The Ultimate In Convenience: ‘Atomic’ Watches

For over forty years battery-powered quartz wrist watches have dominated the market due to a combination of affordability and convenience. However, human nature being what it is, the convenience of no longer needing to wind a watch was soon taken for granted and the need to change watch batteries is today increasingly perceived as a nuisance. In fact, it was one of the reasons behind the revival of automatic watches (powered by the user’s movement and not by batteries) several years ago. Of course, watches that operate using the body’s natural energy stop when they are not used, which is certainly not convenient if the user changes watches, for example.

Solar watches use solar cells that are powered by energy from just about any source of light that penetrates through the watch crystal. Photovoltaic cells in the watch face capture light and convert it into power for the built-in battery. This means that the watch doesn’t need winding AND the batteries are rechargeable and do not need replacing. No wonder solar watches have been gaining in popularity.

The ultimate in convenience and accuracy available today are radio-controlled ‘atomic’ watches powered by solar batteries. An ‘atomic’ watch is not really atomic; it does not contain radioactive parts. In fact, it’s actually a normal digital watch that contains a radio receiver and is designed to regularly receive long-wave radio signals from a computer hooked up to an atomic clock or time transmitter. Atomic, or radio-controlled, watches are equipped with an internal antenna and program set to search for radio signals emitted from time transmitters. To display the time, they receive and encode the radio signal.

The added convenience? These watches don’t even need to be adjusted. As long as the watch receives the synchronization signal from the time transmitter (time calibration radio signal), it automatically updates itself to the correct time, including Daylight Saving Time (DST), date etc… 

Time transmitter frequencies are different in different time zones and less expensive atomic watches (they start as low as $39 U.S. dollars) are synchronized with one of the atomic clocks located in the world. These watches will only function as regular quartz watches if their owners travel overseas.

Some atomic watches have different mode settings for different time zones, and you can manually change the time zone setting when you travel overseas. The Casio Wave Ceptor watches, for example, are dual-band, allowing you to switch between two time signal transmitters. In 2007, Casio developed a single watch that uses ‘Multi-Band 6 Atomic Timekeeping technology.’ Once you adjust the time zone, it can receive time calibration signals from six transmission stations: two in Japan and one each in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany and China.

Atomic watches need power to maintain time calibration, and manufacturers have therefore developed solar cells than run for six months, sometimes longer, with just one solar fill up.

Replacing wrist watch batteries and adjusting the time and date on your watch when you travel to a different time zone may soon become as quaint and outmoded as winding your watch is today.

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