A timepiece has a display panel having electrophoretic particles between two opposing substrates, and a drive circuit unit having a display drive unit for applying an electric field between the substrates and a timekeeping unit for keeping time information. A plurality of first electrodes are rendered in the shapes of a plurality of symbols used to display time information content on one of the substrates, and a second electrode is disposed on the other substrate for applying a voltage between the first electrodes and the second electrode.