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A brief explanation of watch functions from compasses to chronographs and the differing types of watch movement; mechanical, automatic and quartz.

Watch Functions

A watch function other than telling the time is a known as a complication. A watch may be ‘simple‘, ‘complicated’ or a ‘grand complication’ depending upon the number of functions it has.

The most basic complication is a calendar. More complicated calendars may be a perpetual calendar which takes into account the varying number of days in a month and leap years.

A popular complication is a chronograph - a watch that possesses a stop watch and comes in many forms to measure everything from miles per hour to pulse rate. Other coveted complications include tachymeter, tourbillion and minute repeater.

A complication or function that is increasing in popularity is moonphase. A moonphase watch provides a reminder of watchmaking’s ancient links to astronomy. It visually displays the phases of the moon, day, month and date. It’s the revival of moonphase watches that has rekindled the recent interest in mechanical watches.

Pilot and mountain trekkers may well make use of an altimeter - a function that responds to changes in barometric pressure to provide altitude. If diving’s your thing, you’ll be looking for a watch with at least 200 metres water resistancy. Compasses functions on watches can be used in conjunction with maps to provide navigational assistance. The Sea Pathfinder even includes tide graphs.

Watch Movements

A watch movement is the inner workings that make up its main timekeeping mechanism. It’s the engine of a watch and may comprise up to 600 parts. It is what determines your watch’s accuracy and reliability.

Mechanical

A mechanical watch is driven by a slow release of power from a mainspring via a set of small cog wheels. The spring is wound up manually. A recent return to ‘heritage’ styling has seen a huge rise in the popularity of watches with a mechanical movement. Today, mechanical watches are viewed as works of art and require incredible skill in their making.

Automatic

An automatic watch has a mechanical movement but it does not need to be regularly wound. Instead, it self-winds via a rotor with the movement of the wearer’s wrist. Most automatic watches have a power reserve of up to 36 hours. The winder is retained as a feature on automatic watches so that the time and date can be altered manually.

Quartz

A quartz watch is powered by a battery. The electric current supplied by the battery causes the quartz crystal to oscillate at a fixed frequency. The frequency is broken down through an integrated circuit where power is released through a small stepping motor which sets the watch hands in motion. A quartz watch is extremely accurate and less expensive than comparable mechanical watches.