What is automatic winding? Is this watch difficult to use? How are they different from regular mechanics? All this can be read in this article.
Movement is life!!! Including the life of the watch.
Mechanical watch with automatic winding
Automatic winding
It is difficult to say what caused the appearance of self-winding watches: either the desire of scientists and engineers to create a perpetual motion machine, or the main engine of progress - human laziness. One way or another, it was in a watch that a device first appeared, although not essentially a perpetual motion machine, but close to it from the consumer’s point of view.
Compiling watches by hand is also something that many watch owners enjoy and is just part of it. Another advantage of the hand wind is that these watches can also be quite narrow and elegant. Automatic watch indispensable, especially in Everyday life, and they do not need to be lifted because by carrying the energy of the watch is generated, which makes the watch work automatically. In addition, it should be said that watches that are lifted by hand, of course with this tension, are more susceptible to wear.
What's the difference between quartz watch and automatic watches? Here the movement within the movement is different. While quartz crystals use quartz crystals, which are responsible for maintaining the watch, mechanical automatic watches operate by requiring a watch drive to operate. Hours are indicated mechanically. The downside is that automatic watches become less accurate than quartz watches. However, quartz watches require a battery. Energy required in automatic mode generated by portable movements.
The first self-winding pocket watches appeared in the 18th century, and in 1931 Rolex released the first automatic wristwatch. But their truly mass production began only 20 years later. Since then, thanks to its convenience, automatic winding has gained immense popularity. How do such watches work and work, what are their pros and cons?
These hours are completely absorbed. However, these automatic watches must remain in use so that they do not stop. Some watches can be raised by winding the crown or again in motion by shaking. Many watch wearers also use so-called watch winders. These are devices in which you can place a watch so that the actual motion being simulated is simulated and thus preserved in non-use in motion.
In terms of price, automatic and quartz watches are so different that the automatic is always more expensive. In addition, it is less suitable for violent movements and sports. Quartz watches are more durable, more accurate and cheaper. What is missing here, however, is the certain image or prestige that you always buy when you buy a watch as a branded product or fashion accessory.
How does automatic winding work?
The source of energy in a mechanical watch is the spring. In ordinary watches, it is wound manually: the rotation of the crown is transmitted through a system of wheels to the drum shaft. How to make the watch wind on its own?
If in Matchbox put a pebble and shake it, the pebble will move inside the box. It is forced to move by inertia and gravity. Self-winding watches are somewhat similar to our box. They also have a “pebble” - a metal weight attached to an axis, usually made in the shape of a sector. The center of gravity of the sector is shifted to the edge, and with any movements of the hand it rotates around its axis, winding the watch spring through a system of gears.
If you compare the prices of quartz and automatic, then you have to say that in case of repair costs, automatic is much more expensive when repaired. However, the downside is most likely with quartz watches because the cost to repair is almost not worth it. The quartz crisis is still being felt today.
The development of quartz watches has consequences to this day. As long as the work was delivered to third parties, this was not a problem. But after the end of the quartz crisis and the newly discovered mechanical watch this became a problem. This conflict has become more acute in that the movements that are installed in most watches or whose components are no longer delivered.
In order for the sector to overcome the resistance of the spring and wind the watch, it must have great inertia. Therefore, the sector is made of two parts: a thin, lightweight top plate and a half-ring made of a heavy tungsten alloy. They try to make the diameter of the sector as large as possible.
The automatic winding sector rotates with any movement of the human hand, regardless of how wound the watch spring is. To prevent it from “overdoing it” and breaking the spring, all automatic watches have one or another mechanism to protect it from overvoltage and breakage. Usually in such watches the spring is not rigidly attached to the drum, but with the help of a friction lining. Its elasticity is designed so that when fully wound, the outer end of the spring, together with the lining, slips in the drum, protecting the spring from excessive winding and breakage. Sometimes, when winding such a watch, you can hear light clicks - this is the sound of a slipping spring.
This could even lead to a new watch crisis in the future. This should provide assistance and support to smaller watch manufacturers and may even revolutionize the watch market in some circumstances. Is there a new quartz crisis? It may be that the watch industry now has to go through another major crisis. At the very least, they often talk about difficulties and decreased growth.
At the same time, the price of gold exploded - even today, again caused by currency problems, exchange rate changes and rising franc problems in the watch industry. However, this also impacts small and medium-sized businesses that need to keep up with developments to remain competitive. It's possible that this isn't as important to the big brand luxury chronograph market because they create their own smart models first and because there are still plenty of mechanical classic watch lovers out there. Here are the new provisions to prevent corruption. Another reason for the changes in the watch industry: The market in China has changed a lot. . At least that's the opinion of most major watch manufacturers for now.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantage of a self-winding watch is that it does not need to be wound every day. But besides convenience, there are two more small advantages. The sector constantly maintains the spring in a state close to full winding, and this allows for better accuracy. The second advantage is related to water resistance. The crown bushing is one of the most vulnerable places in a watch in terms of water resistance. In a self-winding watch, the crown is hardly used, which means there is less chance of moisture and dirt getting inside.
The largest Swiss watch brands, offering watches in the high price segment, still mainly focus on their traditional models. This bracelet can be connected to a smartphone. The proverb says whoever clicks will rust. This applies to all machines and devices that have moving parts, and therefore also to mechanical watches. However, stopping longer often has the adverse effect of not rusting. Rather, it may also lead to the formation of impurities, causing improper wear mechanical parts and similar phenomena.
Of course, there are also disadvantages. Automatic winding is an additional and rather complex device. Naturally, along with complexity, the likelihood of breakdowns also increases. Automatic watches are thicker and heavier than regular watches. The need for a large size sector limits the use of automatic winding in women's watches. Complicating the mechanism and using a rather expensive tungsten weight increases the cost of the watch.
This is especially important for watch enthusiasts and collectors with big amount automatic watch. While the owner of a mechanical hand-wound watch, in order to avoid long periods of inactivity, has no alternative but to regularly close the watch, an automatic watch that is not yet worn can be driven by a winder.
What is a watch winder?
Today high quality mechanical wrist watch equipped with an automatic elevator. Therefore, they do not need to be picked up manually, but installation occurs continuously in small steps using the hands of the person wearing the watch. If an automatic watch is not worn for a long period of time, there is no need to continuously shut down and it will stop after the appropriate power reserve has expired.
Self-winding watches are more sensitive to shock. It happens that with strong impacts, its supports break under the weight of the sector.
Today, the majority of mechanical watches produced in the world are self-winding, with the exception of only the cheapest and most expensive models. In cheap ones, self-winding is not used in order to reduce cost. And in difficult expensive watch the use of self-winding often becomes impossible. A large number of functions, firstly, it makes the mechanism already too thick, and increasing the thickness further by adding automatic winding is no longer reasonable. Secondly, these functions require more energy and a powerful spring to operate, and the load of the automatic winder is no longer able to start it.
To avoid this, you can store your automatic watch in one. This is a device that has one or more movable watch arms that imitate the movements of the hand with slow rotations and thus allow the installation of a wristwatch.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of watch winding?
The decisive advantage of the watch winder is that the unwanted stoppage of unsupported collection items with automatic winding can be avoided. This is compensated by the lack of mechanical wear, which is dependent on any operating hours. However, this occurs even when the model is worn on the hand as usual and, therefore, is not really a particular disadvantage of the lift.
Movement is life
If a person has one watch that he wears every day, and this person leads an active lifestyle, then for him automatic winding is a good choice. With sufficient accuracy, the watch owner will only touch the crown once every few weeks.
And if a person’s motor activity is low, then the watch will not have time to start and will stop. For a pensioner who spends most of the day on the couch watching TV, such a watch is not suitable. This must be taken into account when offering this or that model to the buyer. Also, automatic winding loses its meaning if a person has several watches and wears them alternately.
For masterpieces with complex complications, avoiding downtime by keeping them on the hob has another important advantage. Complications such as moon phase displays or perpetual calendars are prized as complex masterpieces of watchmaking, but it can be relatively cumbersome to set a watch with such a complication if it needs to be restarted after a period of stagnation.
By storing a watch in a winder, you can avoid the fact that the watch needs to be adjusted if it is not worn for some time. There are very different models engines. Thus there are simple models for one or two hours, where only the function is in the foreground. Other options, however, are sophisticated and use valuable materials, such as precious woods, which are designed to provide a particularly attractive and stylish presentation option for valuable masterpieces. First of all, they are in demand among collectors of high-quality automatic watches.
The idea of creating a perpetual motion machine is so strong that systems that are somewhat similar to automatic winding. appeared even in quartz watches. But they are a separate story.
WATCH BUSINESS Magazine No. 6
Due to the popularity of topics about watches, I think this topic will be interesting to someone.
As soon as I received the second watch from eBay, namely the Seiko 5 with automatic winding - /topic45879s15.html, the question immediately arose of how to keep it always wound. I didn’t intend to wear them without taking them off, and in the summer I wore jishoks with jeans. And every time after a break, before getting dressed, I didn’t really want to set the time and date.
I had previously seen automatic winding devices on eBay, so I decided to look for them there. But basically all the lots were very expensive, especially considering the price of the Seiko 5.
I came across a seller boxyeah and wrote it down in my notes.
I thought for a long time whether to buy it or not, since the price according to Baytnau was slightly lower than the price of the watch.
And then a friend needed just such a thing. I showed him the lots and decided to try bargaining at auctions.
In the end we agreed on reasonable price. The seller sent everything promptly. True, I didn’t give the track. But I didn’t ask. And there was a track. Upon receipt, I saw that it was indicated on the parcel (you can see it in the photo).
Lot - http://cgi.ebay.com/...e=STRK:MEWNX:IT. Cost $26.99 plus $10 shipping.
Salesman - http://myworld.ebay.com/boxyeah/
From a technical point of view, there are also some differences, since in some cases the winding clocks have several rising programs. The direction of rotation and the number of revolutions per day depend on the type of automatic winding the watch is kept. Typically, automatic movements wind on both sides, approximately 650 - 900 revolutions per day.
Current watch winder models - selection
Winder manufacturers usually provide lists showing the different motions and their corresponding directions of rotation. A popular model among many collectors and hobbyists is the storage model for individual automatic watches. The cubic, objectively modern case is made in several material options. For example, carbon, brushed aluminum, black gloss lacquer and chrome are used.
Its special advantage is its always low energy consumption. Two alkaline batteries are enough to operate the Swiss Cube for up to five years. It is therefore particularly well suited for storing automatic watches, for example in a professional vault.
They combine high degree protection and security for content with especially stylish features that make the hearts of watch collectors beat faster. It includes various models, some of which can accommodate only one, but sometimes also up to eight hours and are offered in different accommodation options. They will most likely appeal to lovers of marine watches with automatic winding. Overall, it should be noted that the winder supply is so varied that there is a suitable storage option for almost every price range, size and style of watch collection.
Here is a short video review of the device:
About the device... Everything works. Good quality. Nothing special, but everything is neat, high-quality plastic, does not smell. Very light. I recommend both the seller and the device.
Actually, I don’t quite understand why these self-winding boxes are so expensive from other sellers. In my opinion, 36 dollars is too much for her. For some reason the Chinese are lagging behind, they can’t rivet them on the cheap.
The automatic movement is a mechanical watch movement that operates by continuous movement of the wearer's wrist. The rotor, a half-disc-shaped metal weight, rotates freely around the rod, and movement in any direction helps wind the main spring. An automatic watch should not be damaged if it is worn every day. The clock is adjusted by a spiral wheel that oscillates between 6 and 8 times per second. The automatic movement consists of more than 70 pieces, a figure that rises to 230 in the case of the caliber.
Although slightly less precise than quartz watches, it is the finest example of the technical expertise and tradition of Swiss watchmaking. His high frequency guarantees excellent mechanical precision. Certification implies a clear recognition of its accuracy and reliability.