u/chmandaue

AQ4070

Kau Sai Village, Hong Kong outlying islands

Ref 0634-5001 featured backlight, analog thermocompensation and that first-ever quartz chronograph function. Monthly drift max. 10 seconds, so daily drift under half a second could be relied on.

That the Artemis II astronauts are using NASA-issued Omega X-33 lays bare that the direction of technical progress in watches (if not the direction of profits) from the 1960s to today runs through what that watch is: a multifunction quartz.

I am not talking complications for their own sake but complications that serve real needs. The chronograph was originally used for actual timing - sports, aviation, management, military. The minute repeater for actual telling time in the dark. The perpetual calendar was actually kept running and won regularly. The alarm for waking up or some important event. That we use other gadgets to do these today is beside the point. If we want to talk _heritage_, these were practical features not decorations.

The first multifunction digital was the 1975 Seiko 0634, according to this page: https://www.seiko-design.com/140th/en/topic/42.html

Casio was not far behind with the 1976 Casiotron X-1: https://www.casio.com/europe/watches/50th/Heritage/1970s/

Ana-digis like the X-33 offer civil time by the hands and extra functions in digital form. The X-33 gen 2s now on their way to the moon were developed in the 90s and have been quietly proving themselves ever since away from the collector and YouTuber limelight.

Digital tool watches descended from these and were amply used, as documented by folks like WoE: https://www.watchesofespionage.com/blogs/woe-dispatch/digital-watches-global-war-on-terror

And today? The leading edge, whether we like it or not, is being made by the likes of Garmin and Apple. Battery life is short. Designs have much room to improve. Just like early quartz. But the fragile and expensive complicated mechanical is no more than a spur line. The trunk runs from mechanicals to quartz to the smartwatch.