Quartz watch - quartz watch

The most common in recent years is electromechanical products on the wall or on the arm, in which electronics and mechanics are combined. The mechanism with arrows is preserved from the usual mechanical clock, but the impulse of rotation is given to the arrow by a non-compressed spring with a pendulum wheel, and a quartz crystal through which an electric current is passed.

The invention of quartz watches

The first clock based on the vibration mechanism of the quartz crystal was created in the late 1920s by the Canadian engineer VA Morrison. But mass production began only at the beginning of the second half of the XX century. The basis is the ability of the 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 the accuracy and stability of the clock.

Quartz watches can be wall, wrist and desktop. The latter are usually alarms. According to the way information is submitted, the clock can be:

• Electromechanical;
• Electronic;
• Mixed.

Electromechanical look like ordinary mechanical, with arrows. In the electronic clock, instead of the arrows on the front surface, an electronic display is placed on which the information provided by the device is displayed. This can be the current time, calendar or anything else, depending on the complexity of the model. In a mixed clock, a small window with an electronic scoreboard is placed within the dial, on which time is duplicated by default. Switching by means of buttons of modes, it is possible to deduce on a board an ambient air temperature, to include a stopwatch, to establish an alarm clock ... Basically, any imagination allow to realize hours Quartz. A photo of one of the many is placed below.

In some models, the arrows also perform the compass function.

Experiments

In 1982, the Japanese company Seiko released a wristwatch Quartz with a built-in TV. In 1985, Japanese Casio also began selling watches with a calculator, and two years later - powered by solar cells. Then came the watch from several manufacturers with alarm clocks that played various tunes. The next step was to create a clock with a notebook, MP3 player and even a TV remote control. For travelers there were watches with GPS-navigation and a conclusion to the map of the map, there were models with a mini-radio. For athletes - a clock with a heart rate monitor, for fishermen - with an echosounder to determine the location of the fish. Even watches were issued - mobile phones and watches with a video camera.

Mass production

A simple, rather cheap, but at the same time precise mechanism allowed the production of Quartz watches for a variety of purposes. At the same time, any company can arrange the release of this accessory even without the presence of a watchmaker in the state of watchmaking. The main thing is to buy in bulk ready-made quartz mechanisms and insert them into any suitable case with a dial. I remember the old Soviet anecdote about my grandmother, who came to the store to buy a cuckoo clock on the wall, and asked to "surrender those little ones that lie under the glass." Only now you can buy any Quartz wall clock you like with a dial, decorated in the form of berries or vegetables - for a dacha, or as a plate with arrow-knives - for the kitchen ...

The market of wrist watches also allows you to purchase cheap options from unknown producers, and expensive from world-famous Swiss or Japanese firms.

Quartz watch movement

For wall clocks a mass standard scheme is used with battery powered type AA. The difference can only be caused by the way information is delivered, through arrows or an electronic scoreboard.

Usually they are used to decorate the interior of the kitchen in the house, at the dacha or in the office, so that you can recognize the current time by simply glancing briefly. Therefore, watch manufacturers do not usually overload products with unnecessary functions in such cases. Although there are exceptions, when a thermometer and a barometer are built in the clock.

The mechanism of wristwatches from different manufacturers can differ more strongly. It depends on the size of the body, and on the option - with arrows or a scoreboard.

This can be a clock with a simple time display mechanism , and can be with a thermometer, with a compass, with a barometer, a stopwatch. There are options where there is "all in one".