Mechanical or automatic watch? How do they differ?
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Mechanical or automatic watch? How do they differ?
In our articles we often took up the subject of movements, mainly the automatic and quartz movement, and discussed which one is better and worth buying, etc. Undoubtedly, there are many more automatic and quartz watches than manual ones. Manual winding, however, is still used in the production of watches and is highly valued by professionals. In today’s article, we will deal with a distinction between the types of winding used in mechanical movements, namely manual and automatic winding.
Classification of movements
Most people often make a distinction between mechanical watches, i.e. those with manual winding, and automatic watches, which are self-winding. This is not wrong but it is not fully correct either. Therefore, we will try to explain the aforementioned distinction in this article.
Firstly, let’s focus on the classification of movements and their winding. Watches can be divided into two basic groups:
- mechanical: with manual or automatic winding;
- quartz.
Look into the heart of a mechanical watch
Why is this division made? It’s pretty easy to explain. Mechanical watches, whether manual or automatic, have an escapement (transfers the power), a balance wheel (regulates gait) and a mainspring. The latter, when stretched, unwinds, thus transferring the accumulated potential energy to the individual components of the movement. Thereby, the mainspring sets the entire movement in motion. The advantage of such movements is that they do not need a battery to work, and therefore a cyclic battery replacement is not needed. The type of winding with a cyclic battery replacement concerns only quartz watches.
You can read about the other movements by clicking the link below.
What do you need to know about the manual movement?
We already know that a mainspring is a power source in mechanical watches. Now it is good to consider mechanical watches with manual and automatic winding. Of course, watches with a manual winding were created much earlier than watches with automatic winding. Hand-wound watches are synonymous with luxury, tradition, watchmaking craftsmanship and uniqueness. No wonder that they are one of the most valued models on the market. The mainspring in mechanical watches needs to be systematically wound. To wind the mainspring, the wearer must turn the crown until it can no longer be turned clockwise. The spring moves the winding stem and gear trains responsible for the mainspring winding. This type of movement is easier to clean and is easier to repair, in case of possible damage. It is a suitable solution for people who like to take care of their watches.
How does the automatic winding work?
Watches with an automatic winding were created around 1770 and are improved versions of those with manual winding. Most people choose this type of movement mainly due to the comfort and convenience of use as these watches don’t need to be wound regularly. All the owner needs to do is to wear a watch on their wrist so that the mainspring is always wound. What if you are not currently wearing a watch on your wrist? Watch collectors and enthusiasts often use watch winders, i.e. special devices that wind the watch without having to wear it on a wrist. An additional advantage of automatic watches is that some models are equipped with power reserve indicators, which show information about the degree of spring winding.
Which movement to choose?
If you want to have a watch with a “soul”, buy a mechanical watch. The choice between manual and automatic winding depends primarily on our comfort. You can find a large selection of quartz, automatic and manual watches on our online shop Watchard.com.
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