My Perfect 3-Piece Quartz Watch Collection
I have reviewed all the mechanical watches in my collection by now for this newsletter. Although I expect a new, limited edition chronograph to come in from Japan in a few months, I don’t have a firm date. It just occurred to me that I may well take this time to write about the 3 quartz watches I have owned before I fell into the rabbit hole of mechanical timepieces. There is a pilot watch, a chronograph and a dress watch. It would be a perfect quartz watch collection if one is contented with battery powered watches.
The first watch is a day-date from the AVI-8 Hawker Hurricane collection. AVI-8, sounding like “aviation”, is a UK-based watch company founded in 2012. I bought the watch for its modern and casual design with a colorful NATO strap. The date display is traditional with a window at 3-o’clock. The day indicator is quite unique with a red dot rotating through Monday to Sunday. It is a pilot watch perfect for hiking, running and all outdoor activities.
The chronograph of the group is a Seiko 3-subdial watch with 1/10 second accuracy. Powering this chronograph is a Seiko 4T57-00G0 movement. The 3-subdials include a stopwatch minute hand, a second hand, and a 1/10 second hand, respectively. Therefore, this type of chronograph is also referred to as a “6 hand” watch. The case is 43mm and the water resistance is a very respectful 100 meter or 10 bar. I remember that I bought it at an airport somewhere quite a few years ago.
Finally, the dress watch is the only watch that close to a vintage timepiece that I have ever owned. It is a Delma dual-tone timepiece purchased around 2001 in Europe. It was a gift from my family so it is very precious to me. It is a unisex watch that is considered a bit small for men by today’s standard. I had worn it for many years, but only in recent years as I got into the watch hobby, I tried to find out more information about this watch.
Delma is a family owned Swiss watch company founded in 1924 near Grenchen, Switzerland. There are retail stores for Delma in Europe and Asia but not in North America. It is interesting that the logo of Delma is a crown very similar to the crown of Rolex. I wrote an email to Delma to find out the movement in the watch and I got a reply very quickly with the information I needed.
My watch here is from the “Les Supremes Gold - Steel Collection” with reference number 467.072Y. Inside is an ETA 955.412 quartz movement. The case and bracelet were made with 18K gold and stainless steel, fitted with a scratch resistant sapphire crystal and water resistant to a depth of 30 meters. The dual tone design with Roman numerals on the bezel is elegant and classic. No wonder many brands are reviving their vintage designs nowadays, as they are truly timeless.
Now we have it, the 3-watch collection with a fashionable AVI-8 pilot watch, a 6-hand 1/10 second Seiko chronograph, and an elegant dual-tone Delma dress watch, all powered by reliable and super affordable quartz movements.