History Quartz clock

four precision 100 khz quartz oscillators @ bureau of standards (now nist) became first quartz frequency standard united states in 1929. kept in temperature-controlled ovens prevent frequency drift due thermal expansion or contraction of large quartz resonators (mounted under glass domes on top of units) achieved accuracy of 10, 1 second error in 4 months.



the first swiss quartz clock, made after ww ii (left), on display @ international museum of horology in la chaux-de-fonds.

the piezoelectric properties of quartz discovered jacques , pierre curie in 1880. first quartz crystal oscillator built walter g. cady in 1921. in 1923, d. w. dye @ national physical laboratory in uk , warren marrison @ bell telephone laboratories produced sequences of precision time signals quartz oscillators. in 1927, first quartz clock built warren marrison , j.w. horton @ bell telephone laboratories. next 3 decades saw development of quartz clocks precision time standards in laboratory settings; bulky delicate counting electronics, built vacuum tubes, limited use elsewhere. in 1932 quartz clock able measure tiny variations in rotation rate of earth on periods short few weeks. in japan in 1932, issac koga developed crystal cut gave oscillation frequency independent of temperature variation. national bureau of standards (now nist) based time standard of on quartz clocks between 1930s , 1960s, after transitioned atomic clocks. wider use of quartz clock technology had await development of cheap semiconductor digital logic in 1960s. revised 14th edition of encyclopædia britannica stated quartz clocks never affordable enough used domestically.

the world s first prototype analog quartz wristwatches revealed in 1967: beta 1 revealed centre electronique horloger (ceh) in neuchâtel switzerland, , prototype of astron revealed seiko in japan (seiko had been working on quartz clocks since 1958).

in december 1969, seiko produced world s first commercial quartz wristwatch, seiko-quartz astron 35sq honored ieee milestone. astron had quartz oscillator frequency of 8,192 cycles per second , accurate 0.2 seconds per day, 5 seconds per month, or 1 minute per year. astron released less year prior introduction of swiss beta 21, developed 16 swiss watch manufactures , used rolex, patek , famously omega in electroquartz models. beta 21 watches had accuracy of 5 seconds per month swiftly overtaken introduction of more economical , accurate quartz watches. inherent accuracy , low cost of production has resulted in proliferation of quartz clocks , watches since time. 1980s, quartz technology had taken on applications such kitchen timers, alarm clocks, bank vault time locks, , time fuzes on munitions, earlier mechanical balance wheel movements, upheaval known in watchmaking quartz crisis.

quartz timepieces have dominated wristwatch , clock market since 1980s. because of high q factor , low temperature coefficient of quartz crystal, more accurate best mechanical timepieces, , elimination of moving parts makes them more rugged , eliminates need periodic maintenance.

a quartz clock hung on wall.

commercial analog , digital wall clocks became available in 2014 utilize double oven quartz oscillator, accurate 0.2 ppb. these clocks factory synchronized atomic time standard, , typically not require further time adjustments life of clock.