THE SII/TMI NE88 MOVEMENT

A rare sight in the watch world, the SII (Seiko Instruments Inc.)/TMI (Time Module Inc.) NE88 is the movement of choice for the Olympia. To put it simply, it offers the best price-performance-reliability ratio for a mechanical chronograph.

Having had the Seagull ST19 in the Gemini, we found that it was no longer sustainable to continue using it at a price the market would accept, at the quality standards we wished to meet. The amount of labor hours needed was too high, and it certainly didn’t help that Seagull implemented a minimum order quantity of 10,000 pieces, effectively cutting off supply to small brands.

That left us with two options: the more common Sellita SW510, or the seldom-seen Seiko NE88. At first, we were told that the minimum thickness would be 17mm after the NE88 is cased—handstack, crystal, caseback and all. Obviously, this was a non-starter. No wonder so few watches use it! But upon reviewing technical drawings and input from Seiko’s engineers, we were able to significantly reduce the case thickness to 11.7mm, with a crystal height of 2.1mm.

This would give the Olympia perfectly classic dimensions. The original Rolex Daytonas (refs. 62xx) measured in at 13.5mm in thickness. With the NE88, we would also have the advantage of automatic winding. But that’s not all: it also features a column wheel and vertical clutch, giving its chronograph functions a smoother tactile feel.

Given that a great option already exists in the NE88, the Sellita made less sense. For the same performance, using the SW510 would have nearly tripled the price, even more if we wanted a column wheel. More importantly, it would be against our ethos of making watches that are meant to be worn: they shouldn’t feel too expensive to be on your wrist every day and everywhere.

On that note, we’ll go into what some may consider disadvantages. First, there is no way to make it a manual wind movement, nor to remove the date detent. We asked Seiko, and neither would have been possible within their production processes. On the plus side, automatic winding meant that we could give the Olympia a screw down crown, so feel free to swim in it (just don’t use the pushers underwater). The second is the lack of decoration, but that fits in nicely with our goal to call back to an era of watches as instruments, not ornaments.

The NE88 allows us to create a mechanical sports chronograph the way it was meant to be: reliable, accurate, poetic. You won’t have to worry about the drama and difficulty of a vintage chronograph movement, nor the preciousness of a more expensive one. In sum, it’s the perfect little engine for zooming through life’s twists and turns.