The most common watches in recent years are electromechanical products on the wall or on the arm, in which electronics and mechanics are combined. A mechanism with arrows was preserved from a conventional mechanical watch, but the rotation impulse for the arrows is not a compressed spring with a pendulum wheel, but a quartz crystal through which an electric current is passed.
The invention of quartz watches
The first watch based on the oscillation mechanism of a quartz crystal was created at the end of the 20s of the last century by a Canadian engineer V. A. Morrison. But mass production began only at the beginning of the second half of the 20th century. It is based on the ability of a quartz crystal to change its geometry under the influence of an electric current, to oscillate. In this case, the oscillations occur with a constant amplitude, which is required to ensure accuracy and stability of the watch.
Quartz watches can be wall, wrist and desktop. The latter are usually alarms. According to the method of supplying information, a watch is
- electromechanical;
- electronic;
- mixed.
Electromechanical ones look like ordinary mechanical ones, with arrows. In electronic watches instead of arrows on the front surface there is an electronic scoreboard on which information provided by the device is displayed. It can be the current time, calendar or something else, depending on the complexity of the model. In a mixed watch, a small window with an electronic scoreboard, on which time is duplicated by default, is placed within the dial. Switching the modes with the help of the buttons, you can display the ambient temperature on the display, turn on the stopwatch, set the alarm ... In principle, Quartz watches can realize any fantasy. Photos of one of the many posted below.
In some models, the arrows also perform the function of a compass.
The experiments
In 1982, the Japanese company Seiko released a Quartz watch with a built-in TV. In 1985, also the Japanese Casio began selling watches with a calculator, and two years later - powered by solar cells. Then came a watch from several manufacturers with alarms playing various tunes. The next step was to create a watch with a notebook, an MP3 player and even a remote control for the TV. For travelers there was a watch with GPS navigation and displaying a map of the area, there were models with a mini-radio. For athletes - a watch with a pulse meter, for fishermen - with an echo sounder to determine where the fish is. Even watches were produced - mobile phones and watches with a video camera.
Mass production
A simple, fairly cheap, but at the same time accurate mechanism allowed the production of Quartz watches for various purposes. At the same time, any company can arrange the release of this accessory even without the presence of a master watchmaker. The main thing is to buy ready-made quartz movements in bulk and insert them into any suitable case with a dial. I remember an old Soviet joke about a grandmother who came to the store to buy a wall clock with a cuckoo, and for the change she asked, “there are those small ones that are under glass.” Only now for change you can buy any wall clock Quartz you like with a dial decorated in the form of berries or vegetables - for a summer residence, or in the form of a plate with arrow-knives - for the kitchen ...
The watch market also allows you to purchase both cheap options from unknown manufacturers and expensive ones from world-famous Swiss or Japanese companies.
Quartz watch movement
For wall clocks, a mass standard circuit is used, powered by an AA battery. The difference can only be caused by the way information is presented, through arrows or an electronic scoreboard.
Usually they are used to decorate the interior of the kitchen in the house, in the country or office, so that you can find out the current time, just by glancing briefly. Therefore, watch manufacturers do not usually overload products with functions that are unnecessary in such cases. Although there are exceptions when a thermometer and a barometer are built into the watch.
The mechanism of a wristwatch from different manufacturers may differ more. It depends on the size of the case, and on the option - with arrows or a scoreboard.
It can be a watch with a simple time display mechanism , or it can be with a thermometer, with a compass, with a barometer, a stopwatch. There are options where there is "all in one."