A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person’s activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of bracelet, including metal bands or leather straps. A pocket watch is carried in a pocket, often attached to a chain. A stopwatch is a type of watch that measures intervals of time.
During most of their history, beginning in the 16th century, watches were mechanical devices, driven by clockwork, powered by winding a mainspring, and keeping time with an oscillating balance wheel. These are known as mechanical watches.[1][2] In the 1960s the electronic quartz watch was invented, powered by a battery and keeping time with a vibrating quartz crystal. By the 1980s it had taken over most of the watch market, in what became known as the quartz revolution (or the quartz crisis in Switzerland, whose renowned watch industry it decimated).[3][4] In the 2010s, smartwatches emerged, small wrist-worn computers with touchscreens and with functions that go far beyond timekeeping.