Watch Movements

Manual Wind

The owner of this type of watch winds the watch regularly. Hand winding is what makes the watch run. When the watch runs out of energy produced by the hand winding, the watch stops. In some cases, some manual wind watches are more efficient then other manual wind watches and can have more then a week long power reserve such as the L.U.C Regulator or the Daniel Roth 8 day Tourbillion. To accomplish this watch makers frequently need more then one main spring barrels or an extra long main spring. Efficiency of the mechanism (gear train) can also make the power reserve last longer. Some watch collectors prefer the interaction of the manual wind watches as do some car owners like manual gear shifts, as it enables them to have interaction with their piece.

Automatic/Self Winding

Automatic watches are watches that wind themselves by the motion of the wearer. As long as there is movement, the watch will remain wound. What is accomplished with a manual wind watch via hand-winding interaction is achieved autonomously a pivoting weight which winds the mainspring barrel as the watch wearer moves. The origins of the automatic watch lay in the French-Swiss watch making schoosl. By all accounts it was invented by Abraham Louis Perrelet who was a contemporary of Breguet who also adopted a similar system in some of his spectacular watches. Some automatic watches are bi-direction winding watches and some are uni-directional winding watches. Bi-Direction allows winding to occurs in either clockwise or counter clock wise directions of rotation. Unidirectional winding mechanism, as its name implies will only wind is one direction. This could be clockwise or counterclockwise.

Quartz

Quartz watches are the result of watch makings constant quest for superior accuracy. Research and prototypes of quartz watches we being developed around 1950. Quartz watches were not available to the public in any real quantity until the 1970’s. The power source of a quartz watch is usually a battery. Exceptions exist but as a rule quartz watches depend on a battery for its power source of power, hence they are more simpler in their operation then a mechanical watch, nor do they need as much maintenance or attention as a mechanical watch does. The reason the quartz watch is more accurate then a mechanical watch is that a quartz crystal vibrates at a frequency of 32,768 vibrations per second. A mechanical watches balance wheel by contrast vibrates a frequency of 18,000 to 36,000 beats per hour. The faster the beat of the regulating organ, the more accurate the watch will be.