The Quartz Watch

In most conventional quartz watches, a quartz resonator provides the timing reference. A typical wristwatch crystal oscillates at 32,768 Hz—2¹⁵ cycles per second. An electronic divider halves the frequency fifteen times to produce one pulse per second; circuitry then counts seconds and minutes or drives a stepper motor. Quartz is piezoelectric: an electrical signal sustains mechanical vibration, and resonance provides a stable frequency. Not every electronic clock uses this exact quartz mechanism, but it became a common, low-cost way to keep everyday time.