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Seiko 7N01

17K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Homocaballus  
#1 ·
Does anyone have any information on this quartz movement?

Thank you,

Petrus
 
#4 ·
HomoCaballus said:
Thank you.
This answers what I was looking for; it is a quartz intended to be serviceable.
I wondered why this type of movement was/is fitted in non-wis high end watches. The same logic as why Rolex puts the 6620 et al in Cellinis.
It might be serviceable in theory, but look at the "NOTE" section of page 7, I think this is very telling. I will see later if I have a 7N movement in the grave yard for pictures- they are more useful than a drawing from a tech guide when determining quality (oops, there's that word again).
 
#5 ·
rileynp said:
It might be serviceable in theory, but look at the "NOTE" section of page 7, I think this is very telling. I will see later if I have a 7N movement in the grave yard for pictures- they are more useful than a drawing from a tech guide when determining quality (oops, there's that word again).

Noah, have you worked on HEQ or high accuracy quartz movements?
 
#6 ·
rileynp said:
It might be serviceable in theory, but look at the "NOTE" section of page 7, I think this is very telling.
I only wrote ´serviceable´.
Replacement of parts or parts assemblies is customary for high end mechanicals too.

I simply wondered why this middle of the road movement is/was fitted to juwelry type 18k watches costing 1000$ upwards.

Appearantly Seiko has a more pragmatic approach to the role of the movement inside such ´watches´ than Rolex, thus the movements are .... euhm... not óverengineered :)

As to the Q-word. The lével of the specs is only óne aspect just is durable. Both are álso part of ´quality´ but do not define it nor are essential.
In this case the movement has no goal other than no worries time telling with minimal service requirements at low cost; no hassles wearing, meeting customer expectations as a nice piece of wearable juwelry.
Identical to the Rolex Cellini movement, only that is a few K higher entry, thus the movement is a bit higher up the specs. ladder even though one might discuss the relative overall quality of them.
It simply is that for a several times more expensive wristwatch higher services cost are accepted as normal.

Take the Seiko Dolce line. Makes for a good comaprison with the Cellini. Same product, different range.
 
#8 ·
minidriver said:
Noah, have you worked on HEQ or high accuracy quartz movements?
Yes, I am familiar with what I believe to be HEQ, but only limited to calibers I have serviced at work because our shop has parts accounts, or what I have serviced of my own collection and can't necessarily get parts for- I am OK with the risk of not being able to get parts when it is my watch for my collection, but not when it is a customer's piece. My collection's focus has been more on early Japanese quartz rather than high accuracy, both for cost and because I can't adhere to the wearing guidelines for a HAQ- too many other pieces that I want to wear depending on mood.

So, I haven't seen too many of what is considered by "you guys" as HAQ. Most current HAQ watches have parts restrictions from their manufacturers, and most older HAQ were in such limited production that parts are now difficult to find. So that weeds out a lot of what I've seen at work or what I've collected. If you ever see a 9Fxx that needs servicing and is priced appropriately, I'd love to have a reason to service one of those- it has a lot of features/functions that differ from standard quartz watches, but still pays respect to traditional construction values and norms. There's such a vacuum of pictures of the movement's components outside of the assembled bridge side, and the suspense kills me as to what is going on underneath.
 
#9 ·
HomoCaballus said:
I simply wondered why this middle of the road movement is/was fitted to juwelry type 18k watches costing 1000$ upwards.

Appearantly Seiko has a more pragmatic approach to the role of the movement inside such ´watches´ than Rolex, thus the movements are .... euhm... not óverengineered :)
I think that is a fair question, I guess if one must skimp to lower the price, the quality of the movement is a common place to start. Oh, and as an aside- can something really be over-engineered? I kind of look at it more like well-engineered. Here are some photos of partial disassembly (movement side only) of a 7N00, which is a 7N01 without the seconds hand. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, and if there are specific interests I will comment on them later. This is from the donor pile, and while it is a simple watch, it has a few details that stand out. My favorite is the secret-ish hour markers, which in the first photo are all but vanished. Tilt the watch a little in the light, and the markers suddenly appear, for easier telling of the time. I'd never be able to live with a Movado Museum watch for very long- I don't like guessing at the time. This Seiko (which borrows styling from the Musuem aesthetic no doubt) makes it a little easier to read the time.


There they are!
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Locking tabs help hold the battery connection plate down evenly- not the best long-term solution as the locking surfaces can be damaged from careless removal and installation of the battery connection plate:
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Here's the stepping motor (left to right coil, stator, and rotor, with circuit in top of photo):
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Train and minute wheel with same components above:
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Underside of train bridge (metal bushing in middle is for the 7N01 with a second hand- not used in this 7N00 caliber):
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Close-up of train and minute wheel, note discoloration (foreign debris) on pinion leaves where they both interact with the metal center wheel teeth:
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I think it can said that this caliber is serviceable (it only took a few minutes to get it apart this far), and as long as replacement parts are available, it can be taken care of by a watchmaker. I'm not bagging on Seiko for this approach, as it makes possible owning a timepiece at an affordable price, one thing I value and admire. Given Seiko's track-record of short production spans for economy-line movements before they move on to the next one, it can be difficult to find parts for movements past a certain age, which can make it difficult to maintain when components do fail. In my opinion and experience, plastic components are going to fail before metal ones. Just saying...
 
#10 ·
:bravo_2:

Thánk you!

Case solved.

I suppose it is a short lived solution to a cheaper serviceable no worries movement and that they have opted for the better 8N 8J now.


rileynp said:
In my opinion and experience, plastic components are going to fail before metal ones. Just saying...
No doubt about it. NĂłne.


Yes, imo over-engineered is most definitely possible.
For one a piece/product should not be excessively capable for the job it is designed for because that is a needless expenditure of éverything.
Secondly it nor seldomly has negative influence on performance as too much weight/complexity drags it down and increases service costs.

Personally I find over-engineered nĂłt meeting the aesthics of well engineered as it is not fit for the job but Ăłverfit.
Like a racing bike engine which must last 2 races including training sessions should be engineered in such a way that it offer max. lightness and áll parts needing service/replacement after said operating time.
An engine lasting a whole season will be hopelessly over-engineered. Hopelessly becasuse it will be less powerfull and too heavy.
In this case well engineered delivers max. output for the given class rules and has 0% failure rate during operating time.

The way I see it, the same applies to watch movements. I like to see (and call) them as engines. There are high performance watches for fifferent sorts of racing, consumer watches for all sorts of use such as commuting, sales rep. travel, shopping, commercial vehicles that need to do a jĂłb etc. All engines need to be engineered differently, fit for the job.

Yes I would DEARLY love to see inside the 9Fxx too.
The 9F61 to me is like the last generation gear driven cam Honda VFR. Like a threepronged cristal the modern chain gets the job done too but the cams are simply the technologicaly superior solution. The cams are tot over-engineered either since they meet and not overshoot the goal but under pressure of ´irrelevant´ outside pressure (engine noise) they are replaced by a technically inferior solution.