How Automatic Watches Work

Whatever Happened to Winding?

Depending on your age, you may or may not remember seeing your father wind his watch each night before going to bed. If he did not, he would surely wake to a watch that had stopped. Those days became history with the advent of the automatic watch. What makes it automatic? It still has the same basic mechanism to keep the watch working, but how that mechanism is powered changed the way we cared for our watches.

All mechanical watches work in a similar manner. They require a movement of a series of gears to “tick” of increments of time, which in turn registers as movements of the hands on the face of the watch. A rotor in the watch sits on a staff in the middle of the watch’s movement. It rotates in a circular motion and winds the mainspring which is the source of power in mechanical watches. With an automatic watch the winding of this spiral spring is done automatically with any arm or wrist movement.

Self-winding, automatic watches work great for people who wear the watch each day, but if you do not wear the watch frequently, it needs manual winding about twice a week. Even automatic watches will stay working better if they are wound manually about once every two weeks because this helps keep the watch lubricated. It is a misconception that automatic watches never need any winding, since it all depends on the movement of the arm to keep it functioning well.

A power reserve lets the movement of your watch keep time for anywhere between 10 and 72 hours. There is something called a power reserve, and the bigger the reserve, the longer your automatic watch will keep running without further movement or manual winding.

Rolex was the first watch manufacturer to devise and patent the rotor system that is still used today. They called it the Perpetual and it was part of the popular Oyster line created in the early 1930s. Emile Borer was the Rolex technician who came up with the system, but he was not the first to develop a rotor. That distinction goes to Swiss watchmaker, Abraham-Louis Perrelet as long ago as 1770. This was quite the invention because it wouldn’t be until much later in time that wrist watches were worn and there just wasn’t enough physical movement with a pocket watch to make it a feasible way to move the rotor and wind the mainspring.

Automatic watches differ from quartz watches which are powered by batteries and not by either a manual or automatic winding system. Powered by a battery, the quartz crystal inside a quartz watch vibrates nearly 33,000 times per. Watch batteries last about two years, where automatic watches have a never ending source of power: movement or motion.

Quartz watches account for most moderately priced watch sales today, but connoisseurs of watches still like the prestige and elegance of a finely crafted mechanical watch. Automatics have started to regain some of the quartz market in recent years accounting for huge increases (95%) in sales between 1993 and 1995.

Lubrication is essential to keeping an automatic watch running well. Watches can be lubricated by manually winding the watch periodically and taking it in to a jeweler once about every 3 to 5 years. When winding an automatic watch, just wind it about 30 to 40 times or until you feel some resistance. Keeping the watch is a watch winding box is also a good way to keep the watch lubricated.

Automatic watches are also quite affordable. They actually come in every price range. Some economical brands include Invicta watch and Orient watch, and then the price can reach into the very expensive range depending on the embellishments or the prestige of a specific brand.

By: Zai Zhu

Luxury watches- Make Your Style Statement With An Online Purchase

When it comes to watches, a resounding majority prefer to wear a subtle and stylish time-piece on their wrists. Not a big deal. As we all know, watches are a symbolic representation of an individual’s social status and personality. It speaks volumes about the person without ever letting him/her do the talking. Such is the charisma of these wrist-watches that most people don’t mind splurging on expensive branded pieces.

However, it is no rocket science that the demand of various age-groups varies in respect to the same thing. For example – if matured individuals like to have metal watches on their wrists, youngsters tend to prefer more funky ultra-fashionable time-pieces.

Interestingly, watches as we all know have been a sophisticated commodity since the time of their inception. Manufacturers however have failed to pay any heed to these mechanical marvels. But as times are changing so are the market strategies. Now watchmakers are paying extra attention to the demands, tastes and preferences of the market.

Thanks to this new development, we can see a number of luxury watch brands coming up and launching an array of marvelously beautiful or in more eloquent words the “recherché” wrist watches. These fashionable time-pieces are gracefully elegant and have been designed keeping in mind the tastes and preferences of the modern-day youth. Moreover, they go very well with the kind of clothing sense which youngsters have these days. The price-tag of these watches is one of the major concerns, but people don’t mind shelling out a few extra bucks for branded watches from Rolex, Tag Heuer or Omega. When style and fashion is more important, price takes a back seat.

Moreover, it is not always that you have to indulge in expensive shopping. Reason: Companies dealing in this domain float special discount schemes on their products just for people who cannot afford these luxury watches at their normal prices.

In fact, if you are one of those who spend most of their time in front of a computer screen, then you stand a much better chance of buying high quality watches at unbelievably low prices. In addition to this, once the purchase is made, it will be delivered to the buyer within the promised time-limit. That’s not all, if the buyer may by any chance receive damaged goods, a simple complain will be enough to get it replaced at absolutely no extra cost.

There are many luxury watches out there. Some are beautiful while some are elegant. Some might be very sophisticated while some would present grace in their simplicity. There is a watch for every single individual out there which fits their personality perfectly. And searching it online is one of the easiest ways to get this task accomplished. Search for the best luxury watches online and one might their holy grail of watches.

By: Stuart Wallace