Who invented quartz movement?
The invention of quartz movement cannot be attributed to a single person or company at a single moment, but is the result of years of research and development.
However, we can identify key moments and main players:
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The Beginning (1920s): The first experiments and applications of quartz crystal for timekeeping date back to 1927 , by J.W. Horton and W.A. Morrison in the United States, at Bell Telephone Laboratories. These first quartz "clocks" were enormous and complex machines, used primarily in laboratories and observatories for their extreme precision (as a universal time reference).
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The Race for the First Wristwatch (1960s): In the 1960s, several watchmaking companies in Switzerland and Japan were working intensively to miniaturize quartz technology and adapt it to a wristwatch.
- In Switzerland, the Centre Electronique Horloger (CEH) developed a prototype in 1962 and then the Beta21 caliber in 1969, the result of a collaboration between several Swiss watchmakers.
- At the same time, in Japan, Seiko made significant progress.
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The first commercial quartz wristwatch (1969): The turning point came on December 25, 1969 , when Seiko released the Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ . This was the first quartz wristwatch available for purchase by the public, marking the beginning of the "quartz crisis" for the traditional mechanical watch industry and revolutionizing the industry with its accuracy and affordability.
So, although the scientific concept and early laboratory applications date back to the 1920s, it is Seiko that is credited with introducing the first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969, making this technology a reality for the general public.