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N. Nagaraj

Are you fascinated by watches? Not just the classy swiss brands but the cheaper stuff as well? If you are, you should be familiar with those sub-Rs 200 watches that you can lay your hands on in every duty-paid shop or small watch shop. Are you aware that most of these are quartz watches?

To get the lowdown on quartz watches (in spite of Doudlas Adams' heaping scorn on them in his inimitable style in the introduction to "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"), you wouldn't find a better source than the Lemelson Center (http://www.si.edu/lemelson/Quartz/). One of the most interesting things about the quartz watch is that no one person invented it. People and programmes in three countries had a hand in what you wear in your hand today — Japan, Switzerland and the US. You can read about how the people and programmes in these countries contributed at the "Inventors" section.

The "What's Inside" section tells you about the different components of the watch and how they work. "Watch Wars" basically talks about the major makers and distributors of Quartz watches — Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland and the US — and the history of their competition. The "Cool Watches" section gives an insight into some of the best quartz watches ever made (including two non-quartz but non-mechanical watches).

And don't forget that the Rs 100 digital watch you can see all around you was always that cheap: In 1972, the US-based HMW (earlier known as Hamilton Watch Company) began to sell the Pulsar, the first all-electronic wristwatch for $2,100!

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