How Does a Quartz Watch Work?

Quartz watches and clocks make up the majority of timepieces. Quartz is used in all types of watches and clocks.

What Is a Quartz Watch?

A quartz watch measures time using a very thin piece of synthetic quartz. Synthetic quartz is used because the properties of natural quartz are less consistent. When an electric charge is applied to the quartz, it vibrates very quickly. These rapid vibrations allow the watch to keep accurate time. Most analog watches and all digital watches use quartz.

What Powers the Watch?

In most quartz watches, a battery is the power source. However, some watches are powered by a tiny kinetic generator. These generators work by the movement of the wrist. This movement causes tiny rotors in the watch to spin, building up the electricity needed to power the watch. Other watches are powered by photoreceptors, also known as solar panels. These solar panels take energy from ambient light and store it in a small capacitor in the watch's circuitry.

How Quartz Watches Function

The quartz inside the watch serves as an oscillator. An oscillator is an object that moves steadily and, when interpreted by the inner workings of a watch or clock, indicates how much time has gone by. One example of a non-quartz based oscillator is the pendulum of a grandfather clock.

What Makes Quartz an Ideal Material

Quartz loses very little energy as it vibrates, so the vibrations remain at a steady pace. It exhibits something known as a "piezoelectric effect," which means that it vibrates when an electric charge is applied and generates voltage from its vibrations. The average quartz in a watch vibrates 32,768 times each second, sending the same number of electric pulses to the watch's circuitry. The circuitry counts each pulse and resets itself after counting the total vibrations each second. In analog watches, these pulses power a motor that drives the gears inside the watch.

Why Quartz Watches Are Better Than Mechanical Watches

Quartz watches are far more accurate than mechanical watches. Quartz watches, on average, lose less than one minute in accuracy per year. Mechanical watches vary on long-term accuracy depending on the quality of the watch. Unlike mechanical watches, quartz watches do not require any winding.