GRUEN LCQ FIELD EFFECT LCD 1973
This Gruen "LCQ" (Liquid Crystal Quartz) is the direct follower of the "Teletime" that was sold around 1973-75. The Teletime module by AMI named HMM-G has not been altered in any way since 1972. By 1975 it must have been extremely outdated and thus fitted to cheap no-name brands making spare parts quite easily available. The only visible differences between certain watches of this type can be seen in the displays that were supplied by various companies such as Ilixco or Beckman. The early displays were more sophisticated in appearance with thinner or angled digits nevertheless they are all the same in size and can be swapped easily.
Timesetting is performed by means of the crown with stem (check details in the Teletime review). A turn of the crown shorts two connectors inside the setting assembly and advances the time. The setting assembly is not removable but if repairs are required it can be unscrewed from the substrate and unsoldered from the two wires visible on top. The LCQ was available in a few designs with different names such as Pacemaker that was even equipped with a light. The light function must have been a quickly applied factory modification as it does not look fully professional. The button contact is affixed to the plastic carrier and the light-bulb simply soldered to the ceramic substrate with microchip. To be honest, if you have some skills you can probably modify such AMI modules yourself :)
Keywords: gruen lcq, field effect lcd
Market value: 25-200$ (version, condition, box)