![]() With a little extra TLC, a well-crafted watch can last for many lifetimes, and makes a wonderful heirloom to be passed down through the generations.Ī regular, professional service is one of the best things you can do to ensure your watch is well looked after and remains in good working order. ![]() ![]() Once the mainspring is fully wound, the built in clutch will prevent it from winding any further.Ī high-quality timepiece is something to be treasured, and it deserves to be looked after with proper care and attention. As the wearer moves their wrist, the rotor swings and winds the mainspring automatically. This causes the hands to move at the right intervals to keep the time.Ī rotor is a small metal weight which is connected to the mainspring by a number of gears. The gears within the dial train transmit the precisely regulated energy from the balance wheel to the watch hands. The oscillations, or beats, of the balance wheel require skillful adjustment in order for the watch to run accurately. The balance wheel is the heart of a watch, and allows the movement to keep regular time. The distinctive ticking sound a watch makes is the escapement and pallet fork at work. The escapement controls the release of energy, ensuring it is metered out in precise increments. The tighter the spring gets, the more energy is stored, and the longer the watch can be powered for.Īs the mainspring slowly unwinds, the stored energy is released through the intricate series of gears in the gear train, and into the escapement. The kinetic energy generated by turning the crown is transferred and stored in the coil-shaped mainspring. The wearer turns the wheel at the side of the watch to wind it and provide power. This motion is transferred into energy, which winds the mainspring automatically. To do this, automatic watch movements use metal weights, called rotors, that spin freely within the watch each time the wearer moves their wrist. However, it has an important extra component as it is built to take advantage of the energy generated by the motions of the wearer’s wrist. Here, this energy is stored as the spring gets tighter, and it is then released through a series of gears and springs to power the watch’s functions and complications.Īn automatic watch generates power in broadly the same way. ![]() Turning the crown produces energy, which is then transferred into the mainspring. How does a mechanical watch movement work?Ī mechanical movement uses kinetic energy, instead of a battery, to power the timepiece. It would then take until the 1970s for a new technology to come into play, the quartz wristwatch. One of the most notable is the invention of the self-winding, or automatic, watch by British watchmaker John Harwood in 1923. Over the years since, there have been many more advancements in watchmaking. This opened up the market for mass production, and saw wristwatches declared a must-have luxury accessory for both men and women. Soon after, the watch quickly began to gain momentum in the fashion world. With timekeeping being such a crucial aspect of strategy during the war, the wristwatch replaced the pocket watch as a more practical and hands-free option. The wristwatch already existed before this time, but it was worn exclusively by wealthy women, as a decorative status symbol. The pocket watch remained in style for many centuries, until World War I called for a more practical solution for soldiers in the field. However, the modern level of precision was not possible until 1760, when John Harrison invented the marine chronometer. The first, in around 1657, was the invention of the balance spring by British scientist Robert Hooke and Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens, which greatly improved the accuracy of these portable timepieces. Instead, they were worn as fashion items, adored by the nobility for their novelty and fine ornamentation.ĭuring the era of the pocket watch, popularised by Charles II, there were a number of key advancements in watchmaking. However, these early watches were notoriously inaccurate and mostly useless for keeping track of the time. The ‘Nuremberg Egg’, created by Peter Henlein in 1510, is often described as the first example of a wearable timepiece. A brief history of mechanical watch movements
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