Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, we'll be discussing the
different types of wristwatch assemblies
known as movements, their construction,
and history, and which type might be
right for you.
While many men will consider or purchase
a new wristwatch based solely on the
looks of its exterior, the true
connoisseur will give equal attention to
its internal mechanisms. Such internal
workings are collectively referred to as
the movement or caliber of a wristwatch
and they're the subject of today's video.
The movement drives the hands on the
face of a wristwatch and also powers its
other features, known in the trade as
complications. These would include such
things as the calendar, chronograph, or
alternate time zones. There are two
overall categories and three individual
types of watch movements. The two
categories are mechanical and quartz and
within the mechanical category, the two
individual types there are manual and
automatic. But before we get into these
specifics about what those terms mean,
here's a bit of general information on
what movements look like. Watch movements can come in many different shapes and
sizes in order to fit into the different
shapes and sizes of watch cases that are
available. As such, a watch movement could be round, rectangular, oblong, elliptical,
and so on. The thickness of a watch
movement is measured either in
millimeters or in an old French unit
called Linea in the case of French and
Swiss watchmakers. One linea is equal to
about two point two five six millimeters.
The individual parts of a watch movement
are situated between two plates; the
front plate which sits just behind the
face of the watch has the same shape as
the movement overall as well as the case
in general. The back plate, however, can
have a few different shapes. It can be a
full plate to match the front one,
a 3/4 plate or a series of smaller plates
referred to as bridges. In the case of
these latter two, it's so that the
individual parts of the movement can be
more easily accessed when the watch
needs to be repaired. Now that you know
what a movement is in general, let's get
into the discussion proper starting by
discussing the general category of
mechanical watch movements. Speaking
broadly, the mechanical category simply
means that the watch in question isn't
powered by a battery. All mechanical
watches, meaning both of the types we're
about to cover, will contain the
following types of parts. The crown is
the wheel on the side of the watch that
is used to set the time, it can also be
turned to wind the watch to run it. The
mainspring is the power source of the
movement and the kinetic energy from
winding the crown is transferred to the
coil shaped mainspring which stores the
energy by getting tighter and tighter.
The gear train transmits the stored
energy from the mainspring to the
escapement through a series of small
gears. The escapement, also referred to as
the escape wheel, is responsible for
taking the energy from the mainspring
and transferring it to the balance wheel
in equally apportioned amounts. The
balance wheel is essentially the heart
of the watch movement; receiving the
energy that it needs to run from the
escapement. The balance wheel beats or
oscillates in a circular motion between
five and ten times per second. A
watchmaker can make the balance wheel
oscillate faster or slower which in turn
makes the watch run faster or slower.
Also of note here are the jewels,
these are usually synthetic rubies that
are set at points of high friction
within the movement to reduce wear and
improve performance. Rubies are used
because they absorb heat well and
they're also extremely hard and
therefore durable. Why are mechanical
movement watches so prized by style
aficionados then? Simply put, the
intricate small parts inside of the
movements as well as the craftsmanship
that goes into assembling them
makes these movements pieces of art. Many European produced mechanical movement
watches will sell for hundreds of
thousands or even millions of dollars at
auction. Though as with anything else,
some of that price is due to brand name
value. Aside from just the considerations
of artistry though, there are also
practical benefits to mechanical
movement watches. For one thing, with
proper care, watches like this can last a
lifetime and you won't have to worry
about constantly replacing batteries. On
the other hand though, mechanical watch
movements can get dirty and the
lubricants inside can dry up so they
should be maintained by disassembling
them and cleaning them every three to
five years or so. So that's the
mechanical movement category broadly
defined. Now we can jump into the
specifics of the two kinds of mechanical
movements starting with the manual watch
movement. A manual movement, also
frequently referred to as a hand wound
movement, is the oldest type of watch
movement made. It dates back to the 16th
century. Most manual movements will need
daily winding in order to keep time
accurately but some higher-end models
can store energy efficiently enough to
only need winding every few days. Some
watches will feature a complication
known as a power reserve indicator which
tells the wearer how long they can go
before they actually need to wind the
watch again. With this said though, men
who prefer to wear manual movement
watches generally get into the habit of
winding them daily often at a set time,
usually before they go to bed, for
example. Because manual movements are the
most traditional type of movement
available, they're typically found in
conservatively styled expensive and
collectible watch models. Here are some
important aspects to consider when
purchasing a manual movement watch. First
of all, you will need to get into the
habit of winding your watch regularly. If
you don't do this, the watch will wind
down and it won't keep time accurately.
With that said though, if a manual watch
is wound too tightly or wound
at an improper angle, say for example, if you try to wind it while it's already on
your wrist, this can do damage to the
movement over time. Along with manual
movement watches, the other type of
mechanical movement is the automatic
movement, also known as the self-winding
movement. This type debuted in the early
20th century. An automatic movement
harnesses kinetic energy from the
natural motion of the wearer's wrist. In
other words, moving your arm around while
you're wearing the watch throughout the
day will wind the mainspring. How is
this accomplished then? It's because an
automatic movement contains all of the
components we covered earlier plus an
additional component that's referred to
as the rotor. This is most often a semi
circular metal weight that can swing
freely 360 degrees as the wrist moves.
The rotor is connected by another series
of gears to the mainspring which gets
wound as the rotor swings. From there, the
mechanisms of the automatic movement are the same as the manual and yes, it can
also be wound from the crown, if you so
choose. Some considerations for wearing
an automatic movement watch starting
with the fact that the ritual of daily
winding isn't necessary. As long as you
wear the watch often and keep your wrist
moving naturally, the watch will continue
to get wound on the opposite side of the
coin, however, if you go a long time
without wearing an automatic movement
watch, the lack of movement will probably
mean that the watch will run down over
time. Also, automatic movements are
usually just a little bit thicker than
manual movements because of the room
that needs to be made for the rotor and
additional gears. With that said, some
gentlemen do appreciate the extra bit of
heft that this brings to the watch. The
final type of movement we'll discuss
today is the quartz movement, also known
as a battery-powered movement. It was
introduced to the public by the Seiko
corporation in 1969. Unlike the
mechanical movements we just covered, the inner workings of a quartz movement are
made up by very different components.
Firstly, the power source of a quartz
movement is a battery. It takes the place
of a mainspring.
A watch battery will typically last
between one and two years at which time
it should be promptly replaced to
prevent any leakage of battery acid. Next
up is the integrated circuit which
carries the electrical charge from the
battery to the quartz crystal and from
the crystal to the stepping motor. The
quartz crystal acts in a similar fashion
to the escapement on a mechanical watch.
Quartz vibrates when electricity is
applied to it and this generates voltage.
The stepping motor transforms the
electrical impulses into mechanical
power and the dial train functions just
like the dial train that's found on a
mechanical movement. In other words,
here's a brief overview of how quartz
movements work. First, the battery sends
electricity through the integrated
circuit to the quartz crystal.
The electric charge makes the crystal
vibrate at a rate of 32,768 pulses per
second. These pulses are sent through the
integrated circuit to the stepping motor
which sends every 32,768 electrical
pulse to the dial train. Ergo, this comes
out to one pulse sent to the dial train
per second. Finally of course, the dial
train, as it did with the mechanical
movements, moves the hands of the watch.
What are the benefits of a quartz
movement watch as compared to a
mechanical movement then? Firstly, because
quartz watches feature a circuit board
instead of lots of individual parts
which have the potential to run down,
they are the most accurate type of watch
movement currently available. And because of this, quartz movements are generally
less expensive as well and that's why
you'll find them in a lot of typical
watches sold at department stores. So the
essential question for today then, what
type of watch movement is right for you?
In short, it really does depend on what
specifically you're looking for. If
you're a true watch connoisseur and you
value the tradition and the
craftsmanship that go into the
construction of mechanical watches, then
a manual or an automatic movement is
probably going to be a good choice for
you.
Remember though that you will probably
need to be willing to spend a bit more
and that you'll have to take the
additional time to make sure that the
watch is wound and running properly. If
you'd rather not deal with these
additional factors, you're just getting
into the watch collecting hobby, or you
just want one watch to use on a
consistent basis, a quartz movement might
be a better choice for you. You don't
have to feel that a quartz movement is
inferior to a mechanical movement either.
After all, they are the most accurate
type of movement in the long run and
there are still plenty of handsome
styles of watch that contain quartz
movements. As a side note here, if you've
got an old or broken watch with a
mechanical movement, say for example a
timepiece you inherited, you do have
options when taking it to a watchmaker.
You can try to get the original
mechanical movement restored depending
on its condition or you could also have
a new mechanical movement installed or
go a different route and have the watch
retrofitted with a quartz movement which
is available, in some cases, pardon the
pun. So then, that's our overview of the
three different types of watch movements.
We'd like to know what were you most
surprised by in today's video? You can
share with us in the comments section
below and as always don't forget to
subscribe to the channel and hit the
little bell icon so that videos like
these can come straight to your inbox. my
outfit in today's video is centered
around my wristwatch it's a Timex watch
with a quartz movement and it features
complications for the hour of the day in
military time as well as for the day of
the week and the day of the month it has
a simple silver case and a plain black
leather band nothing flashy but that's
because I wear it often and it goes with
a great many different outfits to echo
it's simple color scheme then I'm
wearing a black cardigan sweater over a
button-up shirt that features fine gray
and white stripes the shirt does have
French cuffs but I'm wearing them
configured in a barrel style today to
accommodate the sleeves of the sweater
and as such the cufflinks I'm wearing
are simple and unobtrusive black links
my trousers are grey
and they feature a subtle pattern in
their weave as do my simple charcoal
socks the outfit is capped off by my
plane cap toe black derby as is
typical with these more casual types of
outfits I'm not wearing a great many
accessories today but I could wear
something like the sterling silver
platinum plated Eagle Claw cufflinks
from Fort Belvedere featuring onyx as
the stone for a great selection of
cufflinks and other accessories you can
check out the Fort Belvedere shop here
