Watch movements: The heart of every watch

The heart that beats inside every watch and breathes life into it is its movement. It is not for nothing that the craftsmanship of watchmaking focuses essentially on the movements and their components. Even though the development of the first mechanical movements dates back several centuries, the caliber that makes the watch run is still its most important component today. A component whose quality and functionality reveals a lot about the competence and craftsmanship of the manufacturer. In this article, we will look at different types of movements, explain their historical background and take a look at popular luxury watch movements.

The most important things in brief

• Types of watch movements: There are mechanical, quartz and hybrid movements, each based on different functions and used in different fields.

• Brands and innovations: Well-known producers such as ETA and Seiko have had a significant impact on the history of watchmaking. The same applies to innovative new developments, such as the tourbillon developed by Breguet and the co-axial escapements from Omega .

• Care and maintenance: Regular maintenance is crucial for the longevity and accuracy of watch movements.

History of Watch Movements

The history of mechanical clockworks goes back to the early 19th century, to 1810 to be precise. At that time, the French watchmaker Abraham Louis Breguet made the first mechanical wristwatch, which is why he is still admired as the inventor of mechanical movements today. However, the first mechanical pocket watch was designed around 300 years earlier. The visually unusual model, which was nicknamed the "Nuremberg Egg", worked with a winding mechanism from the brainchild of the German locksmith Peter Hehnlein.

One of the most important manufacturers of clockworks in Germany was and is the company Uhrenwerke Ruhla, also known as Gebrüder Thiel GmbH. The company, which was dedicated to clockwork production from 1891, was taken away from the brothers in the post-war period and continued as the Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB) Uhrenwerke Ruhla. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the plant was demolished, with only one of the buildings of Gebrüder Thiel GmbH being spared. The production of clockworks continued in this building under the name "Gardé Uhren und Feinmechanik".

The bankruptcy of "Gardé Uhren und Feinmechanik" in 2019 could have meant the end of the original Ruhla watch factory of the Thiel brothers. But things turned out differently: the watch company POINTtec took over the business with the adjacent watch museum, so that even today - around 130 years after the Ruhla watch factory was founded - high-quality calibers for watches are still manufactured in Ruhla. Popular models of the Iron Annie, Zeppelin and Bauhaus brands are sometimes produced in the in-house watch assembly.

Structure and Function of a Clockwork

Even among die-hard watch fans, not everyone has yet understood how a mechanical movement works. It's time to catch up! These simplified steps that take place in the movement make the watch run:

Step 1: Operating the winding mechanism and tensioning the spring

First, energy must be supplied to the mechanism. This is done by winding the watch, which winds the spiral spring in the barrel. The principle is based on the spring, which is attached to the barrel at one end and to an axle at the other. If you now turn the crown on the watch case, the axle connected to it also turns, which in turn winds the spring.

Step 2: Turning the gears

Without additional components, the spring would "unwind" as soon as it was wound, thereby releasing all of the stored energy in an instant. To prevent this from happening, a gear wheel - the minute wheel - is connected directly to the barrel. This is followed by the third wheel, which rotates in the opposite direction and is used exclusively for transmission, which in turn engages the seconds wheel. The change wheel, which moves the hour hand, is placed in a geared position so that it moves twelve times slower than the minute wheel.

Step 3: Interaction of escapement and balance wheel

The escapement is the part of the movement that causes the timepiece to tick. It ensures that the hands move in a controlled manner and works together with the so-called balance wheel. The balance wheel is a pendulum-like flywheel that interrupts the braking escapement with every half oscillation, allowing the second hand to move to the next position.

Step 4: Smooth movement of the hands

The meticulous arrangement and technically complex interaction of the individual components of the movement ultimately results in the reliably even movement of the hands.

The production of watch movements

The manufacture of watch movements is an extremely complex and detailed process that begins with the preparatory work carried out by CNC machines. These take on the milling, drilling and sawing out of the individual components, laying the foundation for the subsequent work steps. Then the watchmakers get to work. They first deal with the finissage, i.e. the refinement of the individual parts, which is particularly important in the area of ​​luxury calibers. In this process, for example, surfaces are polished, flat components are pearled or decorated with special cuts, bridge edges are beveled or engravings are added, and a wide variety of tools are used.

The watchmaker painstakingly assembles the refined elements into a functioning movement. This requires the utmost concentration and precision. Once production is complete, the accuracy is tested, followed by the tests carried out by the COSC for models that are to receive a chronometer certificate.

types of watch movements

We make a fundamental distinction between mechanical movements and quartz movements. Mechanical movements can be divided into hand-wound calibers and automatic movements. Hand-wound watches must - as the name suggests - be wound by hand using the crown. Although there are many collectors who appreciate the hand-wound mechanism, which is still popular in pocket watches, in the spirit of tradition, automatic calibers have proven themselves from a practical point of view. The reason for this is obvious: the automatic movement winds itself automatically through the arm movements when the watch is worn. Watches with automatic movements therefore do not need to be wound manually if worn regularly.

Just like with automatic movements, quartz movements do not need to be wound manually, as these calibers get their energy from a battery. The battery supplies energy to an integrated quartz, which causes it to oscillate and move the hands. Customers who prefer quartz watches often argue that the movements are precise, highly accurate and long-lasting. Another advantage: quartz watches are extremely easy to care for and, due to their much simpler construction, are less susceptible to damage and malfunctions. Nevertheless, many watch lovers choose mechanical watches, mostly because they are seen as an expression of the high art of watchmaking with their much more complex technology.

And then of course there are the hybrid movements. These are rather rare, but should not be left completely unmentioned. Examples of the special calibers are Kinetic movements, which store the energy gained from the movements of the wearer's wrist in a battery, but also solar quartz movements.

Special clockworks and their manufacturers

When it comes to the construction of particularly complex, innovative or heavily used watch movements, some companies have particularly distinguished themselves over the past decades and centuries. This includes the Swiss manufacturer ETA SA, which has been active in the industry since 1793 and produces both mechanical products and quartz movements. The company's watchmakers created, among other things, the caliber 940.111, an ultra-thin quartz movement with three hands, and the caliber 255.241 with two motors. The experts at Seiko have shown themselves to be at least as inventive. For example, the caliber 8R48, which realizes the chronograph function using a column wheel and vertical clutch, comes from the watch company's forge. The vertical clutch, which prevents the hands from jumping when starting and stopping, was first used by Seiko in a watch movement in 1969.

As the epitome of Japanese watchmaking, Miyota cannot be left out here. The two most well-known models - the Miyota 8215 and Miyota 9015 calibers - combine automatic and hand-wound mechanisms and are valued above all for their immense precision and above-average price-performance ratio. The company Uhrenwerke Ruhla, which was already introduced, should also be mentioned here. After being founded by the brothers Georg and Christian Thiel, it developed from a small metal goods factory into a real brand that still enjoys great prestige today and enriches the market with high-quality movements.

One of the greatest innovations in watchmaking is certainly the tourbillon, which was made available to the public by Breguet in 1805. The co-axial escapement, on the other hand, was developed by Omega. To this day, the integration of the co-axial escapement in wristwatches is considered one of the company's greatest achievements. If you continue to browse through the many magnificent "firsts" in the development of complications and mechanisms in watch movements that are still used today, you quickly realize that the big names in the industry are rubbing shoulders with one another. For example, it was the watch giant Rolex that brought the first watch with a date window onto the market in 1945.

The importance of watch movements for the price and quality of a watch

The price at which watches are offered depends in many cases on the caliber used. The quality of the movement can have a serious impact on the price and its cost impact should not be underestimated. One thing is clear: even inexpensive movements often do a good job these days. However, if you do not want to make any compromises in terms of accuracy and precision, expect a long service life from a product and are enthusiastic about technical masterpieces and complex mechanisms, watches with inexpensive movements will not meet these requirements. In this case, it is worth investing in a timepiece with a high-quality manufactured caliber.

Care and maintenance of watch movements

Mechanical calibers in particular should be serviced regularly so that they run reliably for as long as possible. Maintenance is therefore an important part of watch care and should be carried out by a specialist at regular intervals - typically between 2 and 5 years. If you maintain regular maintenance schedules, you reduce the risk of overlooking damage and malfunctions that are actually easy to repair and which can then cause expensive consequential damage.

As part of the maintenance, the watchmaker examines the timepiece externally, but also takes a close look at the movement. During a "major overhaul", the caliber is dismantled - that is, taken apart into its individual parts - cleaned and reassembled. If damage to individual components is noticed, these can often be replaced with little effort. Finally, the functionality and accuracy are checked.

The costs for maintenance vary from provider to provider and also depend on which work needs to be carried out in each individual case and which caliber is involved. This is because not every watchmaker has sufficient know-how to devote himself to the highly complex icons among calibers. The maintenance of simple mechanical watches without the need for repairs starts at around €40, with no upper limit.

luxury watch movements

To round off this article, we would like to briefly introduce some particularly well-known and popular luxury watch movements from major brands:

• Rolex: The company is known for the robust and extremely precise caliber 3135, an automatic movement with high reliability.

• Omega: As a pioneer of the Co-Axial escapement system, which minimizes friction in the movement mechanism and increases the lifespan of watches, Omega has secured a firm place among the most innovative watchmakers.

• Patek Philippe : The company is famous for its highly complicated calibers, such as the caliber 240 Q, which combines numerous complications (perpetual calendar, day of the week, date, month, leap year cycle and 24-hour display).

• Audemars Piguet: Audemars Piguet watches are sought after, among other things, because of their ultra-thin movements (e.g. the caliber 2121, which is used in the Royal Oak collection).

Conclusion

Regardless of whether it is a quartz movement or a mechanical automatic caliber, the movement that works inside a watch is always the heart of the timepiece and determines its value and quality to a large extent. It is therefore no wonder that the functionality, structure and complex design options of watch movements delight watch lovers all over the world beyond measure. Watch collectors in particular who invest in expensive products with expensive calibers should have their watches serviced regularly and turn to a qualified expert with the necessary know-how. Luxury watch movements are usually extremely complex - a fact that explains the fascination they trigger in us.