HELP: The diver second hand's meatball question

Sir said:

Just my opinion, but I think the position of the meatball is chosen purely for cosmetic reasons. I don't think you'll do any damage to your quartz movement.

Click to expand...

Thank you, Sir Les and Valvestem,

Sorry for the long overdue reply because I was waiting for the answer from Yserv. I suspected that an automatic second hand on quartz engine will damage the gears inside. Yserv forward the lume ball position question to Mr. Tokunaga and below is the answer I just received today:

from: [email protected]
sender time: Sent at 12:43 (GMT+09:00). Current time there: 21:08.
to: [email protected]
date: 28 May 2010 12:43
subject: Inquiry about the repair of your SEIKO watch / our Ref. 22248

Dear Mr. Sadikin,

First of all, we are sorry for my misinformation concerning the lumi's position of the hands. We contacted with Mr. Tokunaga and knew the following matter.

Since the power of the torque for the quartz watches is weak, in order to escape the stress, the lumi put on the tip and the tail of the second hand, which is maintained the balance of the second hand.
Therefore, the second hand for the mechanical divers' cannot use for the quartz divers' watch.

Since we can repair of your divers' watch (case No. 7548-700B) by using the substitute hands, we ask you to contact with our national service center, which was mentioned in our previous email. They will transfer your watch to us for the repair.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

With best regards,
Hiroko Nakajima, CS Dept.
May/28/2010

As for the ORCA which has lume ball on both ends of the second hand, I believe they cancel out each other and keep the center of gravity around the axis.

I canceled the 7548 modification project due to very limited hands set alternatives that is suitable for quartz engine. I went on with restoration project instead. Here is the result.

BEFORE:


AFTER:
[img]
[img]

As Les said, the position of the meatball does not affect the second hand torque when used on movements of the same type (automatics versus quartz). The meatball is there purely as a marker denoting that the watch is working under low light conditions. it serves no practical purpose in time telling. some way of telling that the watch is working in low light conditions is an ISO requirement. Adding a luminous pip to the second hand is the easiest way of doing this in analog divers. Other ways are fully lumed second hands (I believe Sinn does this). In seiko,s case the meatball at the trailing end is typically used in what seiko refers to a night and day (or is it day and night?) arrangement. Most seiko diver second hands with a trailing meatball shill have the meatball side of the hand painted black, while the forward, long, side of the hand painted white. the idea is to make the second hand easier to see under light or dark conditions. IN light the white side of the second hand contrasts against the background of the dial. while in darkness, the pip being close to the axel glows and is easier to see because it doesn't cross the path of any other luminous surfaces (except maybe the hour hand).