Seiko V.F.A Quartz , more than a rare quartz watch.

To truly understand the historical importance of the Seiko V.F.A 3800 series quartz , one must take a look at the quartz movements produced by Seiko before the V.F.A , the Astron 35Q which was the world's first quartz timepiece with the caliber 3500 in 1969 and then shortly after the Astron 35SQW.

The 3800 series quartz as pictured above perfected the 3500 movement coming out of the Suwa Factory with temperature compensation and 6 position adjustments to the movement. There was no expenses spared in building and regulating these quartz movements in 1971. Further "VFA" (Very Finely Adjusted) was rated at +/- 5 seconds per month! Not per day!

Another historical significance of these quartz movements was that they were first to use CMOS . Issue with Beta 21 Quartz from Switzerland was that the power consumption on the battery , over an extended period , CMOS was the solution by the Japanese to this issue , and changed the Quartz game again , forever.

(Epson document showing CMOS being first used in a quartz watch with the 3800 series V.F.A Seiko)

Take notice of the sunken crown design. This V.F.A Quartz featured a purple anti reflective coating on it's glass , something the mechanical V.F.A Seiko did not have. While the expensive V.F.A mechanical Seiko was 100,000 Yen back in the day , this V.F.A quartz was 150,000 Yen. Roughly $9,000 with today's inflation , and back then the price of a Toyota Camry.

To me this 3823-7040 V.F.A will not just be the first "Snowflake" Seiko , but remind me of a time when Quartz technology was cutting edge , and because it was considered the better technology , it was also manufactured and built to very high standards..unlike how it's done today. This unpolished example was sold to a friend recently!

#Watches #wristwatch #seiko #watch #quartz #vfa

Recent Posts