Quartz analogue watch
The quartz analogue watch is an electronic watch that uses a piezoelectric quartz crystal as its timing element,
coupled to a mechanical movement that drives the hands. The first prototypes were made by the CEH research laboratory
in Switzerland in 1962. The first quartz watch to enter production was the Seiko 35 SQ Astron, which appeared in 1969.
There are also several variations of the quartz watch as to what actually powers the movement.
Chronographs and chronometers
The similar-sounding terms chronograph and chronometer are often confused, although they mean altogether different things.
A chronograph is a type of complication, as explained under the heading "Complicated Watch."
A chronometer is a watch or clock whose movement has been tested and certified to operate within a certain standard of
accuracy. The concepts are different but not mutually.
A watch can be a chronograph, a chronometer, both, or neither.
Electromechanical watches
The first use of electrical power in watches was as a source of energy to replace the mainspring,
and therefore to remove the need for winding. The first battery-powered watch, the Hamilton Electric 500,
was released in 1957 by the Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Digital watches
Cheaper electronics permitted the popularisation of the digital watch in the second half of the 20th century.
They were seen as the great new thing.
The first digital watch, a Pulsar prototype in 1970, was developed jointly by Hamilton Watch Company and Electro-Data.
A retail version of the Pulsar was put on sale in 1972 It had a red light-emitting diode (LED) display.
LED displays were soon superseded by liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which used less battery power.
The first LCD watch with a six-digit LCD was the 1973 Seiko 06LC,
although various forms of early LCD watches with a four-digit display were marketed as early as
1972 including the 1972 Gruen Teletime LCD Watch
At the end of the 20th century, Swiss watch makers were seeing their sales go down as analog clocks were considered obsolete.
They joined forces with designers from many countries to reinvent the Swiss watch.
The result was that they could considerably reduce the pieces and production time of an analog watch.
In fact it was so cheap that if a watch broke it would be cheaper to throw it away and buy a new one than to repair it.
They founded the Swiss Watch company (Swatch) and called graphic designers to redesign a new annual collection.
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