Rechargeable batteries are called Secondary Cells and are generally inferior in performance as a watch battery than Primary Cells. Some watch companies use Lithium-ion batteries that are charged by Solar energy or movement of the watch, such the Seiko Solar or Citizen Eco-Drive. Once the reactions have taken place inside the battery, they cannot be easily undone and so the batteries are discarded. Most watch batteries are Primary Cells, which means they are non-rechargeable. In the below formula Ag is Silver, and Zn is Zinc. In the process an electron is released which is the electric charge that we can use. So you start with Silver Oxide and Zinc, and you end with Silver and Zinc Oxide. The electrolyte then passes the oxidisation onto the Zinc. In simple terms in a Silver Oxide battery the electrolyte causes the Silver to lose its oxidisation. Sometimes it is referred to as the gasket. It also acts as a seal preventing the chemical mixtures from escaping. The insulator ensures that the two parts of the casing are held in place and do not touch one another. Each part is surrounded by a metal shell, coloured grey in the above image, which forms the outside of the cell as well as acting as the corresponding positive and negative contact points.Ī separator, which is usually a mesh, prevents the electrodes from mixing but allows ions to flow between each half of the cell.Īlthough the electrodes do not touch one another, they are electrically connected by the electrolyte. The cathode contains the positive electrode.
The anode is a gel containing a mixture of the negative electrode and the electrolyte. The watch battery is split into two distinct parts, the anode can (negative) and the cathode can (positive). Mercury batteries have not been manufactured since the 1990s due to health and environmental concerns with the use of mercury.Ī watch battery works by converting chemical energy directly into electrical energy. In the case of the Silver Oxide and Mercury batteries, it is the positive electrode, whereas a Lithium battery is named after its negative electrode. Their common names are given in reference to one of the electrodes they use. There are 3 main types of batteries in use in a watch: This is the reliance on chemical batteries to power them. It is powered by a button cell, regulated by a quartz crystal and controlled by a circuitĭespite many advantages of the quartz watch when compared to a solely mechanical timepiece, such as being cheaper to produce, more robust and self-regulating amongst others, there is one downfall of the quartz watch. The batteries are called either watch batteries or button cells, while the larger lithium powered batteries are sometimes called coin cells. The vast majority of watches on the market and in everyday use are battery-powered quartz watches.
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