Forgotten landmarks in watchmaking evolution
-There have been many technological leaps forward in watchmaking, but with time the novelty of these jumps soon dampens and are forgotten as they become the new norms and standards.-
Automatic
The development of the automatic wristwatch, mechanical watches that wound themselves through their movement on the wrist. Early systems included techniques to wind the mainspring through the case flexing on the wrist. Others used the entire movement sliding back and forwards inside the case (such as the Rolls shown below), others with rotor weights moving in a pendulum-like fashion striking spring loaded buffers fixed onto the movement.
The Rolls sliding movement automatic system. (Click on image to see deconstruction.)
The most effective and safe automatic systems developed were those with a rotor that could turn through 360 degrees; these are now used in ninety-nine per cent of automatic watches made today. These automatic watches, combined with new mainsprings that were, in essence, ‘unbreakable’, once again changed an industry, making wristwatches increasingly reliable and accurate.
These are just a few of the steps forward that are part of a horological legacy, there are many others and still today developments in multiple areas of watchmaking continue.