Timeline  /  The first quartz wristwatch
1969

The first quartz wristwatch

Seiko sold the first quartz wristwatch, the Quartz Astron, in Tokyo on 25 December 1969.

Seiko Quartz Astron of 1969
The Seiko Quartz Astron of 1969, calibre 35A — the watch itself. Deutsches Uhrenmuseum.Photograph: Deutsches-uhrenmuseum · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The need
Accuracy far beyond anything a balance wheel could deliver.
Made by
Suwa Seikosha, part of Seiko.
What was new
A quartz crystal vibrating 8,192 times a second, divided down by a circuit to drive a stepping motor. Seiko quoted about five seconds a month.
Worth knowing
One hundred were made, in 18-carat gold, at 450,000 yen, about the price of a medium-sized car. Within fifteen years quartz had taken over the watch industry.
Where it is now
The example shown is in the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum, Furtwangen.

Historian’s noteFirst sold, not first built: Swiss prototypes ran in 1967, and Longines announced a quartz watch in August 1969 that did not ship until later.

SourcesIEEE Milestone · Seiko Museum Ginza

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