(2023-08-28) Another basic but iconic analogue watch movement
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Recently, I stopped my Bertucci A-1R experiment and got a stunning result:
it's less than 0.5 s/month slow. And it's running on Miyota 2035, the most
basic non-Chinese quartz movement you can possibly imagine. And I already
talked about it enough in my previous posts, but now I'm going to tell you
about another iconic Miyota movement I've been familiar with since a long
time ago without even knowing it. Enter Miyota 2S60... or, in Casio's
classification, module 2719.
Yes. That one. The one in LIN-168, MTP-1219A, HDA-600, EF-125 and other
three-hander greatest hits from mid-2000s. My personal encounter with this
movement began when I was a poor student in 2007 who, nevertheless, could
finally afford his first "serious" watch, and Casio MTP-1219A became one. It
suited all my needs, the only annoying part being the requirement to
manually adjust the date every two months. Back then, I didn't really value
what that watch had offered me though: fully stainless steel case, decent WR
rating AND long-lasting battery. In fact, when I gave it away to my friend
14 years later, it was still ticking. But in my student years, this watch
quickly became too boring to me. It just worked. It just told the time
(provided you adjust it twice a year because of that damn DST) and date
(provided you don't forget to adjust it every two months). It did nothing
else. I quickly lost interest in it and kept buying whatever I could afford
in different leagues: Illuminators, ToughSolars, even a titanium LIN-168,
uh-huh. And I didn't even notice that LIN-168 had the same module 2719
inside. The exterior and case material mattered to me more. But at the end
of the day, it was just the same three-hander with a date window. And I
didn't pay much attention to it. Oh, how dumb and shortsighted I was.
Fast-forward to the present day, August 2023. I have a HDA-600B in my
collection, again, no fucks given about the module. And I decide to try my
luck with another sapphire model... you guessed it: MTS-100. Actually, it's
100L, but I stripped off the L on the first day of possession and put on a
normal (but thinner) all-black NATO strap instead of that awful stock
leather. Actually, I also planned to try it out with the stock strap from
the Bertucci A-1R but that one turned out to be too thick to fit under the
bars. And then I realized something really terrible: not only is it the same
2719 module I had actively used 15+ years ago, but this module is the only
pure-analogue one still sporting a CR-type battery that lasts 10+ years, and
you can't buy any other (analogue) modules with the same battery life
anymore in 2023. And I also realized the battery itself is not CR2025 and
not even CR2016 (although I bet it _might_ fit there): it's CR2012. And it
still runs for 10, 11, 12 and even 13 years on this extremely thin lithium
cell. Whoever designed this movement is a genius. But who did?
Citizen, of course. In case you didn't know, all low-cost (non-solar and
non-radio-controlled) all-analogue Casios are Citizens inside. Only after
buying the MTS-100 did I do some additional research and find out that this
module 2719 is indeed pure, unmodified Miyota 2S60 in all its glory. But as
you probably know, you just cannot buy a new dressy-looking Citizen
three-hander with a flat sapphire glass for such price. Well, you obviously
can if it's branded as Casio. Interestingly though, the sister movement 2S65
which also features a day of the week wheel, has been used in much fewer
Casio watches (it's denoted as module 3716 in Casio's nomenclature and
mostly known to be used in the MTP-1228, MTP-1229 and MTD-1085 models). It's
a real shame so few Casio models keep using these 2S60/2S65 movements right
now (although EF-121D and MTD-1085 still can be bought new somewhere, they
are already discontinued long ago). The overall picture is a bit depressing:
Casio is surely moving towards the "single-use things" trend in their low-
and mid-price segment.
This is why I'm going to create another rating table with the best
movements/modules you should look for in case of digital, analogue and
ana-digi scenarios, and going to publish it soon enough.
