Tick tock, beep beep and hum - not all watches click the same. To help you navigate your way through Queen of PAWN’S 18th Anniversary Watch Sale, we made a brief reference guide that covers the nuts and bolts of what makes a watch tick.
MOVEMENT
First on our watch vocabulary list is the word “movement.” A watch’s movement is the innards or guts of the piece. It is the mechanism that calculates the passage of time. The type of movements roughly fall into two categories - mechanical and quartz. This guide is very basic and does not delve into the “collectable watch” debate.
MECHANICAL
The first watches made were mechanical. The power behind a mechanical watch is the act of winding the crown. (The crown is the small knob that sticks out the side of a watch.) These types of watches can be thinner than quartz watches because the movement is thinner and they require fewer parts. For some watch enthusiasts, the hand wound or mechanical watch equates “purity” and tradition. A wound watch usually has a two day power reserve to keep track of time. After two days, the crown must be wound again. One way to distinguish a mechanical watch at a glance is by the smooth sweep of the second hand.
The automatic watch is a sub-category of mechanical watches. This type of watch is powered by the movement of the wearer. There is a slightly weighted, spinning mechanism within the movement that does the same thing as winding the crown of a mechanical watch. They have lower power reserves than a hand wound, so they need to be worn every day to maintain their optimal accuracy.
QUARTZ
Think of quartz watches as “electrical.” A quartz timepiece is powered by replaceable batteries. The batteries emit a voltage that slightly bends a small quartz crystal shaped like a tuning fork. The crystal then generates a current in response to being deformed or bent. Their time telling capabilities are more accurate than the traditional mechanical watch and do not require any winding or to be worn every day. Originally, quartz watches were only digital and extremely expensive. Today, quartz watches are typically far more affordable than mechanical watches and are no longer only digital. Most of the watches currently on the market are made of quartz movement. That being said, several reputable, high end watches are also quartz. You can tell if a mechanical looking watch is actually a quartz by the way the second hand ticks or “jumps.” What separates quartz watches from one another is craftsmanship - the size of the movement, materials used for the movement (ie. plastic or metal) and how effective the encasement seals and protects the movement.
WORTH A MENTION - WHAT MAKES A WATCH A “SWISS MADE WATCH”
Essentially, the criterion for Swiss made is that the watch must have a Swiss movement that was set into its case in Switzerland by a manufacturer of Swiss origin. For a time piece to have the “Swiss” stamp on it, at least 50% of the watch’s movement is from a manufacturer in Switzerland. Sometimes the stamp instead will say “Suisse,” “Swiss Quartz,” “Swiss Made,” “Produit Suisse” or “Fabrique en Suisse.” These all mean the same thing. If only the movements are Swiss then the stamp is likely to say “Swiss Movement.” This may raise the question, “What’s the big deal with ‘Swiss?’” Well, that is a topic enough for a whole chapter, if not a book in and of itself. For the sake of brevity, we will quickly mention here that Swiss watchmakers were among the first of their craft, and have had the reputation of quality since the 16th century. Swiss manufacturers have also been on the forefront of timepiece innovation for centuries.
TIME TO FIND YOUR WATCH
Now that you have the inside scoop on the insides of a watch, you have enough information to ask the right questions and find a timepiece that suits you best. A great place to use your new knowledge is at our watch sale, happening for the entire month of March. We are celebrating our birthday all month and our gift to you is a radical sale on a select inventory of fine watches. There are deals up to 60% off our original prices in all five Queen of PAWNS locations. Sure, luxury has its price but it doesn’t have to break the bank. Be smart, buy second hand at Queen of PAWNS!
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