The wearer's arm actions cause a weight behind the movement to rotate, winding the mainspring. Despite the name, automatic watches can also be wound manually. Quartz Quartz watches are powered by batteries rather than a mechanical spring. The batteries send electronic impulses through a small bar of synthetic quartz which vibrates more than 32,000 times per second. These vibrations are then channeled through a series of gears and converted to one impulse per second.
Quartz watches are generally more accurate than mechanical watches, for two reasons.
One, mechanical watches have many moving parts. That means more friction and less accuracy as the parts interact. Two, the quartz s constant and amazingly frequent vibrations enable watches to measure the second with unprecedented accuracy. A quartz watch should function properly for years with a battery life of one to five years. The terms analog and digital refer to the way time is displayed on the watch face.