How a mechanical watch works

How a mechanical watch works(animagraffs.com)

43 points by yan 9 years ago | 7 comments

gravelc 9 years ago |

Like a lot of other tech-obsessed people, I jumped on the Apple Watch bandwagon when it hit the market, having not worn a watch since my teen years. After about 6 months, I ditched it due to it being a bit useless at actually telling the time (display didn't always show if I lifted my wrist whilst lying down, terrible battery etc.).

I did however quite like the idea of having a watch again.

On a trip to Japan, I purchased a nice mid-range JDM automatic Seiko, which I now have to say is just about my favourite bit of personal tech. It's beautifully built to such incredibly tight tolerances, looks great, and the underlying mechanism is just awesome (as shown by the OP). It's not that accurate (gains about 40s a day), but I can live with it.

I do wonder how much the smart watch (r)evolution has actually lifted the entire market, and given other people like me a reason to revisit some of the more traditional but still highly functional watch tech.

sdrothrock 9 years ago | |

I was the same way with the Moto 360 and other Android Wear devices for a while, then ended up going back to mechanical watches (automatics) myself. I've heard other people with similar stories -- the smartwatch got them into the wristwear market again, then the luxury/history of mechanicals pulled them back in.

Now, though, I want something like Chronos (https://wearchronos.com/) for my mechanical watches, though a bit smaller... on something thicker, the Chronos makes the entire thing basically as thick as a Panerai and completely unwearable with long sleeves.

shostack 9 years ago |

Is anyone aware of a good hobbyist beginner kit or kit for older kids that might be fun to tinker with to learn the basics?

I think tinkering with small parts like this could be a fun and relaxing/focusing hobby but I'm not sure where to start and don't want to invest much up front in actuals tools and watches.

Just trying to find the physical "codecademy" equivalent to get some initial excitement going and learn if it's something I want to pursue further

qwrusz 9 years ago | |

http://www.timezonewatchschool.com/WatchSchool/

shostack 9 years ago | | |

This looks really interesting as an intermediate stage, but I'm not sure I'm even really interested. Any suggestions for something quite a bit less expensive for someone on a budget that teaches the basic principles?

equine 9 years ago |

How on earth did they make these small parts for pocket watches 500 years ago?

tsomctl 9 years ago | |

You can machine anything to any tolerance, assuming that you can measure it (and you have enough time.) In other words, you can create these tiny parts using relatively crude tools. (Files, saws, lapping, grinding) The critical part is being able to measure the part you are making, so you know if it is good enough or if you need to take off more material. In a 500 year old clock, the parts would have been made to only fit in that clock. Every part would be slowly made by test fitting it against the part it rides against. The fitment would be judged by feel, or by using blue die to see where two surfaces were touching.

Using modern measurement tools, you can machine to pretty tight tolerances, even if your lathe/mill is extremely worn.