ARTICLES

What Time is it in Hell?

by

William D. Coakley

 

Who would ever think that buying a watch might end up being a multi-week effort? Well, I began thinking that I was on another planet when I set out to find a watch. I just couldn't seem to find a watch that had a few basic things on it that I could use.

The problem began in trying to establish what the best quality for the dollar might be and what features above and beyond my needs were worth paying for... and did they work?

I had been using an old 1980 Seiko digital quartz watch for many years. It gained a little more than a second a day and without any accurate time services it was impossible to get an accurate time. In addition, local time services (like our 832-3801) were way off... ours is still a whole 2 minutes fast.

My requirements were to find a digital watch more accurate than my 1980 Seiko quartz and the second requirement was it would have to have a stop watch (chronograph). Pretty easy, I thought when I made my first trip to the mall. My first rude awakening came about when I discovered that digital watches were no longer in. "Analogue" was in... back to those hands and a graphic view of time... which is not bad for the most part.

The only digitals I could see looked kinda cheezy. So I thought, maybe I'd try looking at an analogue watch with a chronograph.

Here is something to ponder next time you feel like pondering. Why would anyone want a watch with a chronograph that... at certain times you couldn't use? Silly as it sounds, its a meaningful question that applies to nearly all analogue chrono watches.

Certainly no one who is going to USE a chronograph would buy an analogue chrono watch.... with possibly one or two exceptions. The reason being that during certain times the hands that indicate time may end up covering over part of the chronograph's readings! This is even true with most analogue/digitial watches with a few exceptions. The salesperson shows you the watch with the neat little digital display at the bottom.... but just move the hands around a little and you'll see the problem right away. A couple of watch designers got around the problem by having an ugly offset analogue portion to read from. Citizen's Navihawk actually did it the right way... retracting hands! That is a compliment to 'thinking ahead engineering.' Too bad they didn't put a light in it so you could use the watch (functions) at night or in even in low light.

Suggestion: If you intend to see the watch in low light... try to find a lighted or illuminated display. Next best thing (analogue only) is glow in the dark hands and delineations along the circumferance of the dial. For digitals TRY the light before buying. Some lights like the expensive Citizen Dive watch (Hyperaqualand MA9024-24E) which sells for $495.00 won't even light up the right spot so you can see the time!

 

But what about accuracy?

Although, its not fair to characterize all by a few... I must say that morethan once I was given erroneous accuracy specs from Citizen. I was told the accuracy of the Navihawk was + or - 10 seconds a month because it had a better (C300) mechanism. Another customer service representative confirmed the bogus spec a few days later. A week later, I was told that the accuracy was only + or - 20 seconds a month. There was other totally erroneous information from customer service reps... and even an admission from one: "well, I'm still learning too..." Companies such as Casio make it easy to find their accuracy spec but other companies like "GUESS" refused to give out that spec under any circumstances.

This is particularly annoying since counter sales people may tell you: "The swiss mechanisms are more accurate than the Japanese mechanisms." I heard this many times from one chain that sells watches.

When I asked about accuracy, immediately, salesgirls iced up. I tried to review in my mind what it was I said that caused this odd reaction. One salesgirl did say "...well, uh, no one's ever asked me that before." Now I feel like the wierd one for asking the forbidden question.

When it's all said and done the accuracy specs if you can get them will indicate they're all about the same. That fact is that a fifteen dollar Timex watch might keep better time than your $5000 dollar Rolex. Yep, that's right. In my case, a fifteen dollar (on sale) Timex my friend owned turned out to be more accurate than the Four hundred dollar Citizen Navihawk I ended up buying.

Now in all fairness we must describe what these tolerances mean. Plus or minus 20 seconds a month for the Navihawk means that is the range of acceptable operation. Some watches may stay within a few seconds a month.... but because of quality inconsistencies in crystals (and the processing of them) not all of the watches will stay within that few seconds. Some will be more accurate than others and so manufacturers set a range. But that range IS a reflection of the quality of crystal. Citizen claims + or - 20 seconds.... Timex is + or - 15. You figure it out.

 

Analogue vs digital

If you're like me and use reading glasses... make sure you take your glasses OFF after inspecting the watch and put it on your hand without your glasses and see if you can read it. That will probably eliminate quite a few analogues and some digitals that haven't been designed properly with margins.

 

Navihawk

One of the hands on the UTC small dial is useless it was just thrown in for looks. Unless your vision is perfect 20/20 you can't read the two small displays nor the bezel ring with the circular flight calculator. And in low light or dark... the digital displays can't be seen so bring your flash light along.

Also keep in mind how the battery is changed. For example, if you buy a Citizen or some other brand watches ... you may have to send the watch back to the factory for battery replacement. This means you could be without your watch for months. And that's not all. The service department may find something to charge you for as they did in my case. AND check your warranty (if you can find it) and see what it covers. The Navihawk I bought didn't have a warranty card and the warranty was NOT written in the manual.

 

UPDATE 1 - Mid Feb 2000.

The Citizen Navihawk I bought Feb 15, 1999 broke down January 7 2000. On January 11th 2000 I took it in to the retail store I bought it from for repair. About five weeks later, after not hearing anything, I called about the watch and the store reported that Citizen wanted $56.00 dollars to fix it. The watch wasn't even a year old and was guaranteed for 3 years. Citizen claimed that "other things" needed to be fixed. Finally, it was discovered that the watch had been made in 1997! It had been on the shelf for two years before I bought it ...so there was about a year left on the battery (3 year battery). So, check your serial numbers with the factory (if you can) to make sure you aren't getting an old watch.

 

UPDATE 2 - March 8, 2000.

I called and was told the watch was ready. I drove in rush hour traffic to the Mall only to find that Citizen sent back a different watch. That's right!

 

Bottom Lines:

Accuracy: all watches are equal or inferior to the Timex accuracy standard of + or - 15 seconds a month including the Rolex. Citizen and others vary from + or - 20 seconds a month to some manufacturers at + or - 30 seconds a month.

The most accurate watch is probably the "Atomic Watch" at Sharper Image... but cosmetically it may not be what you can live with. The next most accurate would be the Seiko Perennial watches + or - 10 seconds a year but it lacks other basic features like maybe a stop watch (chronograph) or a light.

Beware ...you may end up waiting two months to get your watch back from having the battery changed.

If you need to see your watch at night ...remember this: the more money you spend the less likely your watch will have a light in it.

The emphasis is on looks not functionality. Some watch makers seem more concerned about how many newly designed watches they have in their line than they are about how well they work.

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