Comparison Seiko SSB413P1 vs TISSOT Carson Premium Powermatic 80 T122.407.11.031.00

The country of origin of the brand under which this watch brand is produced. Usually, the headquarters of the manufacturer is located in the same country. But production facilities may be located in another country, or even in several countries. Most of the brands under which modern watches are produced come from the following countries (in alphabetical order): Austria, England, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Korea, Russia, USA, France, Switzerland, Japan.

Note that in the modern world, the quality of a product is very weakly related to its country of origin (both claimed and actual). Much more it depends on how carefully one or another manufacturer controls the quality in their production. So when choosing, it makes sense to focus not so much on “nationality” as on the overall reputation of a particular brand.

Official mark used for watches made in Switzerland.

Switzerland is actually the "world capital" of watchmaking, products from this country are considered the standard of quality. However, not every watch brand officially registered in Switzerland has a production in this country. In order to distinguish “real Swiss watches” on the market, the Swiss Made label was introduced. To receive such a marking, the watch must meet several formal requirements at once, prescribed in the legislation of the country — namely:

— have a Swiss mechanism;
— this mechanism must be installed in Switzerland;
— there the clock must pass the final check.

In turn, the movement is considered Swiss if it is assembled and tested locally, and also contains at least 60% of Swiss components (by value, excluding the cost of assembly).

It is worth noting that there are loopholes in the “Swiss Made” law that allow not too scrupulous manufacturers to actually bypass the criteria specified in the law, formally fulfilling them. For example, most of the movement assembly work can be carried out at a factory in Asia, but if the last wheel is installed in Switzerland, the movement can already be considered assembled in Switzerland. So when buying a “Swiss Made” watch, it doesn’t hurt to clarify how carefully a particular brand follows official requirements. Nevertheless, in general, such watches are superior in quality to analogues from other countries (but how much...this difference corresponds to the difference in price is another question).

— Quartz. A mechanism based on an electronic quartz oscillator. Such a generator produces a strictly defined number of pulses per second, and on the basis of this data, the clock keeps time. In common parlance, only clocks with hands are called “quartz”, but the same principle applies to “electronic” models (with a digital display). Anyway, the main advantage of quartz movements is high accuracy — even in inexpensive models it is about ± 15 sec / month, and in the most advanced it can reach ± 0.3 sec / month. And these watches are much cheaper than mechanical ones. The main disadvantage of "quartz" is the need for power supply; and although a miniature battery usually lasts for several months, it still has to be changed periodically. In part, this moment is compensated by the use of solar panels and automatic winding systems (see "Source of movement").

— Mechanical. A traditional type of watch movement that uses a compressed spring as the power source. One of the advantages of such watches over quartz ones is that they do not require a battery — it is enough to wind the spring regularly, which can easily be made into a habit; and in the presence of automatic winding (see the relevant paragraph), the matter is even more simplified. "Mechanics" is noticeably more expensive than "quartz", although this may be a virtue that emphasizes the level of the watch and the status of its owner. But the unequivoc...al disadvantage of this option is the relatively low accuracy: if in quartz watches the error is measured in seconds per month, then in mechanical watches it is already about seconds per day. So, it is worth paying attention to this option either to fundamental connoisseurs of the classics, or to those who, by the nature of their activity, it is important to have a watch that does not depend on batteries (travelers, sailors, military, etc.).

A device primarily used in mechanical watches that provides continuous winding of the watch by moving the wearer's hand. Most often, it is made in the form of a rather massive plate in the form of a sector, which is fixed with a narrow end on an axis in the centre of the mechanism. When the hand and the watch attached to it oscillate — for example, while walking — the plate rotates, providing a spring winding.

One of the advantages of self-winding watches is obvious: they do not need to be wound as often as classic mechanical ones, and if worn constantly, they can do without manual winding at all. The course of such watches is more uniform, since the spring is constantly in an almost compressed state — this has a positive effect on accuracy. Also , automatic winding in mechanical watches is useful for waterproof models, in which the crown is attached to the thread during non-working hours, sealing the case — since the thread does not have to be used often, it wears out less, which has a positive effect on reliability. On the other hand, the self-winding plate increases the weight and thickness of the case, as well as the cost of the watch. In addition, the use of this function in miniature female models is associated with a number of difficulties, and if the owner leads a sedentary lifestyle (for example, due to old age), all the advantages of self-winding come to naught.

Note that there a...re also self-winding quartz watches — these are models with Kinetic technology. For more information about them, see "The source of the move."

The number of stones provided in the design of the watch.

This parameter is relevant for models that have arrows and corresponding moving parts in the "stuffing" (wheels, gears, etc.). The stones in this case are, in fact, a specific kind of bearings used to fasten rotating parts. "Stones" are made from synthetic minerals (for example, artificial sapphires). They provide slightly less friction than traditional metal bearings, and most importantly, they are more reliable and less prone to wear, which accordingly affects the durability of the entire mechanism. However, it is worth noting here that these advantages are relevant mainly for mechanical watches (see “Mechanism type”), quartz models in this sense are not so demanding on bearings.

It is believed that the more stones, the better, but here it is worth considering the functionality of the device. So, for a watch with a central second hand, 16 jewels are considered sufficient, with a side one - 17, but if there are additional functions (calendar, days of the week, etc.), this number can increase accordingly. In addition, the presence of 40 or more stones is often not so much a real necessity as a publicity stunt.

A caliber can be described as the type of movement used in a watch. It is expensive and impractical to design a unique movement for each watch model, so most manufacturers often use the same movement in different watch models, sometimes with significantly different designs. The term "caliber" is due to the fact that initially the type of movement was designated by a number (in inch lines) corresponding to its largest size; however, today unique names or alphanumeric indices that are not directly related to sizes are widely used.

Knowing the name of the caliber on which the watch you are interested in is built, you can, if desired, find more detailed information about the mechanism and determine how its characteristics meet your requirements.

The power source of a quartz watch (see "Movement type") — in other words, the type of power source used in it.

— Battery. A miniature battery, usually in the form of a characteristic "pill"; used exclusively in quartz watches (see "Movement type"). The main disadvantage of this option can be called the need for replacement when the charge is exhausted; at the same time, almost all replaceable elements of miniature standard sizes used in wristwatches are produced only in the format of disposable batteries, without the possibility of recharging. On the other hand, they provide a long time of work, are inexpensive and are sold almost everywhere.

— Solar battery. Power supply system consisting of a photocell and a built-in battery. The photocell generates electricity when exposed to bright light, and the battery stores this energy and feeds the watch mechanism. The convenience of such models lies in the fact that with the regular presence of solar (or at least bright artificial) light, the owner does not have to worry about the energy reserve. On the other hand, the photocell significantly affects the price, and if you constantly stay indoors or wear clothes with sleeves that cover your watch, it becomes practically useless. Therefore, this option has not received wide popularity, and it is worth paying attention to such models primarily because they are regularly and a lot outdoors and/or in...bright daylight.

— Autoquartz movement (“kinetic”). A kind of automatic winding (see above), used in quartz watches. This technology was originally released by Seiko under the name "Kinetic", but nowadays it can be found in other manufacturers. Anyway, such systems work similarly to mechanical self-winding — transforming the energy from the movement of the user's hand into the energy necessary for the operation of the mechanism. However, in this case, such a mechanism does not start the spring, but rotates a miniature generator that generates electricity. The resulting charge is stored in a special capacitor and used to operate the quartz movement. Models with such mechanisms are positioned as "quartz watches in which you do not need to change the battery", and in general it is so. At the same time, they have the same limitations as conventional self-winding devices — in particular, with a sedentary lifestyle, this technology is practically useless. Yes, these watches are quite expensive.

The amount of time that the watch is able to operate normally without winding the spring or changing/recharging the battery (for more details, see "Power source"). Modern mechanical watches (see “Movement type”) have a standard power reserve of 40+/-5 hours. However, this parameter is usually indicated for the simplest mode of operation, without the use of additional functions such as a chronograph(see “Functions / Capabilities” ), which also “eat up” the plant. Thus, such a watch is supposed to be wound every day, but nothing will happen if you miss the usual time and remember to wind it a few hours later than usual.

In turn, for quartz watches, the power reserve is often not indicated in the specifications. This is due to the fact that this parameter, firstly, is quite large compared to mechanical models (it would be measured in tens of days rather than hours), and secondly, it strongly depends on a number of external factors (for example, the quality of the next batteries). Therefore, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to reliably determine the power reserve in such cases.

Clock face background colour. Indicated for models with pointer or combination dials (see "Dial type"); in purely electronic models, usually, either a grey substrate (for conventional LCDs) or a dark base (for LEDs) is used.

The most popular in modern watches are black, white, silver and blue dials. However, in addition to this, other shades can be found on the market — in particular, beige, yellow, green, golden, brown, red, orange, pink, grey and purple. A special case are watches with chameleon glasses (see below).

Some models are available in several colour options, in such cases these options are listed separated by commas — for example, "white, red, silver." If the dial is painted simultaneously in 2 or 3 colours, they are indicated as a combination — for example, "white with red" or "white with yellow and red". And multi-coloured models include models in which more than 3 colours are used for the dial.