# Omega Aqua Terra Quartz vs. Grand Seiko Quartz



## coastiesquid

Until recently I have only owned quartz watches. After getting the automatic bug I purchased an Orient Mako and a Ball Trainmaster 60 Seconds. I love both of these watches for different reasons. That being said, I still have a great appreciation for the simplicity and all around durability of a good quartz movement. I have been considering purchasing a high end quartz a ways down the road. I was curious how you all would compare an Omega AT Quartz vs a Grand Seiko Quartz. I have heard nothing but the best opinions of Grand Seikos in general. Is the quality of the Omega quartz movement equivalent to those of the Grand Seikos? I have a bit of OCD and I noticed that on many of the Omega Quartz watches the seconds hand does not fall right on the second markers. I have read that the Grand Seiko has a built-in mechanism which ensures its hand always falls on the indices. If it were your ~ $2k, which one would you put it into? Which one would hold its value better?


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## South Pender

The Omega AT Quartz will not have a HAQ movement, and, since that is the theme of this forum, I think most members would opt for the Grand Seiko. You could say that we too suffer from a form of OCD, but the symptoms in our case center around a demand for phenomenal accuracy--like ± 10 seconds per year displacement from perfect atomic time. The Grand Seiko will calm those symptoms, but the Omega will produce severe mental trauma (to us), with its 5-10 seconds per _*month*_ accuracy!

With respect to your particular OCD form, it may well be the case that the Grand Seiko will land its seconds hand on most of the minute markers (and possibly the Omega won't), but I can tell you from personal experience with three Grand Seiko quartz models, that you won't get perfect seconds hand-minute marker alignment with the Grand Seiko either. I've studied this phenomenon through a lighted 10X loupe, and, with my specimens anyway, the seconds hand misses the markers by as much as 10-20% of the inter-marker space in some places on the dial and in some positions in which the watch is held.


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## McAllan

Yes, definitely the Seiko unless you don't care about the precision and like the Omega brand better. But sure as South Pender says - in here we fancy extreme precision.

Yeah. *Perfect* second hand to minute marker alignment isn't really possible with a stepper motor although with tricks it can be bettered a bit. First of all there's the slack in the gears then the rotor in the motor only has it's magnetism to hold position when it's resting and that have a bit of slack too. Each placement is dependent of the power the stepper motor received and where it rested in the previous cycle. But it's not bothering me. All watches I have from Casio to Omega the alignment is good enough for me. If it's the same amount to both sides then alignment is as perfect as it can be in that specific movement. Perfect alignment is only possible with moving coil movements like f.ex. Rolex Oyster (and if manufactured precisely to allow it - which I don't know if the Rolex Oyster is but it has the potential).


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## dwjquest

Own them both. Like them both. Seiko is far better quality than Omega.


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## RPF

No contest. 

Brand name notwithstanding, Omega AT loses to the GS from a quality and technological standpoint. 

As for resale value, the Omega is more liquid, and is a better buy for an intermediate watch (i.e. a transient couple of years kinda ownership). 

I'd go for the GS for keeps though. It's the better watch, inside and outside.


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## ronalddheld

I think the GS is the better watch, but ultimately it is what satisfies you.


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## coastiesquid

Wow, I figured a few folks would go for the GS, however, I did not think it would be this many. Now if I could just find an AD around to check out a GS in person. I have handled the AT and liked it quite a bit. I do wish though that the GS quartz had just a few more styles. Apparently, they do not even make the blue faced one anymore according to the GS website. Just the white, black, and champagne.


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## McAllan

coastiesquid said:


> Wow, I figured a few folks would go for the GS, however, I did not think it would be this many.


That's easily explained. You asked in the High Accuracy Quartz forum. In here we admire precision. While the Omega isn't bad it's nowhere near as precise as the Seiko. As others told you. The precision you can expect from the Omega pr. month is the precision you expect from the Seiko pr. year. A quartz watch is not just a quartz watch. A cheap one will be off be 1 or maybe as much as 2 seconds pr. day. And then we haven't even started talking about temperature sensitiveness yet.

If you ask in a neutral forum it's probably the Omega that'll win - because most people associates the name with quality where as they look at Seiko as something cheaper - with it certainly is in most cases. But here you compare with some of Seiko's best. Both in term of quality and an term of precision.

So that's why we in here choose as we do between those two models ;-)


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## avusblue

I have owned them both. You can read my individual reviews for a lot more detail:

The Omega AquaTerra 2518.30.00: My Review

















and the Grand Seiko SBGX063: My Review










I sold the Omega, and still own the Grand Seiko. In my opinion, the GS is a hundred times the watch of the Omega. Both watches are comparably sized and both look good on the wrist, but there is just so much more depth of substance to the Grand Seiko for the watch enthusiast. The following areas of Seiko's superiority spring to mind:
 


Quality of the overall fit and finish is visibly superior
Precision operation of the movement
The stately and 100% accurate tick of the GS second hand, versus the more "bouncy", far less precise tick of the Omega
Quality of the dial and hands are incredibly different.
 The lustrous champagne colored "12-layer" GS dial has a beautiful, color-shifting characteristic that makes the silver dial Omega just look plain-jane in comparison.
The beveled and polished razor-sharp GS hands and markers have a three-dimensionality that is just exquisite, and brings pleasure every time I check the time

Beautiful quality and smooth operating bracelet and clasp of the GS beats the Omega. Omega's is fine, but the GS is to another level.
Superior rated accuracy and 50-year service interval speak to the quality of the GS movement (although in real world operation, my Omega was accurate too)
Rarity and uniqueness of the Grand Seiko


Where does the Omega win? 

The independently settable detachable hour hand is convenient for traveling between time zones
A more commonly acknowledged and widely known brand of "prestige"
The dial and hands have lume (although not very much, and the exquisite multi-beveled hands of the Seiko are remarkably effective in low-light situations even without lume)
 
While production of this particular model Omega has been discontinued, I believe it is still generally available in the retail channel. Its MSRP is $2,150. Do not buy it new, because you should be able to find a like-new preowned one in the $1,000 range, maybe less. The Grand Seiko currently has a $2,600 MSRP and is easily available brand-new at a nice discount from retail, particularly from our friend in Scottsdale. The GS is going to be difficult to find pre-owned, and if you could find one I'd expect it to probably a be a significant amount more expensive than the pre-owned Omega, and so it may make more sense to buy one brand new.

I am a really picky guy and I continue to be very pleased with my Grand Seiko. It is extremely satisifying to own and wear. To the OP: you asked "If it were your $2K, which one would you put it into?" For me the answer is clear -- Grand Seiko. Having owned both, I found the Grand Seiko to be a significantly better watch, which makes it a superior value even though it is more costly.

Good luck with what you decide and keep us posted.

Cheers,
Dave


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## richy176

Another vote for the Grand Seiko from me. Great build quality and you are less likely to see anyone else wearing one. As far as I can tell, the second hand hits all the markers but that is just looking with the naked eye - I am not OCD enough to use a magnifying glass!

Having said that I am not sure I could live with an accuracy of just 10 seconds per year so spent a little more for the SBGX103 20th anniversary edition which is rated at 5 seconds per year (for real accuracy I have my astron). The astron has the advantage os refulating itself rather than relying on my aged body to press in the crown at the exact moment to use the 5 secs accuracy feature.

Looking forward to the quartz diver due out later this year!


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## ronalddheld

Here you never can have too much accuracy!


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## rex

*Grand Seiko 9fxx caliber webpage. Facts about highest build quality possible.>>*

My watchmaker sez it's the most gorgeous quartz movement so far.

9F Quartz | Grand Seiko | SEIKO WATCH CORPORATION


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