As consumers, we are accustomed to high-quality, affordable replica timepieces from Japanese manufacturers such as Seiko and Citizen, but when one thinks about high-end watches, and high-end mechanical replica watches in particular we tend to regard it to be the exclusive domain of Swiss manufacturers. Many replica watch aficionados however know that Seiko has been building truly outstanding high-end mechanical replica watches since the 1960s under the Grand Seiko label. Why haven't you heard of them? Because until late 2010, they have only been marketed in Japan. But that is about to change and many replica watch lovers are rubbing their hands together and salivating at the prospect of being able to shop for Grand Seiko without traveling to Tokyo.

Grand Seiko Movements

Grand Seiko replica watches will be marketed with four distinct types of movements: Quartz movements, automatic movements, automatic chronograph movements and spring drive movements. These will not be complicated replica watches in the sense that beyond the automatic chronograph movement and a GMT hand on some of the automatic models there are no real complications such as perpetual calendars, minute repeaters or tourbillons. What is anticipated is that each replica watch in the Grand Seiko series will be nearly perfectly executed in even the smallest details

Quartz Movements

Seiko is best known for having introduced the world's first production quartz replica watch in 1969 and for subsequent innovations in quartz technology. They claim the Caliber 9F series may be the best quartz movement every built.

Quartz replica watches are extremely accurate, durable and technically somewhat less interesting than mechanical movements. Several factors make the 9F series exceptional.

A twin pulse control motor provides substantially more power to the movement without sacrificing battery life. Battery life expectancy is three years. More power translates to more torque which allows replica watches with a 9F movement to have longer, and more aesthetically pleasing hands.

If you look carefully at the motion of the seconds hand of a typical quartz replica watch, you'll notice a slight back and forth vibration as the hand snaps into place, and the hand sometimes fails to alight itself perfectly with the minute markers. A regulatory gear in the 9F movement automatically adjusts backlash between gears and permits this nearly perfect seconds motion.

If you've ever glanced at your quartz replica watch in the hour or two after midnight, you may have noticed at some point that the date function seems to be stuck between dates. In fact, most quartz replica watches require several hours for the date to fully roll over. The 9F movement has added a spring lever mechanism which changes the date instantly in less than 1/2000 of a second!

Although the 9F movement has more moving parts than a typical quartz movement, the gear train is sealed off so that dust and dirt cannot foul the movements moving parts when the case is opened to change the battery. It is only necessary to lubricate the movement after 50 years. The hour, minute and second hands move on three independent axes.

The quartz crystal is subjected to a three month aging process to insure stability.

Because quartz is somewhat sensitive to changes in temperature, the replica watch is programed to automatically detect and compensate for changes in temperature 540 times per day.