Watch Movements

Quartz Movement

In 1969, Seiko, the Japanese watchmakers introduced the quartz movement. The launch of this new technology challenged the traditional timepiece houses who relied on mechanical movement to power their watches.

How Quartz Movement Works

1. A quartz timepiece is powered by a battery that sends an electrical signal through a piece of crystal quartz.

2. The quartz vibrates 32768 times per second, creating a signal with a precise frequency.

3. The vibrations are measured by the circuit and converted into a single pulse every second.

4. The consistent movement of the watch hands is a result of this pulse.

Benefits Of Quartz Movement

Accurate Time: A quartz mechanism barely veers from the exact time, ensuring superior accuracy.
Ease Of Use: Quartz watches are battery-powered and do not require human intervention to keep ticking.
Low Maintenance: The low number of moving parts and the presence of a battery ensure that quartz watches are lower maintenance.
Less Expensive: Mechanical and automatic watches require more watchmaking hours and skill. Quartz watches are hence cheaper.
Durability: A quartz timepiece has fewer moving parts that may require repairing, making it more durable than a mechanical watch.

Mechanical Movement

The passage of time on a mechanical movement watch is measured by a spring-driven mechanism. The spring (also called a mainspring), needs to be wound periodically.

The intricate mechanism in these watches can often only be described as art. In fact, with some manual movement watches – reading time becomes an afterthought as these classic wristwatches transpire into something else. They are more appropriately termed timepieces, collector’s items and accessories.

How Mechanical Movement Works

1. Unlike quartz movements, a mechanical movement uses energy from the wound mainspring to power a watch, rather than a battery.

2. This spring transfers energy through a number of springs and gears, powering the function of the watch hands and the complications.

Benefits Of Mechanical Movement

Longevity: A well-built mechanical watch will last a lifetime with proper care.
Batteries: You don’t need to worry about any battery replacements, which are always an inconvenience.
many consider manual rewinding of a simple mechanic wristwatch to be a strongly desirable ritual.
Aesthetics: Many mechanical timepieces have a clear sapphire casing on the back which gives a clear view of the fascinating rotations and oscillations of the minute working parts.

Automatic Movement

Often referred to as self-winding, an automatic watch is a mechanical watch that harnesses kinetic energy from the natural motion of the wearer’s wrist. The mainspring is automatically wound from the natural movements of the wearer’s wrist. Manual winding is not required.

How Automatic Movement Works

The internal mechanism is similar to a mechanical movement.

1. A metal weight called a rotor is added to the manual parts.

2. The rotor can rotate freely and is connected to the movement.

3. The rotor spins with each movement of the wrist, transferring the energy to the mainspring.

4. The mainspring is automatically wound as a result of this energy transfer.

Benefits of An Automatic Watch:

The ritual of daily winding your watch is not required with an automatic watch.
With regular wear, the watch continues to function.

Kinetic Movement

Kinetic movements are a hybrid of a quartz movement and an automatic movement, where a rotor (metal weight) rotates with the user’s wear and creates a charge, but instead of transferring energy to a mainspring it transfers energy to a rechargeable battery cell.

Benefits of a Kinetic Movement:

· Longer reserve times, most Seiko kinetics have a 6 month battery reserve

· No winding

· No battery

· Same precision and accuracy of quartz

Solar

Solar powered watched have a solar panel in the face of the watch and charge the watch from sunlight as well as artificial light.

Benefits of Solar:

· Longer reserve times, most Citizen watches have a 6 month battery reserve