What does automatic watch mean?

Have you ever wondered how a watch works? We have already seen together what the mechanism is that characterizes quartz watches... today we move on to discover the automatic watch! Let's find out together what "automatic watch" means !

The story

The first automatic chronographs were invented by Abraham-Louis Perrelet and Abraham-Louis Breguet , but their first real industrial production dates back to 1931, with the Perpetual system of the famous Rolex company, still among the most important in the world. Currently, there are various calibers for the automatic mechanism on the market, from the most commercial to the extremely sought-after and complicated ones. Some of the most important brands in the production of automatic watches are Miyota, ETA and Seiko.

The mechanism

The fundamental characteristic of an automatic watch is its ability to recharge itself by exploiting the movement of a rotor placed inside the watch itself. The charge is automatic and is given by the movement of the wrist that wears the chronograph itself! Definitely more practical than the old manually wound watches!

In detail

The operation of the automatic mechanical movement is due to the kinetic energy released by the movement of the arm. The rotor rotates around a pivot and, moving with the oscillation caused by the moving wrist, acts on a small spring that recharges the entire mechanism. The mechanism of an automatic watch is called caliber . The functionality and precision of the watch itself depends on the caliber.

Energy that transforms

But how is the energy of the movement transformed into the energy needed to charge the watch? This is all due to the rotor , which we were talking about earlier. This component of the automatic mechanism is a small weight that oscillates in a special housing with each movement. It then transmits its energy through a series of gears to reach the mainspring , located in the so-called barrel . Complicated? Quite!

Types of mechanism

It is important to know that there are two different charging systems: unidirectional and bidirectional . In the first type, the motor activates the spring only if it rotates in a certain direction. In the bidirectional ones, however, charging can occur in both directions, thanks to some inverting gears.

How the hands advance

To allow the hands to advance, thus signaling the passage of time, there is a special small pendulum called a balance wheel . It determines regular intervals at which the escapement releases the wheelwork : in simple terms, it is the balance wheel that allows the hands to advance regularly, through the energy present in the mainspring.

The cons

As for the cons of this type of watch, it is good to know that, compared to their manual counterparts, automatic chronographs are more expensive and more difficult to maintain. Their mechanism, so complicated and full of components, makes them really delicate .

Our advice

Among the most prominent automatic movement watches on the market, we cannot fail to mention, in addition to the brands previously mentioned, the famous TagHeuer. Beautiful and functional, suitable for everyone thanks to the great variety of styles they possess. These are high-end watchmaking products, definitely of quality: not to be missed, if we want an automatic chronograph worthy of its name on our wrist! You can discover them better in the store or on our official website and online shop, Ferro Gioielli . I hope that today's article was interesting and useful for learning something more about the world of watches. See you here, very soon, with a new article!