Automatic Watches
What Makes Your Watch Go? A Simple Look Inside
By Argos Watches
You wear your watch every day. You look at it to see the time. But have you ever wondered how it actually knows what time it is? How does that little machine on your wrist actually work inside to move the hands and keep track? It's a pretty cool question, and the answer involves lots of tiny parts working together!
Think about it: a basic watch movement, like the one in a common watch, has over 130 small pieces. A watch built for tougher jobs uses over 200. And some very special watches, ones that do many things like track the date for many years, have hundreds, even thousands, of tiny parts working together.
These parts aren't just there for show; they are what makes your watch go. They take a nice object and make it a working machine.
What the "Movement" Is
A movement puts together gears, springs, and many other small parts. They all work correctly together, making the watch run. This setup lets your watch show the hour, minute, seconds, and date.
People came up with the idea for mechanical movements that could wind themselves a long, long time ago, in 1777. A clever person named Abraham-Louis Perrelet created the first one for pocket watches. Today, some watch companies build their own movements right in their factories – this shows they have great skill. Other companies buy good movements from places that just make these parts.
Just like you choose what kind of engine your car has – gas, electric, or a mix – your watch movement comes in different types too. People usually divide them into three kinds: you wind them yourself, they wind themselves (automatic), or they use a battery (quartz). Before we talk about those, let's look at some of the main parts inside.
The Main Parts Inside Your Watch:
When you look inside a watch, you see many small parts made with great care. Here are some important ones:
- The Crown: You use this small knob most often on a mechanical watch. It usually has bumps so you can hold it well. You turn it to wind the mainspring and set the time. It's usually found on the side of the watch case at 3 o'clock.
- The Mainspring: This spring sits inside a round barrel. When you wind it, it holds power. As it slowly opens, it sends that power step by step to the gears, keeping the hands moving.
- The Escapement: This part controls the movement, like a manager. It has an escape wheel and a pallet fork. It controls how the mainspring lets go of power, sending small, exact pushes to the balance wheel. This controlled pushing sets the watch's beat and makes it accurate.
- The Balance Wheel: This wheel swings back and forth, acting like the watch's steady beat. The escapement sets its speed. Its steady swing controls when the gears move, making sure power flows smoothly.
- The Hairspring: This is a very fine, coiled spring attached to the balance wheel. It helps the balance wheel go back to the same middle spot after each swing. This is very important for the watch to keep accurate time.
- The Dial Train: These gears are the last ones that get power before the hands. They sit between the main gears and the hands. They make the hour and minute hands turn at the right speed. Putting these gears together correctly makes sure the watch shows the right time.
- Jewels: See those small, often colored dots inside a good movement? These are the jewels. People usually make them from hard, lab-made rubies or sapphires. Gears and other parts spin on these. They cause very little rubbing and last a long time.
- Bridges and Plates: These parts build the main structure for the movement, like the frame of a house. The plates are usually big, flat pieces. The bridges are shaped parts that hold the gears, escapement, and other pieces exactly where they need to be. They give the movement strength and keep everything straight.
- The Rotor (in Automatic Watches): This half-round weight is a clever part of watches that wind themselves. When you move your wrist, the rotor swings around, using that motion to wind the mainspring by itself. Your movement gives it power!
How Watches Get Power:
Now you know the main parts. Let's look at how they get the power to make the watch run:
Manual Movements: You Give It Power
How long the watch runs after you fully wind it is called its power reserve. This usually gives you between 35 and 70 hours of running time, sometimes more in newer watches.
A manual watch does not have a rotor. When you turn the crown, you directly put energy into the mainspring. This energy then goes through the gears to the escapement, which controls how it releases to the balance wheel. The balance wheel's steady swing, helped by the hairspring, then makes the dial train move the hands.
Just be careful: When you wind a manual watch, you'll feel it get a bit harder to turn when the mainspring is full. Don't force it past that point; winding too hard can break parts inside. Your watch tells you when it has enough power.
Self-Winding Movements: Your Moving Arm Powers It
This half-circle piece of metal swings freely when your wrist moves. You can often see it turning through a clear back on the watch case. This turning creates energy, winding the mainspring by itself as you wear the watch. Your daily activity powers it!
As the rotor swings and winds the mainspring, the power moves through the gears to the escapement. From there, it powers the balance wheel and any extra things the watch can do. This constant power keeps the watch running as long as you wear it.
If an automatic watch stops, just shake it gently! That often makes the rotor start spinning and starts the watch working again.
Quartz Movements: Uses a Battery
You don't wind a quartz watch. It runs on a small battery. The battery sends power through small paths to a tiny piece of quartz crystal. This crystal then shakes very, very fast – usually 32,768 times each second!
These quick power signals then go to a small motor, which makes the gears turn the hands. The result? A watch that keeps time very correctly and is usually very reliable.
Mechanical watches run for hours after you wind them. A quartz battery can power a watch for one to two years! This was very easy and still is today. Changing the battery is usually simple. But, if a dead battery stays inside too long, it could leak and hurt the metal parts. Today, quartz movements give you the most accurate timekeeping you can easily get in stores.
It's All About How It Works
Whether you look at the small parts turning inside a mechanical watch or know that a quartz crystal is shaking very fast, understanding how a watch works helps you like these objects even more. Each type works in its own way and connects you to time passing in its own style.
Creating stories and memories, one tick at a time!
