Qu’est-ce qu’une montre quartz et comment fonctionne-t-elle ?

What is a quartz watch and how does it work?

News

08.08.2024

Choosing a watch is not always easy. You can base your choice on the price, the color, the components, the design, the brand or the type of watch. When you go to a watch manufacturer, you have the opportunity to choose from different types of watches, such as automatic watches, quartz watches, chronograph watches, solar watches, etc. The choice can then be difficult, especially if you have very little knowledge about the world of watches. To help you, we have written this article to explain everything you need to know about quartz watches and how they work.

What is a quartz watch?

As the name implies, a quartz watch is a watch made of quartz, or more precisely a quartz oscillator. Although present in small quantities, quartz and its vibrations allow the watch to function. This mineral has properties called piezoelectric: in other words, it can vibrate and oscillate in a regular way if an electrical voltage is applied to it. The piezoelectric effect was discovered around 1880 by the brothers Pierre and Jacques Curie. When watchmakers learned that quartz had piezoelectric properties, they realized that it was the perfect component to make a watch work. The reason? Quartz allows for a high frequency of vibration, which makes quartz watches extremely accurate. This led to the creation of the first quartz wristwatch in 1967. Since then, this watch with battery has become a must-have for watch brands, including Pierre Lannier, and is available in various colors or strap materials. Stainless steel watches are particularly popular.

How does a quartz watch work?

In concrete terms, how does a quartz watch work? As you may already know, a quartz watch has a battery, which generally has a fairly long life span. The role of this battery is to provide electrical energy that will, in a way, stimulate the quartz and thus make it vibrate. The vibrations emitted are then transmitted to an electronic counter, which after counting a certain number of oscillations, makes the second hand move.

Why do people say that quartz watches are not very slow?

Because of the vibrations of quartz. Quartz has the particularity of having an extremely precise vibration frequency, of the order of 32,768 vibrations in one second. The counter in the watch triggers the second hand once the 32,768 vibrations are reached. This frequency of vibration is the same for all quartz plates present in quartz watches. It is this regularity that allows quartz watches to be extremely accurate and to lag very little. It is estimated that a quartz watch loses only one second every six years.

How long does a quartz watch last?

Tout comme les montres automatiques, les montres quartz en acier inoxydable peuvent durer plusieurs années, à condition d’en prendre soin. Il est conseillé de changer la pile de sa montre régulièrement, à savoir tous les 18 mois. Entretenir sa montre régulièrement est essentiel pour éviter de l’endommager, surtout si celle-ci a passé beaucoup de temps rangée dans le tiroir. La pile peut se mettre à couler et endommager le mécanisme de la montre si elle n’est pas changée. Néanmoins, les rouages des montres quartz s’usent très peu. Attention également si vous possédez un bracelet en cuir : contrairement aux bracelets en acier ou acier milanais, mieux vaut éviter l’eau ! Vous l’aurez compris, les montres quartz, notamment celles en acier inoxydable, habilleront votre poignet pendant de nombreuses années. Autre critère important : la marque de votre montre. Privilégiez une marque de fabricant horloger pour être sûr d’acheter une montre de qualité et de profiter de l’expertise des horlogers. Réparer votre montre, l’entretenir et changer son bracelet sera ainsi beaucoup plus facile avec une marque spécialisée dans le domaine de l’horlogerie. Avec nos montres Pierre Lannier, vous disposez d’une garantie de deux ans sur n’importe quelle montre automatique, quartz ou solaire. It is thus possible for you to have your steel or leather watch maintained by experts.

Discover which Pierre Lannier watch to choose

Why is a quartz watch cheaper than an automatic watch?

Vous l’avez sans doute remarqué, la montre quartz en acier ou en cuir est plus accessible qu’une montre automatique. Son prix est un des premiers critères de choix lors de l’achat d’une montre quartz. Mais quelle est la raison de cette différence ? Les montres quartz sont bien différentes des montres automatiques. Leur principale distinction : leur fonctionnement. Les montres quartz fonctionnent avec une pile, tandis que les montres automatiques fonctionnent grâce à une action mécanique. Le mouvement automatique est bien plus complexe qu’une montre quartz, et requiert plus de savoir-faire et de technique horlogère. Par ailleurs, une montre automatique pour homme ou pour femme a une durée de vie presque éternelle. Si vous portez régulièrement votre montre, celle-ci peut fonctionner continuellement. Il suffit d’effectuer quelques révisions de temps à autres, tous les 3 à 5 ans, ce qui est bien moins qu’une montre quartz. D’autre part, il est possible d’admirer le mécanisme en mouvement d’une montre automatique grâce à son cadran squelette. On peut noter d’ailleurs une différence de prix entre des montres quartz d’une même marque en fonction des modèles et de leurs caractéristiques. For example, men's chronographs are more expensive than classic quartz watches. Other criteria may come into play such as the material of the bracelet (leather, steel or Milanese steel), the color, the dial work, the materials used, etc.

Quartz Watches Automatic Watches

Which quartz watch to choose ?

The quartz watch has undeniable advantages. Their precision and their almost guaranteed accuracy is the main reason why we buy them, to the detriment of an automatic watch, which works thanks to the movements of our wrists. This explains why quartz watches are now among the best-selling watches in the world. You can choose from a large selection of quartz watches, for men and women, chronograph or not, with a leather or steel bracelet. At Pierre Lannier, we offer quartz watches for men and women. Available in several colors, strap materials and design, our quartz watches are perfect to fit all tastes, habits and accompany your daily life. Are you looking for an urban men's watch with a simple yet elegant design? We recommend our Cityline, Echo or Gaius collections. For women, discover our Aura, Nova and Délice collections, elegant and refined, ideal for thin wrists. For more performance, opt for the quartz chronograph collections such as Beaucour, Baron or Woofer for men and Symphony for women. Want to test the square case watch? It's possible with our men's collections Contraste or Lecaré, which also exists for women. And if you're looking for a unique design for women's watches, choose the Eolia, Asteroid or Elara collections instead.

Men's quartz watches Women's quartz watches

How to repair a quartz watch ?

It is possible that one day your quartz watch will not work properly, or at all. In general, it takes between a year and a half and three years before a battery runs down completely and the mechanism of your watch no longer works. At the first signs of malfunction, it is imperative to change the battery of your watch to avoid damaging its mechanism. How can you tell when a battery has reached its limit? Just look at the hands: if they start jumping at the wrong rate or if they don't move at all, it's time to replace the battery! You can therefore rely on the hands, but also on the date when you last changed your watch battery. Contrary to appearances, changing the battery in your watch is not without risks. Repairing and maintaining a watch with a battery means choosing an equivalent battery to avoid damaging the mechanism. It is also necessary to have knowledge of watchmaking to avoid any malfunction, in particular not to lose the waterproofness of your watch. If you want to repair your quartz watch without taking any risks in order to preserve it for a longer period of time, we advise you to call a master watchmaker to do the repair. Our advice: find a trusted partner to take advantage of his know-how and advice.

Find out where and how to change the battery in your watch.