The
Astron wristwatch, formally known as the
Seiko Quartz-Astron 35SQ, was the world's first "
quartz clockA quartz clock is a clock that uses an electronic oscillator that is regulated by a quartz crystal to keep time. This crystal oscillator creates a signal with very precise frequency, so that quartz clocks are at least an order of magnitude more accurate than good mechanical clocks...
" wristwatch, i.e., one based on a
quartzQuartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust . It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO
4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO
2.There are many different varieties of...
crystal oscillatorA crystal oscillator is an electronic circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a very precise frequency...
. It is now registered on the
List of IEEE Milestones as a key advance in
electrical engineeringElectrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after...
.
The Astron was unveiled in
Tokyo, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....
on December 25, 1969, after ten years of research and development at
Suwa Seikoshawas a branch of the Japanese company Seiko that produces clocks, watches, computer printers and other devices. It was the root of the manufacturing companies of the Seiko Group.*1881 -- Kintarō Hattori opens the watch and jewelry shop "K...
(currently named
Seiko Epson, or Epson, is a Japanese company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of inkjet, dot matrix and laser printers, scanners, desktop computers, business, multimedia and home theatre projectors, large home theatre televisions, robots and industrial automation equipment, point of sale docket...
), a manufacturing company of
Seiko Groupis a Japanese corporate group consisting of three core companies Seiko Holdings Corp. , Seiko Instruments Inc. and Seiko Epson Corp . They are independent companies linked together by the common thread of timepiece technology...
.
The
Astron wristwatch, formally known as the
Seiko Quartz-Astron 35SQ, was the world's first "
quartz clockA quartz clock is a clock that uses an electronic oscillator that is regulated by a quartz crystal to keep time. This crystal oscillator creates a signal with very precise frequency, so that quartz clocks are at least an order of magnitude more accurate than good mechanical clocks...
" wristwatch, i.e., one based on a
quartzQuartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust . It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO
4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO
2.There are many different varieties of...
crystal oscillatorA crystal oscillator is an electronic circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a very precise frequency...
. It is now registered on the
List of IEEE Milestones as a key advance in
electrical engineeringElectrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after...
.
The Astron was unveiled in
Tokyo, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....
on December 25, 1969, after ten years of research and development at
Suwa Seikoshawas a branch of the Japanese company Seiko that produces clocks, watches, computer printers and other devices. It was the root of the manufacturing companies of the Seiko Group.*1881 -- Kintarō Hattori opens the watch and jewelry shop "K...
(currently named
Seiko Epson, or Epson, is a Japanese company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of inkjet, dot matrix and laser printers, scanners, desktop computers, business, multimedia and home theatre projectors, large home theatre televisions, robots and industrial automation equipment, point of sale docket...
), a manufacturing company of
Seiko Groupis a Japanese corporate group consisting of three core companies Seiko Holdings Corp. , Seiko Instruments Inc. and Seiko Epson Corp . They are independent companies linked together by the common thread of timepiece technology...
. Within one week 100 gold watches had been sold, at a retail price of 450,000 yen (US$1,250) each (at the time, equivalent to the price of a medium-sized Japanese automobile). Essential elements included a quartz crystal oscillator (8,192 cyles/second), a hybrid
integrated circuitIn electronics, an integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
, and a miniature stepping motor to turn its hands. The Astron was accurate to ±5 seconds per month, or one minute per year.