand. Why???
- The movement in the PSR-10 (caliber Y301) is similar to the current Seiko 8F movements (192kHz high-frequency oscillator). Even performance-wise the movements are very similar. Furtermore, watches with the current 8F movements are in the same price category as the Pulsar PSR-10 used to be. It looks to me that the current 8F movements were designed on the concept of the Y301 (Y301 + perpetual calendar = 8F).
- The Japanese manufacturers (Citizen and Seiko) don't like to discuss openly the thermocompensation technologies they apply in their watches (It was reported on the internet that Citizen denied the use of any thermocompensation method in its flagship ultra-accurate model: The Citizen...). They don't even sell/market their top high-end quartz watches worldwide only in Japan. These top models are usually very expensive watches.

 

[roba]

Still Seiko marketed that top technology under the "no-frills" Pulsar brand. Why???

Pulsar started as a Hamilton spin off. George Thiess, an engineer with Electro-Data (a Texas instruments spin off)) had developed a prototype digital watch in 1969. He approached Hamilton to market his watch. Hamilton had just been beaten to the analog digital punch by Seiko so they signed a contract in December 1969 for E-D to produce six (rather cranky) prototypes. The Pulsar watch was announced in May 1970, six months after the Astron.

I think that the PRS-10 fits into the Pulsar branding - a high tech product. The first Pulsar was announced as a space age gadget that would display the time at the press of a button.

 

[ppaulusz]

Pulsar started as a Hamilton spin off. George Thiess, an engineer with Electro-Data (a Texas instruments spin off)) had developed a prototype digital watch in 1969. He approached Hamilton to market his watch. Hamilton had just been beaten to the analog digital punch by Seiko so they signed a contract in December 1969 for E-D to produce six (rather cranky) prototypes. The Pulsar watch was announced in May 1970, six months after the Astron.

I think that the PRS-10 fits into the Pulsar branding - a high tech product. The first Pulsar was announced as a space age gadget that would display the time at the press of a button.

Thanks, roba, I was not aware of the full Pulsar history.
Let's say, the weakest link in my argument is taken care of. I admit it is very subjective what one might consider a proper name. Eventually, Seiko had a change of heart as it dropped the Pulsar name completely. At least that is my impression anyhow.