What is a quartz movement, anyway, and how come quartz watches are so popular?
Read on. 1. What is quartz? Quartz is a crystalline mineral, silicon dioxide, that is found in abundance in the earth’s crust and is the principal component of sand. The quartz used in watches is synthetic, or man-made. Watch manufacturers use synthetic quartz crystals rather than natural ones because they have more consistent properties. 2. What is a quartz watch? A quartz watch is one that measures time by means of a paper-thin piece of synthetic quartz. The quartz vibrates very quickly in response to an electric charge; it is these vibrations that enable the watch to keep time. Quartz watches have either an analog dial, with rotating hands, or a digital display, which shows the time with numbers. Most analog watches have quartz movements. All digital ones do. 3. Where does the electricity come from? In most quartz watches, it comes from a battery. Some quartz watches, however, get their electricity from a mini electrical generator incorporated into the watch movement. The generator
