The power stored by the mainspring is transferred through the going train, which is a number of gears, called wheels, that lead to the escapement. When the mainspring is wound up, the barrel needs to unwind and that is where the power for the movement comes from. The Barrel is essentially a hollow gear in which the mainspring is housed. A mainspring is a thin ribbon of metal that is tightly wound and rests inside the Barrel. It is also the main determinant in the watch’s power reserve. The mainspring is what you wind up to start a watch.
The Mainspring: The mainspring in a mechanical watch is the “gas tank”. Now let’s take a look at some of the more common mechanical terminologies used in watches. Again, the COSC certification simply means that a movement met the criteria at one point in time. It’s also worth mentioning a watch that has the “chronometer” certification will not always operate within these standards and that is completely okay.
Think of it this way: For a car to be able to travel at 55 mph for 8 hours then the car needs to be over-engineered to achieve this feat and watch movements are similar in that as well. The organization does not guarantee the movements abilities after the test, rather that at the point in time when it was tested it was able to maintain the standards. The movement is then returned to the manufacturer and assembled into a watch. If the movement meets this standard, as well as the others then the movement receives the “Chronometer” certification. The most recognized criteria for the certification is the average daily rate, which is -4 or +6 seconds, or up to 10 seconds per day.
#Mechanism for running a timepiece series
A manufacturer, like Rolex will send just the movement to the Organization and they will perform a series of tests to determine if the movement is within the standards. The process of having a movement COSC certified is as follows. Isochronism is the same principle that allows a pendulum’s swing to be equal on both sides. This independent organization tests the isochronism of a watch movement. Next up is C.O.S.C or The Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute. And we’ll dive a little deeper into how a mechanical watch works in a bit. Now an automatic watch can maintain its power reserve because of the movement’s design.
#Mechanism for running a timepiece manual
So, on a manual watch the power reserve is constantly running out which is why you need to regularly wind the watch. An average mechanical watch has a power reserve of around 48 hours. The power reserve is a measure of how long the watch will run before it stops. A mechanical watch will have a power reserve.
While automatic movements, once fully wound can maintain their time keeping if worn regularly. As the name suggests, manual watch movements, must be regularly wound to keep the watch running. The two types of mechanical movements are Manual and Automatic. Quartz watches are extremely accurate because of the high frequency in which quartz vibrates. We like to think of this as the engine of the watch.Ī quartz watch uses a small piece of quartz crystal with an electronic signal that pulses through it, creating a consistent vibration for the quartz to measure time. A mechanism is often referred to as a movement or caliber. First up is Mechanical watch.Ī mechanical watch is any watch that is powered by a mechanism to measure time instead of quartz. So, let’s start with General Watch Lingo. So, we thought we’d create a Watch Basics – 101.Īnd this is just scratching the surface, but hopefully it helps you understand how these amazing machines function just a little bit better. And sometimes we get so inundated with watches we forget most people don’t spend their day working around these fascinating instruments. From the most exclusive watches to quirky quartz watches we love them all. It should be no surprise that here at Crown & Caliber we love watches.
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