The smooth, gliding beauty of Spring Drive
GENERALLY speaking, for fans of fine watches there is a clear and even line to be drawn between mechanical and electronic watches. The one consists of an intricate system of cogs, gears, wheels and levers transforming power from the wound-up mainspring into regulated timekeeping, and is the product of craftsmanship, skillful engineering and deep tradition. It has soul. The other is a bit of cheap circuitry powered by an oscillating synthetic quartz crystal, and has all the soul of a Toys R Us shop. It’s a toy for the undiscerning.
Trust the Japanese to blur that line. The Spring Drive system invented by Seiko is one of the more remarkable mechanisms in the luxury watch arena. Like any mechanical watch movement it is powered by a wound-up mainspring, but converts that power to electrical energy which – via a tiny quartz crystal – in turn generates electromagnetic force to drive the rotation of the hands.
What all that gobbledegook means is a supremely accurate watch in which the hands glide smoothly round, rather than hacking round in tiny increments as they do with any mechanical watch. It’s hugely reliable and mesmerising to see in action. So is it mechanical or electronic?
Don’t ask the Swiss. Seiko, of course, is the company whose invention of the cheap quartz wristwatch almost did for Switzerland’s watch industry in the 1970s.
But Spring Drive’s proponents, of which there are plenty, will tell you it’s simply an example of what the Japanese do best: it is an innovative, efficient and brilliantly clever improvement on Western design.
And bear this in mind: if the 25 nano-watts a Spring Drive movement uses were multiplied by 6 billion, you’d just about have enough power for one light bulb.
TB