Underappreciated Greats of Watchmaking - 1970s

Hello Watch Enthusiasts. In many ways, the 1970s were a strange time for watchmaking, with the industry on the brink of total change at the hands of the quartz crisis, or perhaps revolution would be a more appropriate term, given the fact that I don't feel this was a disaster, but simply a change in the industry. Regardless, during this period, and in the wake of the seismic change precipitated by the sheer accuracy of Seiko's quartz Astron, released on Christmas Day in 1969, watch brands pursued new technical markets, levels of accuracy, and design choices in order to remain relevant. In today's video, I'd like to focus on four pieces which, whilst forgotten by many, defined this period for the aforementioned reasons. These were watches which either innovated in their own right, or refined a concept in a totally new fashion. However, before I begin the video, I would like to encourage you to like, share, and subscribe if you enjoy the video or find the content useful. Also, do follow me on Instagram at the address which is now on the screen to access content which you otherwise wouldn't see on the channel, with watch sightings in the wild, or meetings with other enthusiasts, not to mention the odd bit of macro photography. For IWC, the post-war years of the 1950s and 1960s gave the opportunity to utilise what had been learnt from the military watches of the Second World War. They were, of course, known for their Mark 11 Pilot's Watch, which presented the soft iron core to the general public as a solution to magnetism with the 1954 IWC Ingenieur. Now, the original Ingenieur was the reference 666A and 666AD, which, in the form of the 852 and 8521 calibres which it contained, featured Albert Pilaton's unique automatic winding system, which became very famous. I make no secret of the fact that I have great admiration for this dress watch, which sported a delicate dial and beautiful dauphine hands, whilst giving a sense of its technical prowess with its lightning bolt logo and brushed flanks, yet it does seem clear that by the 1970s, this design really was no longer suitable. In fact, even during its years of production in the 1950s, the original Ingenieur was much more traditional than its Rolex and Omega anti-magnetic counterparts in the form of the Milgauss and Railmaster models. In the context of his remarkable work for Audemars Piguet and the Royal Oak in 1972, it's perhaps unsurprising that IWC looked to Gerald Genta and his design aesthetic for the Ingenieur for a brand new era. In short, this was a very good choice, as Genta retained the principles of subtly luminescent hands, the iconic logo and luxurious feel to create the IWC Ingenieur SL, and this was the reference for 1832, and then one saw the 9232 which came out later as the gold version. And if the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak of 1972 was the first attempt at a luxury steel watch, and the Patek Philippe Nautilus of 1976 was the refined equivalent, the SL was the technical equivalent. It existed in a new technological era with a brushed case, a functional slotted bezel for disassembly, and sharp beton hands over a textured dial. Most notably, the watch now had an integrated bracelet sharing the finish of the case, which jutted outward to broaden the span of this 40mm watch, whilst complementing its 1000 gauss anti-magnetism and 120m watch resistance. Inside, the watch beat the calibre 8541ES, a development of the peloton automatics of previous decades, and adorned with the same beautiful finishing. Perhaps most surprisingly, this movement had a setup which was plainly devised for absolute accuracy in a post-quartz world, and was fitted with two screws specifically to allow accurate adjustment of the beat rate, as well as the beat error, something rather uncommon. A similar attention to absolute quality was seen throughout this final hurrah of the IWC Ingenieur as an in-house watch, as in later years IWC looked to quartz, as well as modified, outsourced calibres for accuracy and the general running of this range of watch. Unfortunately, this watch simply came too late in 1976, and was engulfed by the rise of quartz as, with its technical aspirations and thick case, it competed too closely with the technically superior quartz watches, instead of the luxurious watches which this new design of watch might have fitted in better with. As a result, with less than 1000 pieces being made, including the reference 1832 in the steel format, as well as the gold equivalent, and then all the versions in quartz, this watch was a commercial disaster as a result of its size, and perhaps the fact that it didn't fit in with a particular market in the same way as the Patek Philippe Nautilus, or the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, although one does have to remember that both of these watches only just escaped the quartz crisis because of later developments to redirect the industry. So in truth, this watch may well have been much more successful, but unfortunately never had the opportunity to to be so. However, I feel this watch deserves recognition as a milestone for IWC, as a bookend for both the previous in-house years, and the later years with designs inspired by Genta's brilliant SL design. Where the IWC set itself apart from the rest with a groundbreaking design, Longines used the 1970s as an opportunity to demonstrate the possibility to create a mechanical movement to compete with quartz watches. Their answer was the creation of the calibers 890 and 990, beginning in 1975 with that 890 caliber. The creation of these automatic movements was rooted in the ultracron automatic movements of the 1960s. These earlier calibers offered a high beat rate of 10 ticks per second, or 36,000 vibrations per hour, the same as the famous Zenith El Primero, and showed an era when Longines was a competitor for Omega and IWC. However, with the 890, Longines created one of the most technically balanced traditional movements of the period. The movement was given automatic winding, 25 jewels, and very impressive finishing throughout, including the quintessential rotor with a cutout in the form of the Longines logo. However, the finishing appears irrelevant when one considers the fact that this represents a truly pragmatic approach to accuracy. Where other high beat movements of the period operated at 36,000 vibrations per hour, this watch operated at a more moderate 28,800 to extend the power reserve and prevent the watch from consuming itself due to friction. It should be noted that this remained a much higher beat rate than most contemporary movements, thus making a very sensible midpoint, something proven by the popularity of this particular beat rate in modern movements. Most interestingly, this movement also featured two spring barrels to deliver a more constant level of torque from full wind to empty, thus enhancing the accuracy of what was viewed by many as obsolete technology in the face of quartz. This combination of a fixed spring and a spring with a slipping clutch has been replicated on movements as modern as the Omega 8900 in-house coaxial master chronometer calibre. Released in both 17 and 25 jewel variants for different markets, the calibre 990 followed the 890 in 1977 and represents one of the finest crisis era movements ever made. It packed equivalent features to the 890 that extended the power reserve to 40 hours and was decorated with Geneva stripes and perlage, all whilst reducing its height to only 2.95 millimetres in thickness. With all of these features it became one of the slimmest automatic movements with hacking and a date, until relatively recently, thus showing the innovation of l'Origine before being overwhelmed by quartz. The movement was also developed into the Lemania 8810 and existed as that movement for a which was also used by a number of other brands including Abel and even Breguet, clear signs of the quality of this design. In truth, with its current Swatch ownership, it's almost inconceivable that l'Origine will ever compete at this particular level again, on the same level as the major brands such as Omega, which is now turning its attention to beating Rolex. And this makes this movement a remarkable swan song to an era when l'Origine was an independent brand and didn't have to fit within the Swatch ownership. And of course I think Swatch has saved l'Origine as a brand, and since the 1980s it has seen recovery, but it is nice to be able to look back on these movements and see the lineage which this brand created. At the same time as l'Origine and IWC were offering mechanical solutions, Rolex ventured into the arena of quartz with a watch which remains unique and outstanding to this day, the Oysterquartz. Now I've produced a full video on the history of this piece before, but its origins remain rooted in Rolex's creation of the reference 5100 in 1970. This watch shared a movement with several other brands, the Beta 21, which was conceived as a joint response to Japanese electrical movements. In reality the Oysterquartz was totally different to the very rare and exclusively gold 5100, yet the concept of a quartz Rolex with an integrated bracelet remained. In 1977 Rolex released the Oysterquartz as reference 5035, a Datejust model, and reference 5055, a Day-Date version. These watches shared a sharp angular and very 70s case with an integrated bracelet in Oyster, Jubilee and President variants amongst others, albeit all sharpened for the new design. Curiously due to each design, each case functioned exclusively with its respective bracelet form. In truth the case and design was borrowed from the reference 1530 and 1630 Datejusts in steel and two-tone configurations, which released just two years earlier in 1975 as automatic watches. Internally, however, the Oysterquartz was unique as an utterly different interpretation of the quartz movement. It was almost entirely metal, thus allowing finishing of a standard far beyond that of their other mechanical movements, whilst also being serviceable in much the same way as a mechanical movement, although with specific expertise required, and many watchmakers today refusing to service these due to the complexity of the work needed. Mechanically, Rolex shared much of the gear train with their mechanical movements of the period. Uniquely, the electrical impulse in this watch was regulated by a traditional escapement with a pallet fork and escape wheel with one tick per second, and in order to ensure a constant tick per second, the locking nature of this style of was ideal to allow the second hand to hit every index perfectly in a way which was typical really of the quality of Rolex in this period. These movements were also given thermal compensation and the ability to be manually regulated by a watchmaker, thus placing them at the absolute cutting edge of watches of their period. And whilst these watches were made until the early 2000s, the resurrection of the mechanical watch as the gold standard of the luxury market ironically made these watches unsuitable for their parent brand. Yet the Rolex Oysterquartz remains a true marvel of the 1970s as a brilliant and innovative solution to quartz domination, and really with its beautiful finishing and semi-mechanical appearance, one has to wonder if whether this watch was put into a much more contemporary case, or at least a more neutral case like the traditional Oyster, or given an exhibition caseback, would have saved this watch from being discontinued and ultimately being unsuccessful. Rather amusingly, the only Japanese watch on this list is not a quartz piece, but rather a mechanical watch released by Seiko in 1975. Of course, I'm referring to the original Seiko Tuner, a watch which, whilst recognised within the industry, remains mostly unknown to the outside world. Aside from its chain of technical firsts, what makes this watch remarkable to me is that it was the only watch of its period to truly succeed as a long-term alternative to the Rolex Sea-Dweller, and also the only to create a viable product of the innovations of my favourite dive watch, the Omega Seamaster Ploprof. But with this piece, context really is everything. The genesis of this watch came in the form of the developing practice of saturation diving, during which helium would penetrate normal watch cases, and upon occasion provoke unexpected explosions upon surfacing due to the reduced pressure around the watch, as this particular type of diving was used for extended periods of time at very significant depths. In 1968, just such an event was reported to Seiko by a diver, thus commencing seven years of work towards a solution. In the meantime, both Omega and Rolex released their own deep-sea divers, the Rolex Sea-Dweller using a valve to release any trapped helium in the same way as Doxa divers from the period, whilst Omega chose to create a case impervious to the initial entry of any gas. Of the two, the more simple Rolex design proved to be more popular, yet Seiko, as was typical of their uncompromising approach, inclined towards the same principle as Omega. The fruit of Seiko's labours turned out to be the creation of perhaps the ideal deep-sea dive watch. It featured a world first in the form of a titanium case for corrosion resistance and lightness, both of which are important when one considers the size of the watch, as well as the environment it would work in, whilst using a monoblock design to load the movement and the dial through the front of the watch, which was then sealed with a unique L-shaped gasket around the crystal, which was screwed into place with its own particular assembly, in order to prevent any water or any helium entering the case. Around this casing of the watch was a ceramic-coated titanium shroud, which was screwed into place and was capable of protecting the watch from knocks, whilst also avoiding damage to the bezel assembly and increasing the diameter to a staggering 51mm. The result was a watch which entirely prevented the ingress of helium, whilst also adopting a shape which was comfortable on a wrist, thanks to an expandable rubber strap to account for the compression of a wrist under water pressure. It also remained large enough to be used with gloved hands, and featured a highly legible dial and bezel. Internally, the watch used the high-beat Seiko 6159B, an automatic calibre used since the late 1960s, and whilst being superseded by more durable and accurate quartz calibres, provided high precision and functionality behind the unique and large luminous hands. But the movement was never the most important aspect of this watch. What was important about the watch was its creation of the entire theme for the range of professional Seiko watches which we have today. This watch also fulfilled what the Omega Seamaster Ploprof, with its own monoblock case and lack of helium escape valve, never managed to achieve. Perhaps due to the fact that Seiko worked with a geographically different market to European brands, this watch was able to provide watches to a market which elsewhere perhaps would have simply bought the Rolex Sea-Dweller, and so it controlled its respective market in a way which that Omega never was able to do. This also allowed the watch to develop further, as today now we see versions with 1000m water resistance, and even then it was likely that this case had much more to give than it was ever tested to, as the original was rated to 600m, whereas today they're rated to 1000m, and are regularly able to survive four times that, thus meaning that the original may well have had untapped potential that really was never discovered, showing the brilliance of this design as a concept, and also the future of that kind of build of watch which unfortunately wasn't really realised by a lot of other brands. But with that remarkable Seiko, I would like to conclude this video. But before I do, do tell me in the comments down below what you thought of this video, and also if the watch is featured, and whether there are any watches I didn't talk about which you feel really are underappreciated greats of the 1970s. And of course, please do like, share and subscribe to help the channel, and also to see more content here in the future. And so thank you very much for watching. This is Imon the Watch Guy, out.