Those paying attention to the debate around the merits of electric cars will have picked up on a rising appreciation for hybrids: those best-of-both-worlds transport solutions that are more environmentally sound and properly functional. Now enter meca-quartz, the watch-making equivalent, which, likewise, is enjoying a renaissance, partly due to its adoption by the growing number of micro-brands now populating the world of horology.

The idea is not new. Seiko pioneered the meca-quartz movement a little over 40 years ago. In 1982 it launched its 7a28 movement, back when most quartz chronographs had LCD displays and certainly didn’t express the kind of watchmaking values that watch snobs love. Seiko didn’t see why you couldn’t have a watch with the legibility of a classic chronograph dial but the accuracy of quartz.

Fundamentally, that’s the idea here: a meca-quartz chronograph watch movement – sometimes written as ‘mecha quartz’ – is, as the name suggests, part mechanical and part quartz. That means a watch with mechanical parts – a balance wheel, hammers, levers, gears, etc. – but rather than being powered through winding springs, it’s powered by a battery and regulated by the oscillations of a quartz crystal.

Meca-quartz movements have become more refined since the 7a28, not least through new movements from Seiko, like its widely used VK line. Push the button—which will be firm and click in crisply, as on a purely mechanical chronograph—to start the chronograph running and its mechanics getting to work. Press the reset button, and the timing hands jump back to the 12 o’clock position, just as they would with a mechanical chronograph.

But the small seconds hand doesn’t sweep around the dial as it would with a mechanical watch – it jumps visibly, step by step, as it would on a quartz watch. That is the only real giveaway you’re not wearing a full-blooded mechanical watch.

The benefits of meca-quartz

In other words, meca-quartz is a compromise, but one with specific benefits: it has the feel of a mechanical watch, with the reliability and much greater accuracy of a quartz watch. It won’t need the same regularity of servicing as a purely mechanical watch.

But, as Seiko was keen to point out when it came up with the idea, it can be opened up, regulated and repaired like one—rather than being tossed like some old PC when it gets outdated or dies, as most quartz watches then were (and, for that matter, often still are).

Fewer mechanical parts make it more robust than a purely mechanical watch, while the movement allows for a thinner, more streamlined case. Of course, meca-quartz typically makes for a more affordable watch as well.

The drawbacks of meca-quartz

Seiko’s VK64 meca-quartz chronograph movement comes with a 24-hour dial at the three o’clock position

There is one very particular downside: if the chronograph hands on a mechanical or quartz chronograph become misaligned from the start position—it happens—both have features that allow them to be reset easily. Not so on a meca-quartz watch, which has to be taken apart to have the hands physically realigned. But by then, you may be asking how they got misaligned in the first place.

And then there are the quirks: Seiko’s popular VK64 meca-quartz chronograph movement, for instance, comes with a 24-hour dial at the three o’clock position. That’s not an option for watch designers working with this movement; they just have to work it into their design. This sub-dial is something you’ll either love or hate, or maybe both, depending on the day.

At least watch snobs know where they stand. For some reason, they love to hate meca-quartz with the same kind of passionate disdain they have for full-on quartz watches – even though it was none other than Jaeger Le Coultre that moved the meca-quartz idea on in the late 1980s with its 630 and 631 calibres; even though those these movements would find their way into watches from the esteemed likes of IWC as well.

The future of watch movements

Autodromo meca-quartz Prototipo watch

Like quartz, meca-quartz was once heralded as the future of watch movements—the perfect blend of tradition and innovation. However, its many advancements didn’t quite stick industry-wide, as Seiko might have hoped.

But now you will find meca-quartz movements in watches from the cool Italian brand Autodromo to limited editions from Nivada Grenchen, established in 1926 and a historic maker of tool watches. Check out pieces from Furlan Marri, Depancel, Spinnaker, Brew and, of course, Seiko.

Barring the last, these brands may not be all that familiar. Still, perhaps that is the point of meca-quartz in 2024: it has allowed lesser-known makers not just to produce watches that some would regard as poor cousins to ‘proper’ mechanical watches but impressive, often very distinctive watches.

This is because meca-quartz is more affordable—not just to buy but to work with as a manufacturer—so makers are freer to take chances on bolder designs. And, really, the watch snobs need to get over themselves anyway.

Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Mecaquartz Salmon

A cult classic in the making, or maybe the remaking, this version of the Chronoking is a 38mm update of the original late 1960s watch, this time with a Seiko VR23 movement.

As a point of comparison, the manual wind model is four times more expensive.

Buy now at nivadagrenchenofficial.com

Yema Rallygraf Meca-Quartz II Panda

The French watch company used to see its original Rallygraf worn by racing drivers like Mario Andretti. This vintage-inspired watch has a thin metallic coating on the dial, a matte finish and a tachymeter bezel.

Buy now at yema.com

Autodromo Prototipo

Autodromo’s 70s-style Prototipo takes its design from the dials of racing cars during the so-called Prototype Era, when modern tech drove a renewed interest in endurance racing.

The model was launched in 2013 and is still a best-seller, partly down to that distinctive barrel case shape.

Buy now at autodromo.com

Sternglas Hamburg Chrono

Among the more colourful chronographs currently available, Sternglas’ Hamburg is inspired by maritime measuring instruments (the casebook has an engraving of sailing boats on the Alster in Hamburg).

It has Seiko’s VK674 inside.

Buy now at sternglas.com

Nezumi Tonnerre

The Swedish company, established by watch enthusiast David Campo, launched through Kickstarter and now produces watches assembled in Germany.

The Tonnerre comes in a 38mm brushed step case and is powered by Seiko’s VK63 meca-quartz movement.

Buy now at nezumistudios.com