Why Is Quartz Used in Most Watches?
Other People Are Reading
-
What Is Quartz?
-
Quartz, or sand, is actually the most common material on Earth, making up 12% of the Earth's volume. It comes in a variety of colors because of impurities inside of it. Quartz is similar to diamonds in the sense that the more striations and impurities it contains, the color and visibility intensify. Quartz in its crystalline state is actually one large crystal made up of smaller crystals. Examples of these quartz crystals are amethyst, citrene, smoky quartz, and rose quartz.
The scientific name for quartz is silicone dioxide. It is immune to most solvents and can remain in its crystal state at extremely high temperatures. Quartz is used in everything from low-cost jewelry to expensive electronic devices.
Why is quartz used in watches? Quartz is a highly electrical component when it has been manufactured, and has the ability to slow the movement of the minute and hour hands or the digits in a digital watch.
Why Quartz in Watches?
-
Quartz was first introduced to the watchmaking scene in 1927, when a quartz clock was invented before the wristwatch was even thought of.
When quartz crystals are under mechanical stress, they generate an electric charge, an effect known as piezoelectricity. Quartz is able to bend or even change its shape once piezoelectricity occurs. It can convert electrical voltage back and forth in order to maintain a watch's frequency. Quartz crystals, when cut to a consistent size and shape, have the ability to vibrate at thousands of times per second. This makes them very stable resonators, commonly used today for keeping accurate time. The precise standard of frequency, the stability of an oscillator used for frequency calibration, allows quartz to maintain and regulate the movement of a watch, so that it is extremely accurate. Even digital watches are controlled by quartz's ability to slow time. Most quartz used in watches and other electronic devices is a synthetic, made specially for the purpose of mechanics.
-
Modern-Day Watches
-
Modern-day watches use a low-frequency bar of quartz or a tuning-fork-shaped crystal. The angle of the cut and the frequency accuracy are the two major differences between a a watch that keeps good time and one that does not. Angle of the cut refers to an etching technique where a gradient of photon energy is created across the surface of the crystal. The amount of photon energy placed on the crystal determines the amount of erosion, or cuts, the crystal receives. The oscillation of the crystals creates one-second accurate pulses that allow the digital circuits in a watch to drive the electric motor. The motor, attached to the gears, then makes the hands move, giving accurate time.
-
