Crisis? What Crisis: The Most Interesting Quartz Watches of 2024 (So Far)

I used to work in a record store, so I know something about snobbery in the collector community. My co-workers and I had nothing but disdain for any music we deemed “inauthentic.” Naturally, I brought that attitude to my watch box. And with the exception of a few vintage Swatches and G-SHOCKs from my youth, I believed quartz watches were cold and soulless. I was Team Mechanical.

However, in the last few years, I’ve been slowly warming up to battery power because, as it turns out, there’s much to admire about modern quartz timekeepers.

For starters, technological advances have made precision unparalleled. Plus, these compact calibres allow designers to take more chances with silhouettes, while production techniques usually result in lower prices.

Luxury brands are also embracing this new mood. Thus, in 2024, we’ve seen many launches proudly heralding quartz technology. Here are five models that even steadfast mechanical enthusiasts would die for.

In 2004, Grand Seiko introduced the most innovative horological creation of the new millennium: the Calibre 9R Spring Drive movement, which features the mainspring and balance spring of a traditional mechanical watch powered by an electronic speed-regulating unit.
 

This August, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of this incredible mechanism, Grand Seiko announced two new limited editions: the SBGY035, a classic time-only dress watch, and the sportier SBGA499.

The stainless steel SBGY035, which measures 38.5mm across and 10.2mm thick, is powered by the Calibre 9R31 Spring Drive manual wind movement. Its luxe look emanates from its deep red dial with a brush-stroked texture inspired by Japan’s Hotaka mountain range on an autumn morning. To round things out, the SBGY035 comes on a crocodile leather strap with a folding clasp.
 

Like the SBGY035, the SBGA499, powered by the Calibre 9R65 Spring Drive automatic movemeent, also features a rich red dial. However, the SBGA499 captures the Hotaka’s morning glow via a sunray finish instead. The case size is a little larger, with a diameter of 40.2mm and a thickness of 12.8mm. It also features a power reserve indicator and date window.

Since most electronic quartz movements are not as elegant as mechanicals, you rarely see quartz with a display caseback. That is why the pièce de resistance of these hybrid quartz-mechanical timekeepers is the exhibition caseback that fully celebrates the extremely accurate Spring Drive movements within.

Another amazing quartz calibre deserving of an exhibition caseback is the F.P.Journe Élégante 48. Like Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive models, the watches in the Élégante collection are electromechanical.
 

Of course, F.P.Journe is always looking for ways to challenge technology, and with this series, the Maison set out to extend battery life. The solution is the quartz Calibre 1210, which allows a battery life of up to 18 years using a built-in sensor that puts the watch to sleep if it’s stationary for more than 35 minutes.
 

With the Élégante 48mm Gino’s Dream, introduced last April, F.P.Journe also helps to dispel the notion that quartz watches are soulless. Our own Barbara Palumbo points out that this colorful watch is “first and foremost, a celebration of the life of Gino Cukrowicz, one of the original co-founders of the Journe brand.”

Another appealing aspect of quartz movements is that they can make the price of a luxury watch much more accessible. Case in point: a large Santos-Dumont from Cartier powered by a high autonomy quartz movement that provides a battery life of six years comes in at around $4,200.

This year’s stainless steel model – sized at 43.5mm x 31.4mm with a thickness of 7.3mm – offers all the premium finishes of its mechanical cousins, including a beaded crown set with a blue synthetic cabochon-shaped spinel, and a satin-brushed silver dial with a sunray finish.
 

Plus, it has Roman numerals, blued-steel sword-shaped hands, a sapphire crystal, and a navy-blue alligator leather strap with a steel ardillon buckle. Oh! And it’s water-resistant up to 3 bar.

Because it’s easier to miniaturize quartz movements, watchmakers can swing for the fences with case sizes of their quartz models. Hence, in May, Audemars Piguet unveiled a trio of quartz-powered miniaturized Royal Oaks measuring in at a mere 23mm diameter.
 

These three monochromatic timepieces, rendered in either 18-karat yellow, white, or pink gold, were born out of collector interest in a series of Mini Royal Oaks from 1997.

However, rather than merely shrinking a regular Royal Oak, the 2024 versions have reworked the case silhouette’s proportions, architecture, and aesthetic, most notably by using the shimmering Frosted Gold finish (pioneered by jewelry designer Carolina Bucci in 2016) to create more presence. 
 

As beautiful as these watches are, performance was also an important consideration the brand. In fact, the Calibre 2730, one of the best in class for watches of this size, has a “switch” that allows the wearer to preserve battery life for up to seven years by simply pulling on the crown.

Quartz calibres have often been used for jewelry watches in part because the lower cost of battery-powered movements offsets the higher cost of gemstones and precious metals.
 

Perhaps that is why Omega’s latest Constellation models feature gem settings and quartz movements, despite the fact that the Constellation collection has long been celebrated for its technical prowess in mechanical movements.

Each of these beauties is distinguished by the swirling pattern of its dial – a hypnotic design that radiates from the signature Constellation star at six o’clock. This dazzling dial is framed by diamonds and cased in either Sedna or Moonshine gold.
 

The new watches come in two case sizes – 25mm and 28mm – and are powered by quartz mechanisms. Finally, to reinforce the line’s connection to accuracy, the line’s signature Constellation Observatory medallion is stamped on each metallic caseback.