What Is The Movement Of A Watch And How It Usually Works - Watches Wholesaler

The movement of a Watches Manufacturers watch is the heart of the piece, it is the mechanism that manages to measure time accurately. It may seem like a stable process, but the big watch brands continue to develop new mechanisms, capable of achieving incredible accuracy, as well as incorporating new complications.

On this occasion we are going to analyze how the movement of a watch works, what parts usually make up its structure and some tips to protect and maintain the mechanism of a luxury watch.

What is the movement of a watch

The movement of a watch is the mechanism that allows you to measure time. There are different types of mechanisms, but all are based on the premise that the internal structure of the clock must move regularly, to prevent it from gaining or losing time.

In addition to the measurement of seconds, minutes and hours, the movement also includes all the complications that fit in a watch, from the calendar to the phases of the moon.

There are two essential types of movement in the watch industry, the quartz movement and the mechanical movement.

Quartz movement: On the one hand they are very precise and also do not require maintenance. The quartz crystal vibrates, due to the electric current generated by a battery, a tiny chip converts the vibrations into impulses, which reach an electric motor that moves the hands. These watches are also very cheap.

Mechanical movement: In this case electricity has no function, the movement is based on a rope device that moves different mechanical parts. These watches are more delicate than the previous ones, less precise and require more maintenance, so why opt for a mechanical watch? Because mechanics is the essence of watchmaking. This time we are going to focus on the automatic movement of watches to analyze what a movement is.

How does a winding mechanical movement work?

Until a few decades ago it was necessary to wind watches for their mechanism to work, today the movement of the hand itself is enough for the complete mechanism of the watch to work, thanks to several centuries of research.

The simplest explanation to understand how a movement-driven mechanical watch works is as follows:

All automatic watches have a motor spring that stores energy when it is wound, and gradually releases it by expanding. This motor acquires the rope through movement, thanks to a rotor and a pawl, which transmit the movement.

The rotor rotates around a central axis, it also has a set of coils, when pivoting sideways it winds the mechanism, the pawl prevents the rope from being lost when it rotates in the opposite direction, blocking its movement in the opposite direction.

The motor spring unwinds little by little, which is why the watch can work without the need for us to be in motion, since it has a power reserve that, depending on the model, can be greater or less. Are the motor spring, the ratchet and the rotor enough for an automatic watch to work? Yes, but the movements are much more complex, due to the fact that they have more complications that require the introduction of other parts.