Self-winding watches

Self-winding

— a mechanism that winds a watch by vibrating the hand on which it is worn. Initially, this function appeared in mechanical models, but nowadays it is also used in quartz movements (although in the second case it is more about “auto-charging”).

Anyway, the work of automatic winding is based on the use of a special eccentric plate installed in the mechanism. When the hand vibrates with the watch put on it (for example, while walking), this plate rotates; In a mechanical watch, this rotation cocks the spring. In quartz models, in turn, the eccentric drives the shaft of a miniature generator that generates electricity; this energy is stored in a special capacitor and then spent on the operation of the mechanism. Such systems are officially known as "autoquartz movement" and colloquially they are known as "kinetics" — after the name "kinetic", under which this function was first patented.

The advantages of self-winding are obvious: in mechanical models, it allows you to minimize winding efforts (or even do without this procedure), and quartz models with this feature do not require batteries. At the same time, note that with a sedentary lifestyle, this function becomes practically useless.