Chronos: Why 30 min and not 60 min?

I have noticed a substantial number of chronographs, manual and automatic, which have a 30 minute timing subdial. This goes back to pre-WWII days up to the present. I understand the mechanics of the subdial but am puzzled why the subdial would only measure 30 minutes and not 60 minutes. Don’t get me started on why Tudor is 45 minutes. It seems logical that one hour would be a better choice. This question is for the historians out there. Is there a reason why the timing subdial for many…

Chronos: Why 30 min and not 60 min?

Continue reading

Seiko and crickets

A couple of weeks ago I sent an e-mail to Seiko’s Service Department with questions about the VK/8T movements (chronograph meca-quartz). So far, all I hear are crickets. My e-mail said nothing about their crappy bands on the watches in the price range of $150-$300 (if the Ali-watches costing well less than $100 can provide reasonably good bands Seiko should be able to do so ) or their hit or miss QA/QI (misaligned bezels, poor placement of springbar holes, etc.). I guess Seiko’s no…

Seiko and crickets

Continue reading