HOW THE AUTOMATIC WATCH WORKS

This is a clip I picked up; a Hamilton Watch Company production dating back to 1949, that gives a user-friendly approach to the mechanics involved in the production and extension of power needed to sustain the necessary movement of a watch.

WHY Mechanical?

Ironically, but not surprisingly, the mechanical watch is far more costly (costlier?) than its quartz counterpart ... though far less accurate.
So then why would one wish to purchase the more expensive watch?
Well ... for the same reason that buying an original Puisson is favoured among most to buying a photo of the landscape painted. The photo gives an obviously more accurate depiction of the subject-matter at hand, but it's the artists work, time and expertise that is so sought after.
Each mechanical watch is comprised of a series of cogs and wheels that form the gear train and escapement, and the number of parts required to ensure the smooth running and accuracy of each movement can vary between 700 and 900 per watch. And when you consider that mechanical watches can lose 5 or less seconds per day, it's really quite an accomplishment that it takes all 700 - 900 parts working in union with each other to achieve that success.


But to me, it's value lies in MORE than just the complicated expertise. I want something of aesthetical value as well. Once I took the time to observe the movements involved, I fell in love with the mechanics of it all, it's beauty and rhythm ... and am almost willing to bet that the same will happen to you.

Mechanical v Quartz

Mechanical watches were born of the need to replace the cumbersome pocket watches of the 1800's for trench-use during the First World War. Quartz watches, on the other hand, only started making their appearances in the 1960's. It was discovered that that a quartz crystal could regulate the inflow of electricity (energy) more accurately than the power generated by the mainspring of a mechanical watch. Thus, there has been a need to improve, over the years, on the quality, as well as the purposes, of watches. Over time I will explain how such purposes and qualities are continually changing, but for this entry I simply wish to show how the differences between a mechanical and quartz movement can be noted at face value. Let's take a look at the quartz movement.
You will notice the movement of the second-hand. It is regulated to "jump" at one-second intervals. It is for this reason that the quartz watch is more accurate over a longer period of time than its mechanical counterpart. And now notice the difference between the above movement and that of the following mechanical movement.
Notice how the second-hand glides across the face of the watch. This is known as a "smooth sweep," and a good indicator that batteries and quartz are not involved.

What is important to know for now is that battery-operated watches are cheaper, while mechanical watches are more expensive, because a lot more work goes into mechanical watches, and mechanical watches are designed for the aesthetically-inclined.

Just HOW important IS time? (The Religious Origin)

The phrase, "In the Beginning," is as common to the Christian faith as the Holy Bible itself. And with good reason too, because these words form the first written words of the Scriptures.
The above phrase, although not time-specific, certainly denotes a place in time. And though the Scriptures later refer to YHWH mentioning that a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day to Him, He is not implying that time is irrelevant ... only that He is NOT as time-specific as we are, or as regulated by it as we are. YHWH even mentions that He created the Sun to rule the day, and Moon to rule the night ... a distinct relation to the rule that time has.
Thus, time IS certainly of importance to Him, and re-iterated in Ecclesiastes, where the Holy Spirit mentions that to all things there is a season; a time to live and a time to die; a time for war and a time for peace, a time to rejoice and a time to be sad; a time to reap and a time to sow.
In fact, His Son, who forms the basis of our faith, took time alone from his disciples to be alone with His Father to pray. And He did that in accordance with His Father's infallible plan for us, which was to prepare Jesus for the time allocated to Him to die ... and a time for His resurrection.
I won't bore you to death with details (or self-proclaimed righteousness?) of Bible-punching all the incidents mentioned in the Bible relating to time, but the Prophecies mentioned by Jesus concerning the end of days (war, famines, floods, and rumours of war) must certainly be seen as an indication of the importance of time that is running out for us, or it would not have been included in the scriptures.

But what I can say with conviction is that where time is important to God, He certainly is not as competetive concerning it as we are. Races and competitions are man-made "obstacles" designed for enrichment. We need to measure time in hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds, because it would be unwise for the aviator to use night and day as the only preparation in his planning, where quantities of fuel and distance have their own timing that needs to be considered.
But, as far as God is concerned, the race does not fall to the swift or the strong, for he who is last will be first, and first, last.
Does that make of time irrelevant?
No!
Time is just as relevant to us as it is for YHWH, because it teaches us to manage our daily responsibilities, and more importantly to offer us a means to PLAN.
I certainly doubt that YHWH has an issue with us measuring time in the units mentioned, and in fact may even endorse it as a means of applying our minds to wisdom ... but time as we know it should be subject to YHWH's timing, and the two should not be confused with the other.
We therefore must conclude that time, in respect of YHWH and man, is of absolute importance in the Biblical sense ... and the failure to respect each form collectively is detrimental ONLY to man.

Now then ... WHY such a ballyhoo over watches?

For the most part, time dictates.
We are governed more by time than we are by politicians. Time plays such an integral part of our lives that we cannot, with clarity of reason, dismiss it. Rosters, calendars, prophecies and appointments are but a few dictators of our lives that won't allow us the convenience of amnesia ... but these things are as readily available to us on any personal computer, or on the latest cell-phone models on the market, and so we don't really need a timepiece on our wrists, propped up against the wall, or atop a mantelpiece, to remind us of our responsibilities. Watches could therefore be deemed redundant in the true sense of the word.
But, for some reason they have never been discarded with nolens volens. There simply is a purpose or function that it fulfils, not least of which involves the same reason that a woman dons make-up and other jewellery to make herself feel more comfortable.
It has, primarily, an aesthetic value that time itself will never diminish.
But it goes to more than mere beauty.
Timepieces are, to put it quite simply, a work of art.
Beneath the beautifully designed dials and casings lie a constellation of intracacies that make up the gears and movements that work together to fulfil one specific function. And therein lies the art. It is THAT which entices the connoisseur.
It's certainly NOT all about the time.
And it is to this effect that a distinction should be made between the quartz movement and the automatic one, more of which will be dealt with in one of my following posts.
Ironically, however, the cheaper of the two is more accurate, as it derives its power from a battery that delivers pulses, while the more expensive of the two requires more costly maintenance, and may not be as accurate.
But it is therein that lies the art, for an automatic / mechanical watch derives its power from a mainspring that needs to be wound in order the get the gear-train going, and each cog works in conjunction with another to turn the minute, hour and second hands.
But, more about the distinction between the two later.

WATCHES space ...

A balance wheel that oscillates at 360 000 beats per second is as close to an obsession with an orgasm that I'll allow myself.
And it's not because I believe that there's something, per se, wrong with sex. Hell, no! Sex is really pretty normal, isn't it? But, it's because the above-mentioned balance wheel rotates at such a speed, and within the confines of a 42 centimeter circumference steel casing, that I am presented with something erotically abnormal.

As a diary to my passion this forum will serve as the culmination of everything I know, and everything I need to know, about horology. It will form the basis of my study, and the articulation of my desire. It will serve as a record of my attempts to understand and create the fine and intricate details surrounding the mechanics of the gear-train and movements, the smooth arc of the automatic timepiece's second-hand and the beauty of something we have the tendency to limit ourselves to seeing as an instrument of time.

I therefore invite you all to a diarised orgy of Babylonian proportions, and to offer the foreplay of your thoughts, but insist that you keep it clean.
We're sticking to pure timepieces here.