Quartz wristwatch (Seiko Astron)
Reloj de pulsera de cuarzo (Seiko Astron)
- Date
- 1969 · confidence high
- Place
- Suwa Seikosha, Suwa, Nagano, Japan
- Credited to
- Seiko (Suwa Seikosha team)
- People
- 👤 Seiko Matsuda1962–
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
The first commercial wristwatch controlled by a quartz crystal, ten times more accurate than mechanical ones. It triggered the quartz crisis that devastated traditional Swiss watchmaking.
The laboratory quartz clock was invented in 1927 (Bell Labs); Seiko released its patents and the technology spread rapidly.
What it led to
- the quartz crisis in Switzerland
- cheap digital watches
- quartz oscillators throughout electronics