I agree with 77ER re. the permamagnet (they are the devil's own job to refit due to the magnetism :twisted: ) but I don`t agree re. the gravity effect on the hands.

I like Grant's explanation re. the working of stepper motors but I don`t think it applies to watch movements.

In a quartz watch the coil energises and creates a magnetic field around the magnet, a small rotor with a pinion meshed to the movement wheels, for exactly 1 second. This causes the second hand to move in a discrete step. Somehow the quartz crystal controls this v. accurately.......I don`t understand that bit.

The quartz crystal will do it's clever stuff accurately aand precisely, so I can`t see how the 'randomness' can occur :?

Paul