Watches
Category: Watches
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We all know that one size does not fit all! So simply take your Beaverbrooks bracelet watch to any of our 66 stores and we can adjust your bracelet so that it fits perfectly.
The four main types of watches available to consumers today are, Quartz, Mechanical, Automatic and Kinetic.
Quartz Watches
The main power source of a quartz crystal watch is a battery. The power this battery produces is transmitted to an electronic circuit. This circuit then sends the power received from the battery to the quartz crystal, which is shaped so that when this electrical charge is passed through it will vibrate rapidly dividing time into equal parts, this is known as frequency and is what makes quartz watches so accurate (the quartz crystal vibrates 32,768 times per second) Once each vibration is received the quartz sends a signal back to the integrated circuit in the form of an impulse, because the frequency is so high the integrated circuit reduces it to just one impulse per second which is then transmits to the stepping motor.
One part of this stepping motor is called a rotor; this component is geared to what’s called the train, which is what drives the hands that tell the time.
Mechanical Watches
A mechanical watch works by winding the stem on the side of the casing of the watch, by doing this it powers the mainspring of the watch which is situated in a circular housing called the barrel.
Once the watch has been wound the mainspring unwinds very slowly releasing power to a set of interconnecting wheels called the gear train. This gear train is connected to a mechanism comprising of a wheel and pallet fork called the escapement. The escapement transmits regular impulses to the balance wheel making it oscillate; this is the element of the watch that makes the ticking sound so familiar with all mechanical watches. These same impulses also power a further train housed in the watch that controls the hands on the dial so that time can be told.
Automatic Watches
The movement of an automatic watch works in a similar way to a watch with a mechanical movement except that the winding of the spring is triggered by the arm movement of the wearer. A rotor that turns in response to motion, winds the watch’s mainspring supplying the energy required to wind the watch. The benefits of an automatic watch are that there is no need to replace the battery or to remember to wind the watch. An automatic watch will not stop without warning as will happen with a quartz watch.
Kinetic Watches
Kinetic watches use the movement of the wearers arm to produce the electrical energy to keep the watch running. The energy is stored in a cell called a capacitor and keeps the watch on time even when it is not being worn. Once a kinetic watch is fully charged it can keep time for up to 6 months even when not being worn. A kinetic watch does not need a battery and does not need winding.
Of course there are many other different types of watches available, some of which can perform extremely specialist functions. Listed below are some of them.
- Analogue - a watch with dial, hands and numbers or markers that present a total display of 12 hours.
- Analogue – Digital a watch that shows the time by means of hands (analogue display) as well as numbers (digital display). The analogue display has a traditional dial with hour, minute and second hands. The digital display shows the time numerically with a liquid crystal display. This feature is usually found on sport watches.
- Chronograph – a multifunction sports watch with a stopwatch function. Most have two or three subdials or minidials for measuring minutes and hours. When used in conjunction with specialised scales on the dial it can perform many different functions such as determining speed (tachometer) or distance (telemeter).
- Chronometer – a precision watch which has been tested in various temperatures and positions and meets the accuracy standards set by Swiss Controle des Chronometres (COSC) which is the independent Swiss regulatory organisation that rigorously tests watch movements for chronometer status.
- Digital – the display of time in numbers instead of hands. The numbers can appear in an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), which shows a continuous reading or an LED (Light Emitting Diode), which shows the time at the push of a button.
- Divers Watch – divers’ watches traditionally feature a graduated rotating bezel, screw down winding crown and case back. They must be water resistant to at least 200 meters.
- Dual time – a watch that measures current local time as well as at least one other time zone. The additional time element may come from a twin dial, extra hand or a subdial.
- Perpetual Calendar – a calendar that adjusts automatically to account for different lengths of the month (30 or 31 days) and leap years. They can be powered by quartz or mechanical movements and are programmed to be accurate until the year 2100.
- Stopwatch – a watch with a second hand that measures intervals of time. When a stopwatch is incorporated into a standard watch, both the stopwatch function and the timepiece are referred to as a chronograph.
