Quartz Pocket

Quartz Pocket

In Pocket watch lingo what does hollow quartz mean?

or just watch jargon

It means a bowl shaped glass, rather than a flat glass.

To Work With a Mechanical Watch

While reading this article, the first question that may come to the mind of the reader is why would someone still use a mechanical watch that needs wounding in today's world? In a world filled with automatic and digital watches of the latest technology, it does seem like a waste of time, but it is not so for a watch collector. Owning and maintaining a mechanical watch is all about appreciating the art of watch making. A mechanical watch requires wounding once every forty hours roughly to keep it running but the rule is to wind it everyday when you go to sleep or get up from sleep.

Unlike a quartz watch which runs also through functioning gears, a mechanical watch does not run on the power of a quartz crystal. The mechanical means that run the watch is a mainspring that you need to wound daily. What is unknown to most people is that automatic watches are also mechanical watches but they do not require wounding of the main spring due to the reason that the wounding is done by the user's wrist movement only.

The functioning of the mechanical watch is more complicated than you may think, imagine a dozen or more screws working in coordination with forty plus wheels, plates balances, springs and of course the all important jewels, inside a watch body to bring you the time.

The ruby is a jewel that was used inside mechanical watches due to its smooth and greasy surface, which is also very hard due to high content of aluminum oxide. The wheel pivots use the ruby's smooth surface for maintaining consistent movement once wound by the mainspring. The number of jewels may vary from five to thirty five these days, but the most efficiency is believed to be achieved with four to eight jewels. Synthetic rubies have replaced the original jewels in most cases these days.

The crown of the mechanical watch is actually the stem winder of the main spring which is used to wind the watch. The oscillating balance wheel and spring was later replaced as a time base by the tuning fork which resonates to empower the gears to move accordingly. The gears are directly connected to the hands of the watch and thus you get the time.

Water is the enemy of vintage mechanical time pieces; therefore always check the casing of your mechanical watch for ruptures through which water or moisture can get in to damage the escape wheel and the anchor escapement. If you get your watch properly serviced every five years or so, then you can very well be sure that the watch will not only last a lifetime, but generations actually. It is an old but great invention that does not require any artificial power source like batteries or quartz crystals to give you time as accurate as within two or three seconds every day. You must remember that mechanical watches are not bought because they are better in performance than modern watches, but because they are vintages that display the aesthetics and mastery of the watch maker.

About the Author

Kevin Vargian is an author writing about motor sport related topics, and you are invited to visit his website covering
watch tools
and
watch repair tools
.

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