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— | beta_21 [03.07.2022 15:32] (current) – created - external edit 127.0.0.1 | ||
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+ | ====== Beta 21 ====== | ||
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+ | **Beta 21** is the initial [[quartz]] watch movement produced by the [[Centre Electronique Horloger]], a consortium of Swiss watchmakers, | ||
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+ | ===== Background ===== | ||
+ | [[Electric watch]]es became a reality in the 1950s, with [[LIP]] and [[Hamilton]] producing commercial products by the end of the decade. [[Bulova]]' | ||
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+ | Leading Swiss watch companies pooled their resources in [[1962]] to create the [[CEH]], though the organization was initially reluctant to develop quartz wrist watch technology. The initial work at CEH to develop an electronic wristwatch focused on two concepts similar in approach to the Accutron. The " | ||
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+ | Instead, it was an " | ||
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+ | ===== Beta 1 ===== | ||
+ | On May 7, [[1965]], Armin Frei proposed to use a quartz oscillator coupled to a frequency divider similar to Forrer' | ||
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+ | The first product of this collaboration appeared in [[1967]] and was called the **Beta 1**. A prototype, known as CEH 1020, was constructed by Jean Hermann and François Niklès in July 1967, probably the first functional quartz wristwatch. It was entered in the International Chronometric Competition in Neuchâtel. Although the Beta 1 is often called the first quartz wrist watch movement, it was not intended for series production. | ||
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+ | The Beta 1 used a bar-shaped 24 mm quartz crystal that resonated at 8192 Hz. The resulting signal was routed through a 14 stage frequency reduction chain in an integrated circuit, producing a final oscillation rate of 0.5 Hz, or one complete oscillation every two seconds. Each half-oscillation triggered a 60-position stepper motor, causing the seconds hand to advance one second in a distinctive [[dead beat]] ticking motion which has become synonymous with quartz watches today. The stepper motor used an anchor, similar to a [[Swiss lever escapement]], | ||
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+ | The completed prototype was enclosed in a square case and delivered to the [[Neuchâtel Observatory]] for [[chronometer]] timing. On August 13, [[1967]], the Observatory announced that it had reached a chronometer classification of 0.189, which was far better than any other watch tested, including the dominant [[Bulova Accutron]]. In total, ten Beta 1 watches would be sent to Neuchâtel for testing in 1967, and these beat the Seiko quartz watches sent that year thanks to the CEH thermocompensation and adjustment mechanisms. | ||
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+ | ===== Beta 2 ===== | ||
+ | Due to the power drain on the Beta 1 movement, and internal resistance to the stepper motor approach, an alternative project known as **Beta 2** was initiated. It used a simplified 5-stage frequency reduction process which drove a vibration motor, similar to a [[tuning fork]] movement. This resulted in a smoother sweep similar to electronic watch movements like the [[Accutron]] and [[Megasonic]]. The reduced component could also improved battery efficiency to greater than one year. The first Beta 2 prototype was completed in August, 1967, less than a month later than the Beta 1. These were developed by Max Forrer' | ||
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+ | The CEH officially announced the development of a practical quartz wristwatch on December 19, [[1967]], becoming the first to produce and announce such a watch. | ||
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+ | ===== Beta 21 ===== | ||
+ | On February 15, [[1968]], CEH management decided to jointly produce a single watch movement based on these designs. The Beta 21 movement was unveiled on April 10, [[1970]], nine months after [[Longines]] introduced their [[Ultra-Quartz]] and four months after [[Seiko]] introduced their [[Seiko Astron|Astron]] quartz watch for sale. | ||
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+ | The Beta 21 is an electronic movement featuring a quartz crystal oscillating at 8192 Hz. This was reduced to 256 Hz and drove a vibration motor like the Beta 2 and similar to the popular [[Bulova Accutron]] and [[Mosaba]] from [[Ebauches SA]]. For this reason, unlike more modern quartz watch movements, the seconds hand sweeps rather than ticking once per second. In contrast, the Seiko quartz movement used a stepper motor like the Beta 1, ticking once per second. The Beta 21 movement used two integrated circuit components the quartz maintenance " | ||
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+ | Just 6,000 Beta 21 movements were produced before the Swiss industry discarded the joint production concept. But individual watch companies also produced their own Beta 21-based movements | ||
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+ | * [[Bucherer]] Quartz | ||
+ | * [[Bulova]] [[Bulova Accuquartz|Accuquartz]] (later Accuquartz movements used a [[tuning fork]]) | ||
+ | * [[IWC]] [[IWC Da Vinci|Da Vinci]], International, | ||
+ | * [[Omega]] Electroquartz Calibre 1300/ | ||
+ | * [[Longines]] Quartz-Chron (only one known to have been produced) | ||
+ | * [[Patek Philippe]] Cercle d'Or | ||
+ | * [[Piaget]] | ||
+ | * [[Rado]] Quartz 8192 | ||
+ | * [[Rolex Oysterquartz]] (320 made) | ||
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+ | The following companies produced Beta 21-based movements but no complete watches are known | ||
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+ | * [[Favre-Leuba]] | ||
+ | * [[Jaeger-LeCoultre]] Masterquartz | ||
+ | * [[Zenith]] | ||
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+ | ===== Beta 22 ===== | ||
+ | The CEH refined the Beta 21 design as the **Beta 22** in the 1970' | ||
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+ | Known movements | ||
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+ | * [[Rolex Oysterquartz]] calibre 5100 (650 made) | ||
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+ | ===== Beta Project Members ===== | ||
+ | Within the CEH, the " | ||
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+ | * [[Bulova]] | ||
+ | * [[Communauté d' | ||
+ | * [[Ebel]], [[Juvenia]], | ||
+ | * [[Synchron]] ([[Borel]], [[Doxa]], [[Cyma]]) | ||
+ | * [[Zodiac]] | ||
+ | * [[Favre-Leuba]] | ||
+ | * [[Credos]] | ||
+ | * [[Elgin]] | ||
+ | * [[Enicar]] | ||
+ | * [[IWC]] | ||
+ | * [[Jaeger-LeCoultre|LeCoultre & Cie]] | ||
+ | * [[Longines]] | ||
+ | * [[Omega]] | ||
+ | * [[Patek Philippe]] | ||
+ | * [[Rado]] | ||
+ | * [[Rolex Bienne]] | ||
+ | * [[Rolex Geneva]] | ||
+ | * [[Zenith]] | ||
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+ | * [[Complications SA]] | ||
+ | * [[Ebauches SA]] | ||
+ | * [[Fabriques de Assortiments Réunies]] | ||
+ | * [[Fabriques de Balanciers Réunies]] | ||
+ | * [[Fabriques de Spiraux Réunies]] | ||
+ | * [[Fédération Horlogère Suisse]] | ||
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+ | ===== Further Developments ===== | ||
+ | Like the Japanese and Americans, the Swiss moved on to stepper motor designs with semiconductor-based counters rather than an electronic frequency reduction chain. Omega, the strongest Beta family producer, developed their own [[Omega Megaquartz|Megaquartz]] movements, as did [[Rolex]] with their later [[Rolex Oysterquartz|Oysterquartz]] movements. The modern quartz watch movement, exemplified by the [[Swatch]], has much more in common with these non-Swiss designs than the Beta 21. | ||
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+ | ===== External Links ===== | ||
+ | * [[https:// | ||
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+ | {{tag> | ||
beta_21.txt · Last modified: 03.07.2022 15:32 by 127.0.0.1