Reinvention of watches has been done over and over so many times. New concepts kept arising during earlier years. There is one concept that has exceeded all watch inventions, the electronic watch. Let’s take a look into its history.

History

Electronic watches are those that have a digital screen and have few parts in the movement but provide a stable movement. The first electronic concept came out in 1959 by the company Seiko. Seiko ordered Epson to start working on developing the quartz movement. Epson became the brains behind this revolution. By the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 1964, Seiko and Epson managed to get their first model of a quartz watch, which got a great hype throughout the Olympics.

From 1965-1967, the inventors main focus was to minimize the electronic watch and integrating a thermo-compensation and integrated circuit. Thanks to Seiko and Epson, in 1967, it set new performance records in the International Chronometric Competition. The first quartz watch that was sold was in December 25, 1969 and it was called Seiko 35 SQ Astron. Unfortunately, since the technology behind the electronic watch was developed by the Swiss, Seiko was unable to patent the Quartz Watch, which allowed other manufacturers to benefit from this invention. On the good side, it became extremely popular within a short period, putting an end of 100 years of traditional watches.

Modern Quartz Wristwatch

Mass production began in the 1970’s, under the management of the Swatch Group. Some subsidiaries of the Swatch Group began producing watch batteries (Renata), oscillators (Oscilloquartz), and integrated circuits (Ebauches Electronic SA). In 1963, Swatch has a brand new design, styling, and marketing. With having the quartz watch as an ally, Swatch has become the largest watch company in the entire world.

After spending over 20 years of researching and improving the electronic watch, the Seiko Spring Drive came to life in 1999. At first, it was sold domestically, but when it became a hot item, it was introduced to the world in 2005. There are many styles of electronic watches, for example, some are powered by the movement of the wearer, some require small batteries, and some are powered by solar panels. One of the best watch brands to carry the best designs is Casio Watches. They carry some of the most fashionable watches like the G-Shock watch. There is no doubt that this innovative invention of the electronic watch is one of a kind!