A basic question... quartz watch collectors

[funkster]

OK, so I started out collecting automatics - the organic mechanic and all that - but as my interest / obsession has grown, the quartz seikos have become a major part of my collection - which leads me to my simple question - crown in or out?

Is it a good idea to store quartz watches with the crown pulled out to save the batteries? 

Possible downsides to this approach:

• You have no idea how long the battery may last and so you may have a leaker in your collection
• Crown out=moisture in?

The alternative is to let them run, keep a decent stock of batteries, and change them whenever needed - is this the way to go?

The other thing I am slightly worried about, in investing in a quartz / lcd collection - is there a shelf life to these movements meaning that at some point in the next X decades, the whole lot will disintegrate and render themselves completely useless?
(This does not concern me with my 6309's which I am pretty sure will still be here long after I am pushing up the daisies!

 

[TheTigerUK]

I personally like quartz as much as i do my autos even though most of the time i wear autos but it was a quartz that got me into Seiko.


Personally i would rather leave them running as imo that way i know there still alive 


At my age it REALLY does concern me that in 20/30/40 years they might just "disintegrate" but i will try and live with the thought !! 

[funkster]

Saying that - some of my earliest LCD's are mid/late 70's - and they are still working as well as the day they left the factory! 

[jair1970]

Well, these are fair concerns

I went through my collection this morning and it seems the analogue part of my H601-5481 has decided to seize up and my a358 needed a battery change.

Tis par for the course.

What's encouraging is that if it's survived this long, i'd say it's a fair chance of surviving longer!

[Linus]

I think the quartz watch will not fade away in such a long time. Quartz is the best option in some special occasions.
I agree TheTigerUK's opinions. Let the quartz alive as we are . Actually, some seiko quartz manual instructions show that crown out is not good for the movement (complicated/high-end quartz). I don't think Crown out=moisture in either (You can still buy lots of 70's Seiko quartz watches today).
If you really want to live in a low-carbon lifestyle, you'd better take out the batteries from those " " quartz watches.

[TheFastest]

"...let them run, keep a decent stock of batteries, and change them whenever needed."  BINGO!     Over half of my 200+ are quartz (Far East and Swiss) and I simply keep batteries on hand.  I usually get lots of 5 from several amazon vendors--all I have used are cheap, fast, and do not charge shipping for these orders (usually about $7 for 5). 

I'm sure others will have different opinions (one is to collect only Eco-Drive quartz-- --I do them, too) and will let you know, but it's as Hunter S. Thompson said of "...drugs, insanity, and violence--it's always worked for me!"

All the best.

[Scubapro]

"...let them run, keep a decent stock of batteries, and change them whenever needed."  BINGO!     Over half of my 200+ are quartz (Far East and Swiss) and I simply keep batteries on hand.  I usually get lots of 5 from several amazon vendors--all I have used are cheap, fast, and do not charge shipping for these orders (usually about $7 for 5). 

I'm sure others will have different opinions (one is to collect only Eco-Drive quartz-- --I do them, too) and will let you know, but it's as Hunter S. Thompson said of "...drugs, insanity, and violence--it's always worked for me!"

All the best.

I agree