The fascinating tale of clepsydra, pendulums and quartz

[Tokyo Tokei]

A bit more on the early quartz wristwatch development (and a great site in general, with articles on a lot of interesting Omega projects such as the X-33 and Alaska Speedmasters ) is here https://omegaprototypes.com/swiss-quartz-evolution

[Mitch]

Very interesting thread, which I missed first time around.

Whilst I was generally aware of the workings of a quartz watch it was interesting to insert its history into the horological timeline.



Mitch

[Tokyo Tokei]

Thanks Mitch, it was a long read but you got the point exactly - the art and science of timekeeping didn’t, as the advertisers and influencers might have us believe, begin in the 1800s in an exclusive Swiss atelier and wasn’t nearly wiped out in the 1970s. It simply evolved, using the best known tools and human ingenuity of the age.

This continuity is precisely what the modern quartz watch offers, right back to those ancient water clocks. We are living through this age right now, and it seems a gentle shame to me not to celebrate it a little in the present.