Maximum Timepiece

Clocks and Watches as Personal Fashion Statements

It is said that a person can be measured by the quality of the things that they make a choice to buy and this is certainly a piece of philosophy that is interesting to explore because it does make us wonder at the level of value we are able to express about ourselves through our choices in the material world. If one is thinking about high class watches, the British are certainly masters at creating a time piece which can really wow a whole room full of people who give it even the quickest simple glance. This says much about the people of the UK, but it also goes into the history and heritage that they share as well as the cultural values that go into the types of watch styles which they are known for creating. Since there is so much value placed on the function and form of these types of time pieces it really does say a lot about a man or woman who chooses to buy something of this quality, but it is not just the styles of a watch that are a big part of a fashion statement because fashion and style are not just about the things that we choose to wear. They are also about the things in our home.

This is why people will invest to get themselves one of the talking clocks that are growing in popularity today. These charming ways to tell time have captured the hearts and minds of many people who like to have something that is not only nice to look at and be around, but that offers an audial quality which is not found in many other items in the home other than those things which are about distributing media over the airwaves or via cables. With these clocks, a whole new atmosphere is created that is really unique.

Watch Functions

While all the different types of watches provide the function of tracking and displaying the current time, there are a variety of other functions which watches can provide. Watch functions are often referred to by collectors as ‘complications’. Depending upon the type of watch purchased, it may have one or more of the functions listed below.

Calendar – This is a calendar that gives the day and month of the year, but not usually the year itself. It is useful, but not included on all models. It, too, must be set if the watch ever has its battery changed or has stopped and needs to be rewound. The most intricate of calendars keep track of time on such a large scale that they account for changes in date due to leap years.

Time Zone Indicator – While many watches feature the time in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) or GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), some have a way to display the current time zone. This feature is especially handy for those who travel a great deal and might otherwise be out of sync with local time.

Chronograph – A watch that is capable of measuring time in increments set by the wearer is called a chronograph. This means that the watch essentially contains a stopwatch capable of timing laps or other similar activities. Sometimes includes a fly back function, as well.

Moon Phase – Certain watches are able to display the current phase of the moon, a novelty that was very popular in the 1990’s. This is sometimes tied in with a watch’s calendar function. This particular function is believed to have revived the interest in old fashioned mechanical watches.

Altimeter – This complication is sought after by pilots. Using a barometric sensor, the watch’s altimeter is able to give a read out of the current altitude. 

Tourbillon – Since it is exceptionally difficult to create, this function which gets its name from the French word for ‘vortex’, is especially prized by watch collectors. Through a very delicate balancing of timed rotations, it negates the adverse effects of gravity. While a quartz watch is still more accurate, the intricacy of the craftsmanship required to make a tourbillon is what generates its appeal.

Water Resistance – Simply put, this means that a watch is impervious to the effects of water up to a specific depth. While most watches that are resistant up to 100 meters work well for swimmers, divers often need 200 meters of resistance. This function can be found in resistance up to 10,000 meters in extreme cases.

Minute Repeater – Also called simply ‘repeater’, this complication allows the wearer to hear the time by utilizing miniature gongs struck by tiny hammers within the watch. Similar to how a clock will chime on the hour. This function is primarily a novelty complication.

Tachymeter – This function allows the wearer to measure a length of time something takes and then, using the watch’s tachymeter, determine how many times that activity could be performed within a single hour.

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Watch Movements

The watches advertised today often mention the types of ‘movement’ that they offer. This term refers to the inner workings of the watch itself, the parts that ‘move’ to create the tracking of time and also the display of that time either through analog hands that point to hours, minutes and seconds or numbers on a digital display unit. There are different types of movements, but most fall into two major categories: quartz movements and mechanical movements.

A watch featuring a quartz movement is powered by a small battery that feeds electricity to a miniscule piece of quartz that then oscillates at a rate of 32,786 times per second. A miniature electronic circuit board built into the watch divides the oscillations up into seconds and uses that information to turn the hands of the watch at the appropriate intervals of seconds, minutes and hours unless the quartz movement watch is a digital model. While most quartz watches are analog, the digital versions use an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) to show numbers on the face of the watch. There are also watches called “ana-digi” that combine both analog and digital information in the same watch to show both versions of the time. Quartz movements feature the most accurate type of time keeping, but they generally have batteries which much be changed instead of having to wind the watch by hand. These watches rarely need any form of maintenance

Watches which feature a mechanical movement were the first types of watches ever made, getting their design basics from clocks. They gain their energy through a mainspring which is a unique slowly unwinding spring that releases its energy at a constant rate to an oscillator, which is a balance wheel that oscillates 28,800 times per second. A hair spring or balance spring controls the oscillations of the balance wheel to keep the piece functional as a unit. There are two main versions of the mechanical movement, automatic and hand wound. The hand wound is simply a watch that is wound by hand, but the automatic winding watch has a rotor that is activated by the movement of the watch wearer’s body and acts to wind the spring for them. As long as an automatic winding watch is worn for around 12 hours per day it will stay wound forever, but manufacturers are now able to make certain very advanced models that can keep their watches running for up to a week even if they are not worn.

In addition to these types, some brands offer a kinetic powered watch that converts the wearer’s physical movement into electricity to run a digital or analog watch. By making use of a miniscule rotor that spins at an extremely high rate of speed, these watches generate electricity and store it inside an ESU (Electrical Storage Unit) to be released over time. Some models, mostly from Seiko, can run for up to four years without even being warn. Another unique technology is the Eco-Drive watch which utilizes not only solar power, but any light source even artificial lights indoors, to power itself.

Tags: watch movements, watch movements guide