The History of the Watch

Chronometers are accurate timepieces able to keep time with a set location over long journeys. These timepieces proved extremely useful to sailors in the 18th century as it allowed them to find their longitudinal position, that is to say how far round the globe they were. The anchor point used by all British ships was the Greenwich Meridian, and the time ball they used to check before departing is still on display but not used as it has been outdated by GPS. Chronometers were also used in competitions around the UK to find the most accurate version of a chronometer that could be produced, unfortunately because these chronometers were produced to be as accurate as possible, portability and durability were not taken into account when designing them, this left the most accurate chronometers in the observatories where they were tested as they were deemed too fragile to be given to the [public for every-day use. Unfortunately the chronometer for use in sea and air navigation has been surpassed by Global Position Systems facilitated by satellites at the end of the 20th century

The term Chronograph is used to denote a timekeeping piece that also has a function as a stopwatch. Such watches have been around from the early 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820's. You can tell an analogue chronograph watch by the fact that they contain 3 dials on the front behind the main time display. These dials are used in the stopwatch function of the watch to tell mainly the seconds, minutes and hours that have passed since the stopwatch was started, high end chronographs can include the tide position and state of the sun in relation to where you are synced to. These watches can cost a lot but are useful if you work underground or on the sea.

In the 1960's-70's it was the advent of the quartz watch, this made all previous Chronograph and Chronometer watches less practical, reducing them to being luxury items. It is capable of keeping fairly accurate time and still being small and durable enough to be a wrist watch. The quartz crystal (silicon dioxide) can be made to oscillate at a desired frequency if it is cut and positioned correctly with the correct voltage. This allows watches to tell accurate time with a counter so long as the desired voltage is reached and maintained. All modern battery watches work in this way, which is why when the battery runs down the watch will begin to slow as the crystal is slowing down and the counter is not being tripped at the correct frequency. You can tell that the watch you are buying is quartz quite clearly from the face, as it will have the word quartz written on it.