HOW DOES A WATCH WORK?
Watches have been present in our lives for a long time. It is regarded as the oldest piece of device that has been created by humankind. The origin can be traced back to the ancient civilization of Babylon.
The technology was created by ancient Babylon however the Egyptians were the ones who use it on a constant basis. The historical record dated back to the 3500 BC when ancient Egypt builders started to build task obelisks near the temples and the royal residences. The purpose of these obelisks is to cast the sun shadow on the precisely decorated spirals which were set on the ground. People would then be able to see the position of the shadow and will be able to tell the time of the day.
The modern watches that we know today was started in the late 14th century. At that time, pocket watches became a trend in most European countries. This is made by Peter Henlein, which would later inspire numerous other inventors to make it a much more sleeker, and portable design.
The later versions would include much more modern mechanical breakthroughs such as using the mainspring, balance spring, and automatic winding mechanisms. In the late 1600s, male pocket watchers came into popularity and remained later for almost 250 years.
In the 1770s, the innovation that becomes our modern type of watches started.
Types of watches
Now, there are various types of watches that are there. The most common ones are:
1. Analog watches
This is one of the most traditional display types of watches and the most common one that you can find anywhere.
2. Digital watches
Digital watches are watches that use an LCD screen to display the time and other information.
3. Hybrid watches
These types of watches are the ones that combine both the model of analog watches and digital watches. At first glance, it looked like an analog watch. However, it also uses LCD screen. There are many digital watches that are being built by technological companies nowadays, especially hybrid watches. They have added various other functions in these watches such as heart monitor, movement tracker, GPS, phone integration and so forth.
4. Tactile watches
These types of watches are designed specifically for blind people. The first tactile watches are created in the 1800s. They were not built for blind people, but for the sole purpose that people would know their time without having to pull the watches in the pocket.
5. Touchscreen watches
These types of watches in another innovation from the hybrid and LCD watches. Touchscreen watches would allow you to interact back with the watches so that you will be able to use the functions that are being incorporated in the watches.
How the watch work
The basic principle of every watch work is oscillation. It means that it relies on the movement back and forth at a regular speed. The basic techniques that are used in clocks are by the watches needing a power source to cause the oscillating object to repeat the motion over and over again. The con
troller device captures those oscillating beats into series of pulses. These pulses then collected into the chain of counters that have standardized lengths. Finally the time counter is then relayed to the display indicator.
This is the basic explanation of how a watch or a clock would work. Dependable on the type of watch, the working mechanism would vary.
1. Mechanical watches
Like what the name suggested, mechanical watches depends on the mechanical movement that happened inside the watch. Inside the case of the watch, there would be filled with gears and other small devices that are powered by a spring that requires dwindling.
2. Quartz watches
Unlike mechanical watches that require mechanical machinery to work, the quartz watches use an actual piece of quartz to maintain the time. These types of watches are typically the most accurate watches that you can ever find.
The way quartz watches work is by sending an electrical current through the crystal and causing it to pulsate. The frequency of the vibration is later translated by a circuit into a small motor that would power the handle.
3. Automatic mechanical watches
These types of watches work in a similar way that your mechanical watches work. The only difference is that the wounding stem is replaced by a flat blade positioned in the back of the movement. As we move throughout our day, the blade would also move and wounding the mainspring.
4. Kinetic watches
This is the combination of quartz watches and an automatic mechanical watch. It works by combining the two principles of working in one watch. The kinetic watches have a rotor that causes the watch to move. However, in this kind of watches, the energy that is caused by the movement is converted into electricity that would later be stored. The electricity would be then used on the quartz to cause the clock to start functioning.
5. Spring dive watches
Similar to the kinetic watch, this type of watch also combines both automatic mechanical watches and quartz watches. The only difference is that this type of watch has an additional tri-synchro regulator to keep the time. It uses an integrated circuit that is combined with the quartz crystal to keep the watch accuracy.
This is the mechanism that is used by Rolex and other high-end luxury watches.
Takeaway:
Human has always wanted to know and understand the passage of time. This happened in ancient times, which encourages humans to create sundials. Sundials are one of the most ancient and primitive ways that human usually uses to keep track of the time.
Along with the invention of technology, human has also invented watches. These watches work in a very simple mechanism. However, the more people are dissatisfied with a certain type of watch, then the higher the possibility that someone would find a better mechanism to help the watches keep track of time.
There are many various brands of watches that are made in a certain way. Most of the watches would require a power source, oscillator, controller and a counter chain. These elements are integrated beautifully into the modern watches that you now see today.
The inner working of the watches is highly dependable on the type of watch itself. Whatever watch that you are using, the most important thing that you have to care for it. If it is an LCD watch, then ensure that you would not wet the watch as it could make the watch malfunction. Ensure that you replace the battery of your watch in a timely manner.