Many people believe that automatic watches are a recent invention. However, this is not true. The first clocks in which the movement was automatically wound up again came out at the end of the 18th century.
For a long time, however, they could not prevail against the normal mechanical watches with their simple and effective winding mechanism. Later, they were largely replaced by battery-powered quartz watches. Recently, however, automatic watches have made a comeback. You can even buy 4 watch winder online.
What is an automatic watch and how does it work?
The automatic watch is basically a normal mechanical wristwatch-like any other. The only difference is that in an automatic watch the movement is wound automatically. In addition to the other components of a wristwatch, an automatic watch contains a rotor that, like any physical object, has a mass. The rotor is mounted on precision ball bearings. Due to normal body movements when wearing the watch, the watch changes its direction.
Due to the physical principle of mass inertia, however, the rotor wants to maintain its current position and resists movement. As a result, he exerts a force on the spring of the watch and winds it. When the spring is fully wound, a slip clutch prevents the spring from being overturned.
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How did the development continue?
Automatic watches are practical and elegant. A large selection of cheap automatic watches can be found on the Internet. Especially price search engines are suitable because you can not only compare the prices but also read article reviews of other customers. However, automatic watches have been replaced by quartz watches with button cells because their accuracy is greater. Recently, however, so-called car quartz watches have been making a name for themselves. These are quartz watches, which also have a rotor, just like a classic automatic watch.
However, the rotor transfers its power either directly to an integrated generator or indirectly to a spring that drives a generator. The generator, in turn, supplies a battery with energy, which in turn drives the quartz movement. This eliminates the need for battery replacement. Automatic watches represent an interesting technical solution to achieve the highest possible accuracy by mechanical means. However, you should note that they must have a certain minimum size because of the most important component, the rotor. Because of their interesting technology, automatic watches always find lovers.