| Homepage - Contents - J. Quartz Watches with Micromotor and Hands, 1. Seiko | < Previous page | Next page > |
| 1967 | The first working prototypes of the 35 SQ are manufactured. |
| 1969 | At the end of 1969 the first quartz wrist watches caliber 3500 go on sale in Japan in a limited edition. They were manufactured by Suwa Seikosha Co., Ltd Japan. Frequency 8192 Hz. |
| 1970 | In January, the first commercial quartz watch in the world comes into production, equipped with a case made out of solid gold with a leather strap, caliber 3502, frequency 16,384 Hz. The production stops in 1971 when the 3800 series is launched. Only 1,800 pieces were produced. The 35 SQ without and the 35 SQC with date. All with a battery of Union Carbide Corp. USA no. 303. The quartz crystal has the shape of a tuning fork. The integrated circuit of the 3502 was manufactured by Intersil USA. |
| Only produced in 1970. The sale of the watch started in October 1970. The production quantity was 1,000 pieces. The frequency of the bar shaped quartz was 16,384. The pulses for the motor are bipolar. The rotor moves one step to the right and then one step to the left and so forth, just like the old galvanometers when they measure a slow alternating current. The watch has a steel case and strap and is powered by two batteries. |
| Caliber 3823A V.F.A. went on sale in the autumn of 1971 and caliber 3802 in June 1972. Frequency 16,384 Hz. These were the first quartz watches by Seiko which were produced in large quantities. Ten different calibers can be found in these series, 3800, 3802, 3803, 3820, 3823, 3862, 3863, 3870, 3883 G.F.A. and the Dual Zone Timer 3819 with a sub-hour hand for time indication in a different part of the world. The Quartz V.F.A. and G.F.A. series were extremely accurate and had a monthly rate of respectively 15 and 2 seconds. |
| The | world's first ladies' quartz watch, released in the autumn of 1972. Seiko launched the first ladies' quartz watch in the world. The production stopped in 1973 after only ninety pieces had been produced. Two ladies' models were released one in gold and the other in white gold. A man's model was released with the same movement. |
| Cal. 3922 released in November 1972. Cal. 3923 with day and date, released in January 1974. This watch has a pulsating power indicator light (LED). |
| Cal. 4110A and 4110B (1974), cal. 4130A (September 1974), cal. 4120 (June 1975), cal. 4122 (September 1976). |
| Cal. 4301 (October 1975), cal. 4303 (May 1976), cal. 4312 (February 1977) and cal. 4316 (May 1977). The first ones are ladies' watches and the last two men's. |
| September 1974. Cal. 0822, 0823, 0841, 0842, 0843, 0852, 0853. |
| 1975. Cal. 0903, 0920, 0922, 0923. |
| 1975. Cal. 4821, 4822, 4823, 4840, 4842, 4843, 4803. |
Copyright © by Pieter Doensen
email: doensen@xs4all.nl
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