A Seiko Kinetic or Automatic quartz watch is a term describing their movement that combines a self-winding rotor mechanism (as used in automatic mechanical watches) to generate electricity with a piezoelectric quartz crystal as its timing element. Such movements aim to provide the advantages of quartz without the environmental impact of batteries.

A rotating pendulum inside the case is attached to a relatively large gear which meshes with a very small pinion. As the wearer moves, the pendulum turns and spins the pinion at a very high speed – up to 100,000 rpm. This is coupled to a miniature electrical generator which charges a storage device which is a capacitor(s) .  A typical full charge will last between two weeks and six months.

Initially there were some problems with faulty capacitors in the ESU (Electronic Storage Unit). Since the year 2000 Seiko changed to a new Titanium Lithium Rechargeable Cell. This not only solved the problem of reliability it also had the advantage of being able to hold a charge for much longer, sometimes up to 6 months from a full charge.

Seiko Kinetic movements are very much part of Seiko’s future plans, after the introduction of Kinetic Chronograph, Kinetic Auto-Relay, Kinetic Dive and Kinetic Perpetual models the “Kinetic Direct Drive” is the new kid on the block.
In essence, Seiko Kinetic movements offer the clean mechanical aspects of traditional watches with the accurate technology of quartz watches.