Be warned: If you’re a fan of Breitling’s HAQ models, now might be the time to pick one up, because as we recently reported, CEO Georges Kern is going to slowly eliminate quartz-powered pieces from the brand’s catalog with few outliers. At release, the Cockpit B50 cost $7,200 but the Colt Skyracer, released in 2017, was priced at approximately $2,000. Thermocompensated, COSC-certified, and billed as accurate within 10 seconds per year, the analog-digital Cockpit B50 started a new wave for the brand that was continued with the release of the Exospace B55 and the Colt Skyracer. Starting with the Cockpit B50 released in 2014, however, Breitling began producing its own hyper-accurate quartz models thanks to the patented Superquartz technology. For a long time, Breitling was sourcing its high-end, thermocompensated, quartz models from ETA. Grand Seiko 9Fīreitling’s line of Superquartz watches represents the high-end of this segment of the watch market. In 2014, Bulova tapped into its history to introduce the Accutron II collection within the Precisionist line. These technically don’t meet our guideline of 10 seconds per year, rather they offer a rate of 5 seconds per month, but they’re worth mentioning due to the sheer amount of models available and the accessible price point. Because the watch beats at 262 kHz, which translates to 16 ticks per second, it allows for the buttery-smooth seconds hand that mechanical watch lovers have long hoarded over quartz enthusiasts. The beauty of the Precisionist is something that nothing else on this list can offer - a smooth seconds hand. That was way back in 1960 in 2010, after being purchased by Citizen two years before, the brand set out to reclaim its heritage of offering supremely accurate watches with the Precisionist line. Most watch enthusiasts know that Bulova introduced the world’s first wristwatch that utilized an electronic tuning fork to regulate the time and an electronic gear train to move the hands with the original Accutron. Bulova Precisionistīulova introduced the Accutron II collection within the Precisionist line in 2014. At Baselworld 2018, the brand introduced several new VHP models including a new selection of chronographs. The crown also has this funky trick where you can set the watch either by slowly ticking off minute-by-minute or, with a quick turn, the hour hand will jump by the hour so the minute hand stays accurate. It also boasts a perpetual calendar in the date, meaning the timepiece knows the length of each month and when a leap year occurs, so you won’t ever have to mess with the date. One of the coolest features of this watch is the gear position detection system that allows the watch hands to automatically resync if they’re accidentally displaced by a shock or a magnetic field. As far as we can tell, this is the first Swiss watch to boast ± five seconds per year, which ends up being less than half a second every month. Rather than jumping into the smartwatch realm like so many other Swiss brands, Longines has doubled down and made one of the most accurate quartz watches ever. (Very High Precision) at Baselworld 2017. Longines’ recent foray into HAQ ended up with the release of the Conquest V.H.P. For the sake of this article, we’ll be defining HAQ as one that has an inherent regulator rather than something that relies on an outside force liken an atomic clock or GPS to maintain accuracy. ![]() While this field is still dominated in full by our friends out of Japan, a few Swiss brands have tossed their hat into the ring and are trying to figure out the next stage in precision timekeeping. An easy guideline to remember is that any quartz watch that boasts a plus or minus rate of ten seconds per year can be deemed HAQ. Over the past decade-plus, there have been some fascinating developments in the quartz sphere that have led to a new field of watches called HAQ (High Accuracy Quartz) that make precision the primary objective. ![]() Is that fair? Depends - of course anybody that calls themselves a timepiece enthusiast most likely fell in love with mechanical watches, but that doesn’t necessarily mean quartz watches should be left out in the cold. Ever since the mechanical watch industry made its recovery in the face of a specific doom brought on by Japanese watchmakers, many so-called watch enthusiasts (snobs might be the more appropriate nom de guerre ) have outright refused to let a battery-operated watch end up on their wrists. Walk into any horological meetup with a quartz watch on and you’re likely to get the door slammed in your face.
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