Electrodes are deposited on the crystal in vacuum, e.g. by metal evaporation or sputtering, in the same way as they are deposited on the semiconductor crystals used to make transistors or integrated circuits.

The electrodes may consist of multiple layers, a base layer that adheres strongly to quartz and a top layer that is solderable, e.g. made of nickel or silver.

The pins of the package that hosts the crystal resonator are soldered on the electrodes, in places well chosen so that they will not damp much the oscillations of the crystal.

When the mass of the crystal must be increased to shift the resonance frequency, excess solder may be deposited on the electrodes.