Description

A watch is a small timepiece intended tobecarried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep workingdespitethe motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatchisdesigned to be worn around the wrist, attached by a watch straporother type of bracelet. A pocket watch is designed for a persontocarry in a pocket.

Watches evolved in the 17th century from spring-poweredclocks,which appeared as early as the 14th century. During most ofitshistory the watch was a mechanical device, driven byclockwork,powered by winding a mainspring, and keeping time withanoscillating balance wheel. In the 1960s the electronic quartzwatchwas invented, which was powered by a battery and kept timewith avibrating quartz crystal. By the 1980s the quartz watch hadtakenover most of the market from the mechanical watch.

Today most inexpensive and medium-priced watches, used mainlyfortimekeeping, have quartz movements. Expensive collectiblewatches,valued more for their elaborate craftsmanship, aestheticappeal andglamorous design than for simple timekeeping, oftenhavetraditional mechanical movements, even though they arelessaccurate and more expensive than electronic ones. Variousextrafeatures, called "complications", such as moon-phase displaysandthe different types of tourbillon, are sometimesincluded.[1]Modern watches often display the day, date, month andyear, andelectronic watches may have many other functions.Time-relatedfeatures such as timers, chronographs and alarmfunctions arecommon. Some modern designs incorporate calculators,GPS[2] andBluetooth technology or have heart-rate monitoringcapabilities.Some watches use radio clock technology to regularlycorrect thetime.

Developments in the 2010s include smartwatches, which areelaboratecomputer-like electronic devices designed to be worn on awrist.They generally incorporate timekeeping functions, but theseareonly small fractions of what the smartwatch can do.