How an Automatic Watch works?

Dear Friends,

In my last post, I have explained how a mechanical watch works.  To recap, a mechanical watch works basically on potential energy converted to kinetic energy.  This process is done through mainly 4 important parts inside the watch case which is known as "movement".  It is also known as heart of a watch where all parts are held tightly together to induce momentum required to show time.

The 4 important parts of Mechanical watch are:

1. Mainspring or Coil
2. Wheel Train or Gear Train
3.  Escapement Wheel
4. Balance Wheel or Balance Spring

When the Mainspring is wound by the outside part called "crown" attached to the case of the watch, the power stored in it is slowly released through Wheel Train gears.  The power is released with precision by the Escapement Wheel which in turn sets the Balance Wheel in motion.  The balance wheel oscillates in a precise manner when the power is unlocked by Escapement Wheel.  This oscillation produces the 'tick' or motion required for the second, minute and hour gears of Wheel train and makes the watch run.

However, as the power stored in the Mainspring nears the exhaustion, the watch starts losing time and ultimately stops.  Then one needs to wind the crown again to power the Mainspring.  This process has to be repeated frequently depending on the quality of the Mainspring used in the watch.

Many people found this process is cumbersome and irritation.  Hence, self-winding or Automatic winding mechanism was invented.  Automatic or Self-winding watch uses a Rotar which rotates with the natural movements of hand and winds the Mainspring to power the watch.  Normally when an modern automatic watch is worn for 6-8 hours, it produces sufficient power to run the watch for 24 to 36 hours.  So, the watch functions accurately even while it is not in use.



Swiss watchmaker, Abraham-Louis Perrelet said to have invented the self-winding mechanism in pocket watches in 1770s, which was later improved upon by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1780s.

Till the invention of Quartz Watches in 1970s, automatic watches were very popular.  Quartz technology which used battery power to sustain the watch functioning, rendered winding mechanism unnecessary.

However, the Automatic watches have come back to fashion due to their Eco-friendly nature and craftsmanship involved in the medium to high end segment of wrist watches.

In my next blog, I will endeavor to explain how a quartz watch functions.. till then..

Cheers,

M G Kamath

How a Mechanical Watch works ?

Hi Friends,

I am blogging this post little late.

In my last post, I had explained about two important categories of wrist watches, i.e., Mechanical and Quartz based on the functionality.  Mechanical watches can be further grouped into a) Hand Wound and b) Self winding or Automatic.

Lets learn today, how a Mechanical or Hand wound watch works.

Hand Wound watches to function, one has to wind the crown which in turn winds the Main Spring or Coil inside the watch movement.  Once, this Coil is fully wound, then it slowly un-winds itself and sets the other parts in motion.  This motion is converted in a controlled manner to show us time.  Lets go into details.

The movement or "heart" of the watch consists of all the parts combined together tightly inside the case of the watch.  However, the most important parts which drives the mechanical watch are:

1) Mainspring
2) Wheel train or Gear Train
3) Escapement Wheel
4) Balance Wheel


1. Mainspring :

The Mainspring or Main Wheel, is a long thin metal strip which is coiled.  This Coil is connected to outside part called "Crown" through Crown Rod.  When this Mainspring is wound fully through the crown & crown rod, it stores the power required for watch to work for long time.  The storage capacity depends on the elasticity and the length of the metal strip used in the main spring.  While some watches can store power for a day, some can go on for 6 to 8 days where more efficient material used.

Fig 1. Mainspring picture enlarged.



2.  Wheel Train or Gears Train:

Wheel Train or Gear Trains are the series of gears which transfers the power coiled in the Mainspring to Escapement Wheel.  These gears are divided into Hour, Minute and Second hand gears based on the functionality of the watch.

The power trapped in Main Spring is slowly released in a controlled manner through this Train of wheels.  Each gear of the wheel drives the pinions of other wheels.



3. Escapement Wheel:

Escapement Wheel plays an important role in controlling the exact power to be released from the Mainspring through Wheel Train and passing the power to another important part called Balance Wheel.  The power of the mainspring is allowed to escape by locking action.  Each time when the power is released from Escapement Wheel, the Balance Spring oscillates back and forth with high speed and accuracy.  Infact, the "tick" "tock" sound you hear in a clock or a mechanical watch is the result of escapement wheel permitting  the wheel train or gear trains to release the power in cycles.  This gives the motion required for the hands of the watch.




4.  Balance Wheel :

Balance Wheel or Balance Spring is a oscillating device connected to Escapement Wheel which rotates back and forth being returned to its central position. Each oscillation of the balance wheel is controlled by the combination of mass and elasticity of the hairspring in it.  It keeps the time between each oscillation very constant. This constant oscillation of Balance wheel allows the gear train to advance the moving second, minute, and hour hands forward.



All the above parts work harmoniously to produce time in a mechanical watch or a clock.  Until 1970s i.e before the invention of Quartz movements, Mechanical or Automatic watches were very popular amongst the watch buyers.  Though the Quartz watches are now very popular for their high accuracy and sleekness, the mechanical or automatic watches are making re-entry due to the craftsmanship and eco-friendly qualities  involved in it.  Some of the costliest Swiss watches sold now are automatic watches.

In this article I have endeavored to put it simply how a mechanical watch works.  In the sequel next, I will try and explain how automatic or self-winding watch works.  Till then request you to be patient..

Cheers,

M G Kamath

Types of Wrist Watches

Hi Friends,

While buying watches you may have come across many terms like Quartz, Automatic, Mechanical, Digital, Kinetic Quartz etc.  Many of you may be wondering what they actually mean.

Today, I would like to share with you some insights into this.  This may help you to take wiser decision while buying watches.

Based on functionality, wrist watches can be broadly categorized into following groups:

A.  Mechanical
B.  Quartz

Mechanical  watches:

Mechanical wrist watches are the oldest form of watches.  They have evolved from the same technology used in pendulum clocks.

Any wrist watch to function, needs some kind of energy source.  Mechanical watches derive the energy source from a spring (coil).  This main spring is wounded by hand using crown attached to the case of the watch.  They are also called Hand Wound Watches. When the spring is wounded fully, the energy gets stored and released very slowly to other parts to convert the same into time keeping.  I shall explain in detail how it functions in my next post.

When people were tired of winding the watches by hand, self winding watches were invented.  These were called Automatic watches.  They used your hand movement as the main source of energy.  A rotor is used to convert the energy generated by hand movement to wind the coil or the main spring.

For centuries, mechanical watches dominated the industry.  Swiss watch manufactures mastered the art of producing some of the finest Mechanical and automatic watches which are in vogue even today.

Quartz watches :

Generally, Mechanical watches were bulky as they used as many as over 250 parts to make the watch function.  Also, due to winding energy, the time keeping was less accurate as the time lapsed.  This paved the way to the birth of Quartz watches.

Quartz Crystals which are natural elements available in nature with some unique qualities.  When you apply electrical energy to Quartz Crystal, it oscillates with high frequency.

In Quartz watches Quartz Crystal Resonator is used in the form of a small tuning fork. When electrical energy is applied through a small button type battery, it oscillates with very high and accurate frequency.  32,768 oscillations per second to be exact.  These oscillations are then converted to a pulse through other parts like step motors & semi conductors to use these pulses in accurate time keeping.  Quartz watches comes with high accuracy as +/- 15 seconds per month compared to 8 to 10 minutes of Mechanical watches.

In my next posts, I shall endeavor to explain you how these two technologies work.  Keep a tab on this blog to learn more about wrist watches.

Cheers,

M G Kamath

Watch Dunia - Learn everything you want to know about watches!

Watch Dunia - new blog which helps you to learn everything wanted to know about watches

In my 2.5 decades of experience in the wrist watch industry, I have come across scores of people buying watches.  But most of them buy watches hesitantly, unsure about what they are buying, whether it is suiting their style, are they making right statement, or paying the correct price or simply not sure about the features explained by the smart cookies selling them across the counter.

Hence, I thought let me share what little i know about watches through this blog.  Hope, it will interest the watch buyers to make an informed decision before selecting their piece.  Also, in the process of digging information useful to the watch consumers, I too enrich my knowledge about the watch world.

I appreciate the people will like this blog and encourage me to part more and more in future.

Warm regards,

M G Kamath