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Wristwatches are powered and tell the time in a number of ways, each way has different advantages and disadvantages. The standard of technology is high for contemporary watches and you are unlikely to encounter powering issues, but you may find that a certain type of watch power will facilitate the way that you use a watch.

Mechanical Watches

The first wristwatches were mechanical. The power comes from energy that is stored in a spring, which was used to turn a number of weighted wheels, gears, to move the hands. This technology came from spring-powered clocks that were around as early as the 1400’s; it began to be used for smaller watches in the 1600’s. To keep a mechanical watch going it must be wound regularly, often every day. Having to remember to wind mechanical watches is seen by many to be an inconvenience so they are often regarded as collectors or nostalgic items.

Kinetic or Automatic Watches

Automatic watches are the modern incarnation of the mechanical watch. Automatic watches are similar inside to a mechanical watch but they rely on the movement of the wearer to power the spring. There is a greater likelihood that an automatic watch will lose time than some of the other powered watches, it can be as much as a few seconds every day. Designer and high quality watch brands such as Police and Seiko have automatic watches as signature pieces in their collections. This is partly because they have the expertise to ensure accuracy. Plus automatic watches never need to have a battery change, which is eco-friendly and advantageous for preserving water resistance ratings. The moving parts inside the watch also are often visable through a transparent case.

Quartz Watches

Quartz watches became available in 1969. Quartz has special properties so when it is shaped in a certain way and subject to an electrical field it will bend. When the field is taken away the quartz generates an electrical field of its own as it moves back to its original shape. This is known as piezoelectricity. Due to this property quartz crystals can be used to regulate the movement of an electronic oscillator. This energy and movement powers and controls the hands of the watch. This revolutionary technology is now the most common form of power in wristwatches. It is also the most reliable timekeeping method which also comes at a low price.

Atomic Timekeeping

Atomic time is measured through the radioactive changes in an atom. It is the most precise measurement of time known to man. An atomic clock deviates by around a second every million years! Many performance wristwatches for example Casio’s WaveCeptor range utilise this technology. A network of radio transmitters emit time signals that are received by the radio controlled watches. When the watch receives the signal it will set itself to the correct time.

Types of Watch Batteries

Other watches are generally powered by one of three types of battery. The most common is the silver oxide battery. This kind of battery is used in watches because they have a high energy to weight ratio. This means that they should last for a significant amount of time. Silver is a costly precious metal so although silver oxide batteries are extremely efficient you are unlikely to see them being used in larger objects.

Lithium batteries are long-life and also relatively expensive. They are used primarily in watches that have lights or other energy draining features.

Solar cells are becoming more common in wristwatches. Advanced battery cells are fuelled by the light that reaches them through the face of the watch. The result of this is that the battery will never need to be changed and the integrity of the watch should be preserved for longer. Citizen’s Eco-Drive range has set the standard for the practical application of this technology. As an additional ecological bonus the batteries do not contain any of the harmful chemicals found in regular batteries.

All About Automatic Watches

Automatic watches are a modern take on traditional mechanical watches. These new developments stem from an established horological tradition dating back as far as 1400. Automatic watches work by converting the energy of the wearers wrist into potential energy that is then stored within a spring. This energy is gradually used to move a number of weighted wheels, or gears as they are also known, that turn the hands.

When they were first invented mechanical watches were extremely unreliable with the best losing or gaining up to 15 minutes every day! Nowadays the variance is a couple of seconds a day at most. Seiko developed a new kinetic technology in the 1980’s which was able to transform this energy into electrical energy, this development meant that now mechanical watches could be regulated by quartz precision.  The other bad thing about the originals was that they had to be wound every day at the same time. Nowadays a premier automatic watch like the Seiko Direct Drive Velatura will last for more than one month when fully charged and the cheapest models will last at least a couple of days. Once stopped they will reactivate with only a small amount of movement, thankfully no winding necessary. 

Automatic watches have always been a luxury item so you may be surprised to hear that there are now great value automatics such as the Sekonda Two Tone Gents Automatic watch which we are currently selling at just £23.12.   

Automatics have also made a comeback through certain designers ranges such as Police and Seiko. The inner workings are often made a feature by being visible through the case back, so you can see how your watch works. The Police Portland range has this stylistic feature.  

Reliability combined with the ecological and practical benefits of owning an automatic watch have resulted in a revival in popularity for these watches in recent years.   But the best thing about automatic watches is that you never have to change the battery. As an added bonus not removing the back of the watch to do a battery change preserves the integrity of the inner workings for longer. No battery changes also means that you save money and time and do a little bit extra to save the environment as well.