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Quartz Clocks
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Quartz clocks, clocks with power supplied by a quartz crystal, first developed by
Bell Laboratories in 1928, do not fall into the category of antiques. Merritts.com
provides this article for the information of our visitors due mainly to the universal
popularity of quartz clocks and watches. The other articles on Merritts.com dealing
with time, clocks, and clock movements all discuss the push for accuracy in
timekeeping that has driven the development of clocks over the centuries. We leave to
the philosophers to analyze the reasons we need an atomic clock with an accuracy of
one second in a million years, or even why the quartz wristwatch we wear needs to be
accurate to five seconds a year. Those accuracies in the twenty-first century are
what quartz has brought us. Quartz clocks may be what Carlos Perez calls, “The final
paradigm of horological evolution”, or, as we might say, “It doesn’t get any better
than this!”
Quartz, a chemical crystal, was found to vibrate at a certain frequency when an
electric current was passed through it. This principle was used by Bell Labs to create
that first quartz clock, discovering in the process-unsurpassed accuracy for the time.
The use of quartz was in the realm of navigation, astronomy, and some government
communication equipment through the 1930’s to the mid-1960’s. Quartz crystals,
combined with Cesium, established the UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) system in 1961,
and the worldwide setting of the “value” of a second in 1967. That time system
generally referred to as Zulu Time, and the exact measurement of a second remain today.
Sealing the quartz from temperature variations and magnetic fields required larger
pieces of equipment, and the cost was beyond any use by the general public. Reducing
the size, lowering the cost, improving durability, providing a manageable electrical
power supply and extending crystal life all presented challenges to those seeking to
bring quartz to the market place. Quartz clocks and watches received their impetus to
public life with the miniaturization and integrated circuits that were developed as
part of the computer revolution in the late 1960’s.
Quartz clocks and wristwatches flew into the marketplace from Seiko and Switzerland
along with the “Dawning of the Age of Aquarius” in 1970. Clocks powered by house
current with quartz tuning fork shaped resonators replaced the tick-tock of the
spring driven clock on the nightstand. Wristwatches that never needed to be
wound-using quartz crystals replaced the spring driven ones. More production meant
lower costs, and lower costs led to more purchases, which led to more production ---
in the marketplace so enamored by Adam Smith. Innovation continued as the analogue
readout of time was replaced, thanks again to the microchip, by a digital readout.
First in Light Emitting Diode display, which continues in electric supplied quartz
clocks, and later in Liquid Crystal Display for watches, which required less battery
drain to power than a LED display. A digital time display now glows from everything
from an oven, to a DVD player, and to our computer screens, many regulated for
accuracy by automatic connection to a central network timepiece slaved to an atomic
clock. The resonating of the crystal as the electricity passes through it is
interpreted by microchips and sent to the display. Many modern clocks, including
floor clocks and ones that have analogue displays, use quartz crystals for power and
accuracy. The power from the crystals may also be used to operate a pendulum, only for
appearance, or spinning crystal pendulums, and to chime the hour or play music.
While a quartz clock, particularly to those admirers of antique clocks, lacks the
romance and history surrounding the weekly lifting of the weights or winding of the
spring; we now know within a nanosecond when lunchtime at work starts.
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