Inside a Quarrtz Watch (Page 2 of 2)

First Back Plate Removal	This picture shows the first of two stainless steel back plates which must be removed to get to the mechanism. These plates serve to shield the electronics, carry gear bearings/pivots, and act as return springs for the pushers. They are very accurate precision stampings.

Second Back Plate Removal	The second backplate, when removed exposes the flexible printed circuit board.

Flexible Printed Circuit Board	The flexible printed circuit board is the "control center" for the entire watch. It consists of the Control Integrated Circuit "I", the 32,767 hZ crystal "C" and alarm transducer circuitry "P". This P.C.B. is similar to that found in cameras and other electronic instruments. All of the interconnects are pressure type Gold to Gold so no soldering is required.

Gears at Last !	After the circuit board is removed the back plate is the next item to come off. Two more white nylon cams "S" are turned to remove the back plate revealing the geartrain and stepper motors.

Gears and Motors	With the back plate off the geartrain can be removed. The geartrain consists of: 7 - Brass and Nickel gears. 2 - Hard plastic gears (Green) 5 - White Nylon gears. This watch has 4 stepper motors "S" ! The motors consist of an armature (white dots that the call out points to) and a coil for each motor.

Closeup of Motors	The closeup in this picture shows the steel bushing "B" for the main watch hands, a somewhat complex looking spring "S" which operates the setting mechanism for the crown, and, finally the damaged part, a dent in the coil "D" which must have been causing the intermittant opertaion.

Conclusion Far from being a blob of plastic with a battery and motor, quartz watches are quite impressive when you consider the number of technologies involved in their production. Everything from precision diecasting to miniature motors to standard screw machine fabrication is involved. You won't find any "Old World Craftsmanship" here, just modern manufacturing of the type that made Japanese cars and cameras some of the best in the world.