The reasons for this are nuanced, but after the quartz revolution of the 1970s, most watch collectors shifted to automatic, mechanical watches. The vast majority of watches that people collect are automatic. We are going to focus on basic movements in this article, as they comprise the vast majority of watch movements that are produced commercially every year. There are also other kinds of hybrid movements, like Seiko's Spring Drive, or Citizen's Eco-Drive. This vibration is very uniform, and can be used to create the basis of timekeeping. As the spring unwinds, that energy is used to drive a small machine that keeps time.įor quartz watch movements, a battery is used to apply a small current to a quartz crystal, which vibrates.

In a mechanical watch, there is a spring that is wound either by hand, or by a small weight that spins as a person moves during their day. Some watch movements rely on handwinding, and like other exotics, don't really get used all that often.īy the end of this blog, you will be able to easily tell which is automatic and which is quartz. Today, there are two major kinds of movements, automatic and quartz.Īn automatic watch uses a fully mechanical system to keep time, while a quartz movement uses a small quartz crystal to achieve timekeeping. One maker that has created consistently good movements for more than 100 years is Seiko, which, as a manufacturer, started off as Seikosha in 1891. Watch movements have evolved over the centuries, and today, there are a multitude of movements to choose from on the market. Watch movements come in many different kinds, and there are a range of manufacturers that produce these mechanisms. Without a movement, a watch is a fancy piece of machined metal (or other material), with no practical purpose. The accuracy of a watch movement describes how closely it is able to match an atomic clock, which is generally recognized as the most accurate form of time keeping. In a digital watch, it controls the digital display. A watch movement is the mechanism that keeps time, and actuates the hands of a watch.

Seiko 9f accurate 5 seconds oer year