Mechanical watch: Automatic or manual ? Differences and operation

Mechanical watches operate using the energy supplied by a mainspring wound in a barrel and can be either manual or automatic. We then refer to them as manual mechanical watches or automatic mechanical watches. In this article, we will explain the specific characteristics, similarities, and differences between a manual-winding mechanical watch and an automatic mechanical watch.

Mechanical watch: automatic winding versus manual winding

Mechanical watches are highly prized by collectors who particularly appreciate the beauty and complexity of their movements. These are watches which function solely through mechanical energy. Among them, we distinguish between manually wound watches and automatically wound watches: 

• With a mechanical watch that requires manual winding, you will need to wind your watch manually by turning the crown. Ideally, this should be done once a day by turning the crown clockwise. 
• With an automatic mechanical watch, the watch will automatically wind itself when you wear it, thanks to the energy generated by your wrist. However, these watches typically have a power reserve of 40 hours when not being worn. When stopped, they can be wound manually using the crown.

The components of a mechanical watch 

To fully understand how a mechanical watch works, whether it's manual or automatic, you first need to learn more about its main components. Here are the main components of an automatic or manual mechanical watch:

• The crown: This is the small wheel located on the right side of your watch. It is fixed to the winding stem and is used to wind the mainspring.
• The engine spring: It is an elastic steel band that provides the energy needed for movement when it is armed, that is, under tension.
• The transmission system (gear): It transmits the energy stored in the mainspring to the escape wheel via a series of small wheels. 
• Exhaust wheel: Its function is to release the energy carried by the gears to the anchor, intermittently and regularly. It is the watch's maintenance component.
• The pendulum: This is the heart of the movement. It beats between 5 and 10 times per second in a circular motion. It is the source of the "tick-tock," the sound produced by the pallets on the teeth of the escape wheel, due to its back-and-forth movement. It is the regulating organ of the movement.
• Rubies: These are stones of great hardness which help to reduce friction and wear on the components of the mechanism.

For a mechanical watch to be an automatic watch, another component is added: the Rotor, also called the Oscillating Weight.

• The rotor: Simply put, it's a semi-circular weight attached to the movement. It rotates 360° according to the wrist movements and allows The mainspring is wound manually, thus providing mechanical energy to the watch. Therefore, if a mechanical watch does not have automatic winding, it does not have a rotor. The mainspring is wound manually using the crown. 

How a mechanical watch works 

Now that you are fully familiar with the main components of the mechanical movement, we will explain how they work.

Here are the six main steps to better understand how the hands of your mechanical watch tell the time:

1. If it is an automatic watch: Wrist movements rotate the rotor and thus wind the mainspring. If it is a non-automatic mechanical watch, winding is done by turning the crown;
2. The transmission system transfers energy to the exhaust wheel;
3. The exhaust system doses the energy in regular segments;
4. The pendulum uses this regular energy to swing back and forth constantly;
5. With each series of beats, a series of wheels transfer energy to the hands of the watch;
6. The hands move across the dial.

An automatic watch offers a significant aesthetic advantage. The seconds hand doesn't jump one second at a time, but rather in much smaller increments. The overall effect is smoother and more pleasing. Now that you're well-versed in mechanical and automatic watches, you can explore our... men's automatic watches, and our women's automatic watches.