Newbies don’t realize that there’s more than 1 way a watch moves. You’ll see that some movements are more common in certain regions.
As of now, there are 3 main movements:
• Quartz
• Automatic
• Mechanical
Let’s take a look at them:
Ever heard your watch tick? It’s probably a quartz timepiece. It comes with a battery, which sends currents to a quartz crystal. It vibrates and is measured by a circuit. The circuit converts the vibrations into pulses, moving the watch’s hands.
Quartz watches are
pretty accurate. They have few parts too, which makes them reliable. What’s best about them is that they’re low-cost. Watch enthusiasts believe expensive watches are superior. The timepieces also have less craftsmanship involved.
Mechanical watches have been around for centuries. They have gears that are powered by a mainspring. The spring is wound, slowly unwinding to power the watch’s hands. If the timepiece has a long mainspring, it’d wind slower, making the hands move for longer.
Its
power reserve indicates how long it can last without being wound. Usually, this is 40+ hours.
As there are many parts in them, mechanical watches
aren’t that reliable. However, they are a watch enthusiast’s dream. A lot of craftsmanship goes into them, and they have history. It isn’t surprising that they’re on the higher end of the price spectrum.
Automatic watches are cousins to mechanical ones. They also have mainsprings powering their gears. You don’t wind the springs, though - your body does all the work. When you move with the watch, the mainspring winds. This is why they’re also known as “self-winding” pieces.
To understand how they do this is not too technical. There’s a tiny weight inside of them. It’s attached to the spring, winding it as it moves.
Unfortunately, you can’t have automatic watches off you for long– they’ll run out of kinetic energy. The fact that they become a part of you makes them favoured amongst watch enthusiasts.
Price-wise, automatic watches are more expensive than quartz, but aren’t as bad as their mechanical counterparts.
Speaking of mechanical watches:
Automatic and mechanical pieces
have jewels in them. Before you get too excited, they’re synthetic. They make their gears move smoother.