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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

The Quartz Watch

http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/quartz/index.html

Provider: Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian Institution


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“The wristwatch was completely reinvented with all-new electronic components scarcely thirty years ago. For centuries before then, watches had been mechanical--composed of intricate moving parts powered by an unwinding spring. When battery-driven quartz wristwatches first hit the market, it seemed unlikely that the new-fangled gadgets would sell. But electronic watches won over the buying public.”At the Smithsonian Lemelson Center’s online exhibition of the Quartz Watch, you can read about the inventors who contributed to the creation of the watch. American, Swiss, and Japanese companies such as Seiko, Hamilton, and Centre Electronique Horloger are featured. Read about the watch wars between the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, and Switzerland to see how the watch industry was affected.

Take a look inside the quartz watch to see what makes it tick! Find out how the time display, battery, integrated circuit, and quartz crystal work.This website also contains a timeline that follows the progress of the quartz watch from the discovery of piezoelectricity to the invention of the LCD.