How Does a Mechanical Watch Work?
March 17, 2016
In doing research before purchasing a luxury mechanical watch, I was overwhelmed by the jargon used to describe all of the working parts of a wristwatch movement. Aside from style and aesthetic, most watchmakers differentiate their products from one another based on what, quite literally, makes them tick.
Parts of a Rolex Movement |
Why does Rolex advertise their blue Parachrom hairspring technology? What is an escapement and why do they need to make it better? How do you power a self-winding mechanical movement without a battery?
Though I still consider myself a novice when it comes to horology, I do feel that I now have a basic understanding of how a mechanical watch works. The inner workings of a mechanical wristwatch are quite impressive, even in a time where most technology is based on silicon chips and global positioning systems.
The video below was produced by Hamilton Watch Company in 1949 to explain how a watch works. Much of what the video presents is still a part of how mechanical watches work today. It is the most comprehensive, detailed demonstration that I've found on YouTube to explain the mechanics of a watch movement in layman's terms.
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