only search this site!

Email Me!


Version 3.6
15-June-2009

Welcome!

This is my web site dedicated to that short period between 1957 and the mid 1970s when reigned! By "electric", I mean they have a battery, either a balance wheel or a tuning fork and either electrical contacts or a transistor. This was a very short-lived transitional phase: transistors were just becoming available and mass-produced quartz watches had not yet appeared. So there are no mechanical watches (manuals or automatics) on the site but I have included one or two very early quartz watches.

really have died out. Quartz is king in the 21st century, but conventional spring-driven manual and automatic mechanical watches are enjoying a revival both at the top end of the market as well as at the bottom end. Not so with the electrics; the last one was probably made in the mid 1970s.

In strict terms, "electric" watches are those without any electronic components i.e. no resistors, diodes or transistors; just a coil, contact and battery such as the Hamilton 500 and 505. But this site also includes the early "electronic" watches. Some key facts:

• Hamilton : world's first electric watch
• LIP : world's first watch to employ an electronic component (a diode to reduce sparking on the contacts)
• Bulova Accutron : world's first watch to employ a transistor
• ESA Dynotron : world's first watch to employ a balance wheel and a transistor

Looking for information on Richard Arbib? Visit the Hamilton section under "The Makers"!

Servicing and Repairs: I now offer a servicing and repair service for these . If you are interested in getting your electric watch serviced or repaired, then please click here. I also work on mechanical watches, both manual wind and automatics, so get in touch if you have one that needs some attention!

Virtually all the photographs of movements and watches on the site are photographs of my actual watches! Please do not copy these photographs without my permission. Various other photographs and scans are shown with full permission of the owner and this is usually acknowledged on the page but also on the Acknowledgements page --- please don't copy these.

Most site navigation is performed via the lefthand navigation menu but there are also additional links in the main text as well as at the top of each page to more detailed information, so look out for those.

There are three main sections:

• "Watch Makers" shows you the watch makers / assemblers and their watches using electric movements; this section also covers those movement makers whose name never appeared on a dial e.g. ESA, Landeron.
• "Movement Gallery" helps you identify the electric or electronic movement in your watch and also gives battery, year and movement type information.
• "Movement Types" goes into more detail about how each of the various type of movement works and shows examples of each type of movement.
• The "Cross Reference" link on the left marries these two groups together.

I'm always on the look out for interesting early , so if you have one or more For Sale, I may well be interested! Please email me!