Birth of the Electric Watch

 By Bruce Shawkey

Found this interesting article in a 1961 issue of Europa Star magazine. Electrics had been around since the '50s, but this article showed new models and emphasized the improvements to the electric watch.

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People who visited the Swiss Watch Fair at Basle this year witnessed the triumph of the Swiss electric watch which was produced by Ebauches S.A., NeuchAtel. The degree of perfection att-ained by this revolutionary timepiece is due greatly to the patient investigations and research work of its designers who had been able to benefit from earlier inventions in this line. 

These were the aims of the designers of the Calibre L 4750: 

1. That the cost price should be eventually no no higher than that of selfwinding lever watches. 

2. That the timekeeping performance should compare favourably with that of good quality lever watches. 

3. That the source of energy should be separate from the movement for considerations of safety and also so as to give freedom of choice between a battery and an accumulator. 

4. That the watch should be as simple as possible 

so as to facilitate its assembly by many firms and also its subsequent servicing. 

The Ebauches L 4750 has a battery or accumulator which impulses the balance electro-magnetic-ally. The balance drives the train of the watch through a small click and lever wheel similar to the lever and escape wheel of a conventional watch. The electric circuit is made and broken at each vibration of the balance wheel by a contact finger touching two contact springs. 

The battery, which is the size of a coin, is placed in a special compartment on the back of the waterproof case and is thus separate from the movement itself, a distinct advantage, since in this way the movement need never be opened. Replacement of the battery, which lasts for 12 to 15 months, can be carried out in a few seconds by the watchmaker while the customer waits. 

The owner of an electric watch can put it on his wrist and forget it. Although the mechanical watch normally satisfies this requirement too, it does not cater for people confined to bed or who otherwise make few movements of the wrist.