Watch movement energy storage

How does a mechanical watch work?

Every mechanical watch employs at least one mainspring barrel as its energy source. When a watch is wound, the coils of the mainspring tighten, storing potential energy which is then slowly released through the gear train to the escapement. The mainspring is enclosed in a toothed barrel, essentially a drum covered by gear teeth.

What is power reserve in mechanical watches?

One of the most asked-about concepts in mechanical watches is power reserve. Essentially, power reserve is the amount of stored energy inside a mechanical watch (the amount of time it can continue to run for) before running out of power.

Why do watches have a longer power reserve?

The longer the spring, the longer the power reserve or also the reduction of the vibration, i.e. from 28’800 A/h to 25’200 A/h. (less vibration, less energy needed). Additionally, some watches are equipped with two barrels and springs to offer even longer power reserve.

How do automatic watches work?

On automatic watches, the end of the mainspring is fitted with a particularly strong stainless steel piece (known as a slipping clutch), which allows it to simply slip through the barrel when the watch is fully wound without further tensioning the mainspring. In addition, a watch can be powered through the kinetic movement of a wearer’s arm.

How does a kinetic watch work?

A Kinetic watch is directly powered by its energy storage cell and without it, the watch would simply stop working. The storage cell acts as a reservoir or buffer to store electricity generated by the electrical generating unit. The equivalent of the storage unit in a mechanical watch is the main spring.

How long does a kinetic watch last?

The original capacitors in the early Kinetic watches had a rather small storage and it needed about only 800 swings of the watch to charge it to its maximum reserve of 3 days. This reserve is still longer than the average mechanical movement's reserve between 30 to 55 hours.