Transcription
Courts is a dirty word to certain collectors, but that shouldn't be the case. The invention of the courts movement was a revolution in watchmaking, one that shook the Swiss Watch industry to its core. Brands were forced to adapt or die. Once those shots were fired, and it's interesting to look into today's landscape of manufacturers and how those legacy brands survived and thrive following the chors crisis. Although there are plenty of uneventful courtz watches on the market, in this video, we're not looking at those. We're looking at the most impressive courtz watches that you can currently get in today's [Music] watchmaking.
So, what exactly qualifies as being deemed as impressive? We are looking for technical performance, design ingenuity, or other differentiating characteristics that allow a courtz piece to separate from the rest of the crowd. Now, we are going to be looking at several different price points for watches in this video, given that we're talking about impressive. That also could lead to extraordinary types of different features that come with these watches that ultimately are going to cause them to be more expensive than maybe the typical quz watch you might be familiar with.
Now, let's kick things off with the most expensive of quartz watches on this list. We have the fpjourne elegant. So, the elegant is a watch that initially was created as a way to complement the portfolio of watches from fpj, but then what ultimately happened was people saw it and they wanted it. So, there came out a new 48 mimer version in titanium that is one of the best sellers for the brand. It has a retail price of $188,000, but obviously trades for much more than that. But the watch, as someone who's tried these on several times, I absolutely love what this watch is and how it looks on the wrist. There's nothing else like this piece on the market in terms of how it wears, how it feels, and how it looks. In terms of dimensions, they're going to say this 48 mm, that's that lug to Lug dimension. It's at 7.95 MM thick, but the real star of the show here is going to be the cords caliber on the inside. This is the 1210 caliber, the 1210 caliber from fpj. This is available to be seen on the exhibition caseback. It has this gold plate that will be finished, and it actually looks quite nice. But it is an electrical mechanical quartz movement, which you'll see a small little motion indicator on the front of the dial with that exposed area. This will have an 8-year battery life, and then 18 years when it's in standby mode. But where that motion detector is going to come into play is if you had this watch sitting after 35 minutes in activity, it's going to save energy by not having the watch hands move, but it's still going to be able to tell the time. So, once you pick up the watch again, what's going to happen? Those hands are going to go into action and then reposition themselves to show the accurate time. It's also smart enough to know what direction is the least distance traveled required to be able to show the correct time. You're also getting a fully loomed dial, which shines very intensely, and you also have a great five titanium case.
Now, another brand that I don't think gets enough credit for what they're doing from an innovation standpoint is Citizen. Citizen, you could argue, the Citizen group is the most innovative of any major group for the watches that they're producing across the board. Now, I think there are other brands specifically that are just as innovative, if not more innovative, but the total range that Citizen has under its portfolio is pretty impressive in what they're doing across the board. But that's just a side note. I want to look at Citizen specifically because there are two courts watches that are among the most impressive in the entire industry. One is the Citizen, but the one I'm going to focus on a little bit more is the caliber 0100. So, this was a watch released a few years ago, several years ago actually, and was released as the most accurate light-powered watch in the world with an accuracy of plus or minus 1 second per year. So, it used the solar-powered Eco Drive technology, so it's never going to need a battery. It has eight months on a full charge. But the 0100 movement, how it's able to create this ridiculous level of accuracy is how the quartz crystal is cut. So, it's an AT-cut quartz crystal instead of the standard tuning fork shape, and with that, it's going to be able to oscillate 256 times faster than a traditional quartz. And for context, a traditional quartz is going to oscillate at a frequency of 32,768 times per second, so it's already at a blistering pace. So, you're talking about 256 times more than that. Also, with this movement, it's more resistant to gravity, temperature fluctuations, greater overall accuracy, zero backlash on that second hand, also going to counteract shocks, and also is going to be anti-magnetic. So, it is an all-arounder.
Another one I want to talk about, though, is the Citizen. These were just recently rolled out in the United States. These were formerly only available in Japan for many, many years. So, to see this now become more widely spread and distributed across the world is pretty interesting. So, a titanium case, and Citizen, if you're not familiar, actually was the first brand to incorporate titanium in a watch case several decades ago. These are basically Citizen's answers to some of the 9F calibers from Grand Seiko. This is the A60 movement on the inside, Eco-Drive powered, but getting plus or minus 5 seconds a year for accuracy on these.
So, Breitling has probably the longest list of icons outside of maybe Cartier, Rolex, and maybe Omega, but you could argue Breitling is as good as any in delivering icons. You have the Chronomat, you have the Navitimer, you have the Superocean. But another watch that I don't think we give enough credit to is the Aerospace. This is absolutely an icon for what it was able to bring forth back in the 1980s, and it is the next watch we have on this list. This is the Aerospace B70 Orbiter. This watch is going to use a thermo-compensated Super Quartz movement on the inside, analog digital LCD displays, and it's truly an icon. This is a Breitling in-house caliber, the B70, developed with the Swiss firm MMT. So, this is a COSC-certified movement with an accuracy of plus or minus 10 seconds a year. You're also getting a chronograph with split time, a flyback function, second time zone, perpetual calendar, two alarms, lap functions, countdown timer, and also getting 2 to 3 years of battery life. The Aerospace was first launched in 1985. This Aerospace B70 Orbiter comes in titanium, and it was made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the record-setting circumnavigation of the Earth in the Breitling Orb 3 hot air balloon. It also features this commemorative orange gradient dial, sapphire crystal, and a rubber strap with a titanium deployant clasp.
When you're talking about quartz movements, you have to talk about Grand Seiko. Here we have two different watches I want to mention, but they use the 9F caliber. We have the SGP family, the 013, but I'm also going to throw in here the SBGN027. This is the GMT Sports offering from Grand Seiko utilizing the 9F technology. A lot of people probably don't know that you can get into a Grand Seiko for under $3,000 if you go for 9F. 9F is not just any quartz movement that you're going to come across. It's independently assembled by a Japanese craftsman. You have over 100 components in a 9F caliber. The quartz crystals are also produced in-house and are aged three months before testing and selection. Accuracy for the 9F is plus or minus 10 seconds per year, so among the best in the entire industry. Other features like instantaneous dates and very snappy movement on the second hand are also in play here. When I was actually at the Shinjuku Watch Studio, they were assembling some 9F calibers, which, by the way, they look very nice. They look better than most mechanical movements at their price range, but they were incorporating a small hairspring to eliminate the secondhand backlash or shutter. So, it's pretty remarkable to see a hairspring in a quartz watch, but it's all with these hidden details where you start to see the separation from these level of quartz watches that we're talking about in this video versus the run-of-the-mill. Also, it's temperature monitored over 500 times a day, and the movement compensates for different variations. Further, the movement is going to be energy efficient. You have a three-year battery life, and it gives you that entry-level point into Grand Seiko where you're going to also get some different complications. You have GMTs and getting those Zaratsu polishing and those elements of the case and dial that allow it to be a Grand Seiko after all.
Now, a brand people probably don't assume makes quartz watches or don't maybe think about it as much is Omega, and we actually have a Speedmaster, the X33. But what X33 do I want to talk about? Talk about the Mars Timer. The Mars Timer is a combination of a lot of futuristic ideas, aspirations of going to another planet, infused with a very simple design that is as timeless as any with the Speedmaster. But you have an analog digital display, so this isn't just any run-of-the-mill Speedmaster. But also allows you to have features that could be useful on Mars or if you ever have a mission to go to Mars. Now, this all might seem pretty silly, but these are actually watches used by the European Space Agency and was developed with their specific classifications in mind by Omega. The X33 family was first introduced in 1998, and now it's this unique twist in the Speedmaster lineup. The movement on the inside is the F622. It's a highly precise, thermo-compensated, multi-functional quartz movement with special functions developed again with the European Space Agency. You have multiple displays for this watch. Analog functions include hours, minutes, and seconds, but the digital functions track time zones and date on the Earth and also Mars. The Mars functions can track the Rover's missions on the red planet, given the difference in length of the days on Mars compared to Earth. Also, the addition of a solar compass allows the watch to find true north on Earth and Mars and beyond. This, you have a 45mm case and the traditional Speedmaster Skywalker X33 functions that includes mission elapsed time, phase elapsed time, alarms, a perpetual calendar, titanium case and bracelet, a dome sapphire crystal, and 100m of water resistance.
Looking from one space chronograph to another, we have the Bulova Lunar Pilot. The Lunar Pilot has one of the coolest backstories of any chronograph out there, with David Scott wearing it during his NASA mission, actually during his moonwalk. But the modern Lunar Pilot is a watch that was developed off of that initial prototype watch back in the early 1970s. The lore around the Lunar Pilot is one thing, the looks is another, but really what gets it over the edge is the movement on the inside. This uses the NP20 movement, so this is their Precisionist technology. This is a high-frequency quartz movement. It operates at 262,144 cycles per second, and if you're doing the math at home, that is eight times more than a standard quartz watch of 32,768 times per second. Yay math. A reason for a quicker oscillation is going to be the shifting and how the quartz crystal is shaped. It has a three-prong quartz crystal. You're also getting a smooth sweeping chronograph second hand if you actually put it into function, and thanks to the quicker oscillation, you're also be able to track a tenth of a second as well.
For the next piece here from Hamilton, it's not a watch that I'm including here because the quartz is doing something extraordinary, but really the presentation in how this watch is unlike anything else that you can get and has the history to back it up. This is the American Classic PSR. So, this is based off of the revolutionary Pulsar from 1970, worn by celebrities. If I remember correctly, Gerald Ford actually wore one of these watches, and at the time, this was seen as the future of luxury watches at this period. And even today, if you look at this watch in person, the finishing on it is quite good, from the bracelet to also the shaping of that sapphire crystal. But what I wanted to include is its simple approach to how it displays the time and how it has this always-on hybrid LCD and OLED display. Press the button on the side of the case, very simple, but it allows that illumination of that time. You have the red illumination at the press of a button, but you also have the green version as well. They did something with the Matrix, which is very cool too. There are other watches out there that have the press of a button to illuminate the time, but this one, you still can see it, but if you want more visibility, that's where you press that button. This is going to allow the maximum ability to have that battery life while giving you that function in the process without having to sacrifice having to manually press the button every single time to read it. You do have hours, you have minutes, you have seconds, you have plus or minus 60 seconds per year in accuracy, a sapphire crystal which is very finely cut, 100m of water resistance. You have stainless steel case options as well as a black PVD version, which with that green LED is very cool to look at. Overall, this is just a sneaky good watch that I don't think enough people consider.
So, Casio needs to be on a list like this, but what is the one watch from Casio that I wanted to include? I want to look at the GWM5610. So, why the 5610 out of all the Casio watches? I think it sits in a nice middle ground of giving you some feature-rich aspects of its design while also not charging more than some of the other watches that Casio is producing. For $150, you're getting all the bells and whistles that you probably want for a G-Shock and more. So, you have that 5600 case, which I would argue is one of the most wearable in the entire industry, 200m of water resistance. But the Casio module on the inside is the quartz 3495. So, this is a quartz movement module that is one of the most autonomous in the entire marketplace. It's solar-powered, so it never requires a battery change, and it synchronizes itself via a radio signal from atomic clocks for unmatched accuracy. The Multiband 6 technology uses a tiny shock-resistant antenna inside the watch that receives a radio signal broadcast from the National Institute of Standards and Technologies atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado, or transmitters located worldwide in the UK, Germany, they also have them in China, and two transmitters also being in Japan. So, in other words, this is going to be able to sync up with those atomic clocks to tell you that precise time at any given moment. And then combining this with the solar tech, it's a perfect combination.
And then for our final watch on this list, we have to look at a Seiko. But what Seiko better to look at than the Seiko Astron? This was the quartz watch that started it all, and it totally disrupted the industry for the Swiss and pushing forward quartz technology as here to stay. Here we have the SSH1163. So, this is a newer version of the Astron, and the Astron sits underneath the Seiko Lux umbrella, so it's actually seen as a higher position product from Seiko, and you're getting some different features to go along with it to justify the price. On the inside, you have the course movement, the 5X83. Now, the 5X83 connects twice a day to a GPS network to synchronize and manually syncs with the push of a button. The GPS signal indicator adjusts to the correct time zone based off of the GPS position and can swap time zones between the main dial and the sub dial at 6. You also have dual time with AM/PM indication. Accuracy within 15 seconds per month without synchronization. It'll last for 6 months on a full charge and 2 years on standby mode. Some of the features include a chronograph with a tenth of a second counter, a perpetual calendar correct to the year 2100, automatic daylight savings time adjustment, signal reception indication. You are also getting a titanium case and bracelet with super hard coating to allow it to have more resistance to scratches compared to that of stainless steel.
But all right guys, that is all we have today looking at some of the most impressive cour watches on the entire market. Do you have a cour watch in your collection that you think is more impressive than the others? Leave some comments down below. If you enjoyed the video, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe, hit the bell icon. Really do appreciate that. That does help out the channel. Also, check out TeddyBaldassarre.com. TeddyBaldassarre.com is an authorized dealer for over 30 brands. Every purchase from us comes with a full factory warranty, quick and fast fulfillment, dedicated customer support, and also how we're able to continue all this content on this channel is through selling watches. So, if you are in the market for a watch, I'd absolutely love to have your business. Allow us to keep doing what we're doing here. We love what we do. But guys, thank you again so much for watching. Be well, and I will see you all very soon.