How long does a quartz clock movement last? Today there are many types of wall clocks to choose from in all styles and price ranges.
We will cover the different types of Quartz clock to help you understand how they are made and the design differences.
What is Quartz Wall Clock?
Quartz wall clocks are the most accurate home clocks today, where time is regulated by a quartz crystal oscillator in motion. The quartz crystal oscillator creates a signal at a precise frequency of 32768 times per second, making it very accurate. The quartz movements in these watches can be made in a wide variety of quality. These quartz movements can cost 5.00 – 30.00 if only time dependent.
How long does a quartz clock movement last? Better mechanisms use better plastics, higher build accuracy, and heavier copper in the coil. While there is a higher quality move we’ve seen in the last 20 years, a cheap move can take several years. Your better wall clock brands like Howard Miller, Bulova, Seiko, and Rhythm use better mechanisms than non-brand ones.
How long do wall clock batteries last?
A fresh fresh Alkaline battery should last more than a year in a wall clock. It’s always a good idea to check for battery leakage when you change the clock for Daylight Saving Time twice a year.
What is an Analog Wall Clock?
An Analog Wall Clock is a time-indicating hand clock, usually powered by a clock-bound Quartz movement.
Large Wall Clocks
Oversized clocks are very popular nowadays. When the very large wall clocks exploded in popularity about 10 years ago, a new mechanism had to be devised to be able to push the large, long arms up from 6:00 to 12:00 and prevent them from falling rapidly from 12:00 to 6:00.
High Torque Motion is designed for this purpose. These movements look like an ordinary quartz movement, but they are different in them. Large wall clocks are not audible and are made for most indoor use.
Most are powered by a single AA battery, which will power them for about a year at a time. These are about 4-5 times more expensive than traditional quartz mechanisms.
There are some great wall clocks that use traditional movements instead of high torque movement. These usually only last a few months.
That’s another reason to stay at your bigger, better brands like Howard Miller, Bulova, Seiko, and Rhythm.
Silent Sweep Wall Clocks
The silent sweep wall clock uses a specially designed movement to eliminate the ticking sound found in most wall clocks.
The ticking sound on traditional wall clocks is caused by the second hand moving from one second to the next. You’ll be able to hear it across a room in a quiet room, and sometimes the material of the wall can really amplify the clicking.
The Silent Sweep movement is designed to divide each second into several parts and move it forward fractions of a second at a time to eliminate the ticking of each second. When you look at the second hand that moves after the clock is worn, you will see that it moves in a continuous motion that is visually pleasing and quiet. The cost of the movement is usually about 3-4 times your traditional square box wall clock mechanism. Silent sweeping motions mean none of that pesky rattling!
You may hear a slight hum when you put your ear to the clock, but at any distance, you probably won’t hear it.
Because they do not have a high torque design, they can only be used in clocks under 15″. These are usually powered by a single AA battery, which will power the clock for about a year at a time. You can view all non-advancing clocks here.
Quartz Chiming Wall Clocks
These wall clocks, key wound, are a great alternative to mechanical wall clocks. They do not need to be installed once a week like a key winding wall clock. A new set of batteries will power these clocks for more than a year at a time. They also have a great time thanks to the quartz-controlled movement. The pendulum swings and is powered by an electromagnet so it doesn’t click as it swings back and forth. They’re not completely “tickless” because the movement makes a ticking sound, but it’s so quiet that most people can’t hear it. These are much quieter than a standard round wall clock.
These wall clocks will use one of several different movement options inside. All these movements are reliable and should power the clock for many years. Batteries should be changed approximately once a year. Below you can see the movements in these watches and even listen to the ringtones. Most chimes are digital recordings played through a loudspeaker. Sound is pretty good.
Mechanisms Used in Quartz Chiming Wall Clocks
Quartz, battery operated, Harmonic wall clock movement with triple bells, accordingly plays a choice of full Westminster with beating on the hour with 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 bells or Westminster or Ave Maria bell and beat on the hour only or Bim Bam only rings on the hour. Volume control and option to turn off automatic night bell will automatically silence the bell at night or you can ring it 24 hours. You can also turn off the ringtone completely. It works with two C size batteries.
Bulova Harmonic Wall Clocks
Quartz, battery operated, Harmonic Wall Clock movement with three bells plays a selection with a full Westminster or Westminster or Ave Maria bell and beat with beats per hour with 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 cymbals accordingly. Bim Bam bell just on the clock or just on the clock. Volume control and option to turn off automatic night bell will automatically silence the bell at night or you can ring it 24 hours. You can also turn off the ringtone completely. It works with two C size batteries and one “AA” battery.
New WIFI or Network Wall Clocks
Most homes today have Wi-Fi connections, and we now have a custom wall clock with hands that easily locks onto that signal and automatically makes timely corrections so you don’t have to.
This will be the most accurate clock in your home and they don’t need to receive an AM signal to change the time like an atomic clock. If your home WIFI stops due to a power outage, this clock will use an accurate quartz system until the WIFI signal is back.
This system is the newest technology in clocks and will soon be the standard for auto-adjusting wall clocks for home and commercial settings.
These network clocks are battery powered and are as accurate as NIST internet clocks.
