At Robert Gatward Jewellers, we specialise in selling premium timepieces from a selection of handpicked brands. These luxury watches are all equipped with either a quartz movement, an automatic movement, or a manual winder.

For those who don’t know, the movement or caliber in a watch is what makes it tick, and therefore what moves the hands on the dial. Without this mechanism, the watch would frankly be useless.

As tempting as it is to choose a new wristwatch based on aesthetics alone, the discerning watch buyer knows that quality watchmakers spend time carefully crafting the interior. A meticulous mechanism design can set a watch apart from others in the market.

In fact, you’ll find that the difference between a ‘cheap’ quartz watch and a pricier one is the quality of the movement.

In this blog post, we thought we’d take a closer look at the quartz movement — what it is, how it works, and why you’d want to own a quartz movement watch.

What is a quartz watch movement?

A quartz watch movement is powered by a battery and causes the second hand to move in ticks.

Seiko created the world’s first quartz watch movement in 1969 and released it in their Astron wristwatch.

The Japanese manufacturer created quite the stir with this limited release of 100 watches and kickstarted a trend for battery-powered wristwatches across the industry. The original versions of these watches were all mechanical.

At first, quartz watches were expensive (the Astron cost the equivalent of a small car), but developments in technology have meant that they are now much cheaper to manufacture. This discount has been passed on to customers, making quartz movement timepieces accessible for all.

How a quartz watch movement works

The quartz watch movement works in the following way:

• The battery in the watch sends an electrical current through a small piece of crystal quartz (or synthetic crystal quartz) which is embedded in the circuitry.
• This action causes the crystal to vibrate 32,768 times per second.
• The circuit measures these vibrations and converts them into one pulse every second.
• This pulse drives the motor, which then moves the watch hands or powers the digital display, enabling the watch to keep time.

Why choose a watch with a quartz movement?

Ninety-seven per cent of the watches produced each year are fitted with a quartz movement.

The creation of a quartz movement takes less watchmaking hours than an automatic movement, which means that quartz-powered watches tend to be cheaper to buy than their automatic counterparts.

Despite the lower price making some people view quartz watches as less prestigious, these timepieces are highly accurate and reliable.

They are also more durable than automatic watches because they feature fewer moving parts, so there is less potential for anything to go wrong. This means that they rarely require maintenance beyond the occasional replacement of the battery (every few years).

Much like automatic watches, you can buy quartz watches in a wide variety of types to suit your lifestyle — including chronographs for sports, and designer watches for style.

All of the below are quartz movement watches in the Robert Gatward Jewellers collection:

The Tissot T-sport T-Bike Tour De France Special Edition Chronograph Gents Watch is an eye-catching grey, black and yellow timepiece. This watch is ideal for most sports.

The Omega De Ville Tresor 18ct Rose Gold Diamond Watch features a grey leather strap paired with a rose gold case and elegant diamond paving. The resulting timepiece is, I think you’ll agree, stunning.

The Gucci G-Timeless Multi-Coloured Dial Watch features a textured black leather strap and dial combined with a stainless steel case. The dial is home to an eye-catching bee design.

If you are looking for an everyday watch that keeps good time and comes with minimal hassle, then a quartz movement is the perfect choice for you.

Are you interested in purchasing a quartz watch? Take a look at our 0% finance watches here.