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I have a semi-expensive Swiss automatic (i.e. fully mechanical, no quartz/electronic stuff, recharged by moving your hand around). I bought it with unexpectedly
by Erwin 16y ago
I have a semi-expensive Swiss automatic (i.e. fully mechanical, no quartz/electronic stuff, recharged by moving your hand around). I bought it with unexpectedly large proceeds from a side consulting job later turned into full time. It has a glass back, so you can take it off and see the gears moving.
Given my work is all so ethereal, moving electrons around and sometimes turning them into photons, it's nice to have something mechanical, hand-crafted nearby.
It also has some permanence -- all the electronic gadgets, where I live, whom I live with, what I wear etc. has been switched out over the last decade, but not this watch.
- baddox 16y agoNo quartz? How does it keep time?
- lucasjung 16y agoUsing a part called an "escapement." This explains it clearly and succinctly, right at the top: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_watch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_watch EDIT: Seiko created a hybrid watch that I think is really cool. Like a traditional mechanical watch, the sole source of power is a spring, which in turn is wound by the movements of the wearer. However, in place of an escapement, it uses part of the power from the spring to create just enough electric current to excite a quartz crystal, which provides the timing source for the mechanical movements of the watch. Unlike other watches (mechanical or electronic), the second hand doesn't move in steps, but rather rotates smoothly and continuously around the face: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiko_spring_drive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiko_spring_drive