This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Electric watch" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Hamilton electric watch. This model has a Hamilton caliber 505 (Moving coil system, contact controlled)
Lip electronic watch, caliber LIP R 184 (Fixed coil system, contact controlled)
Bulova Accutron Spaceview (electronic with tuning fork) 1967

In horology, the term electric watch is used for the first generation electrically-powered wristwatches which were first publicly displayed by both Elgin National Watch Company and Lip on March 19, 1952, with working laboratory examples in Chicago and Paris. The Hamilton Watch Company would be the first to produce and retail an electric watch beginning in 1957,[1] before the commercial introduction of the quartz wristwatch in 1969 by Seiko with the Astron. Their timekeeping element was either a traditional balance wheel or a tuning fork, driven electromagnetically by a solenoid powered by a battery.[2] The hands were driven mechanically through a wheel train. They were superseded by quartz watches, which had greater accuracy and durability due to their lower parts count. Recent automatic quartz watches, which combine mechanical technology with quartz timekeeping, are not included in this classification.

Weaknesses

A weak point in early balance wheel electric watches was the switch contacts on the balance wheel, which turned the solenoid on briefly to provide the impulse to keep the wheel oscillating. These wore out and did not operate reliably.[3] Later designs used electromagnetic sensing, with a transistor in the circuit to turn the solenoid on.[citation needed]

Types of electric watches

See also

References

  1. ^ Engineering time: inventing the electronic wristwatch, Carlene Stephens and Maggie Dennis, British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 33, pp. 477–497, 2000, Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ The Electric Watch Repair Manual, Henry B. Fried, 1965, B. Jadow and Sons Publishers, Library of Congress Card Number 65-18620, p.34, "ELECTRIC TIMEPIECES - HOW AND WHY THEY WORK"
  3. ^ The Electric Watch Repair Manual, Henry B. Fried, 1965, B. Jadow and Sons Publishers, Library of Congress Card Number 65-18620, p.59, "SPARKING: ITS CAUSES AND CURES"
  4. ^ The Electric Watch Repair Manual, Henry B. Fried, 1965, B. Jadow and Sons Publishers, Library of Congress Card Number 65-18620, p.161, "THE HAMILTON ELECTRIC WATCH"
  5. ^ "The Hamilton Electric 500". Archived from the original on 2014-02-12. Retrieved 2014-09-11.
  6. ^ The Electric Watch Repair Manual, Henry B. Fried, 1965, B. Jadow and Sons Publishers, Library of Congress Card Number 65-18620; p.134, "THE BENRUS ELECTRIC WATCH"; p.149, "THE ELGIN'S ELECTRIC WATCH"; p.171 "THE LIP ELECTRIC WATCH"; p.183, "THE SWISS ELECTRIC WATCH"
  7. ^ "The Electronic Age". Retrieved 2014-09-11.
  8. ^ The Electric Watch Repair Manual, Henry B. Fried, 1965, B. Jadow and Sons Publishers, Library of Congress Card Number 65-18620, p.103, "ACCUTRON"
  9. ^ "The Accutron "Spaceview D"". Archived from the original on 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2014-09-11.
Category