I made a WebGL mechanical clock simulation if anyone wants to look at it in motion: https://clock.leshenko.net/
How Watches Work
31–40 of 140 posts
Re: How Watches Work
#32Can current physics simulation software or library fast enough to simulate such watch in real time ?
Re: How Watches Work
#33I made a WebGL mechanical clock simulation if anyone wants to look at it in motion: https://clock.leshenko.net/
This is very cool. Thanks for making it.
Re: How Watches Work
#34I recently fell into this rabbit hole. I bought a cheap automatic watch - a Seiko 5, for both practical reasons and otherwise (will work after an EMP attack/solar event, but it's also just cool as hell mechanical engineering using 200 year old technology). Then I started putting watch repair youtube videos on in the background as I did chores or wrote code. Then I started actually watching the watch repair videos. La…
That’s how it starts!
For me, my mechanical watch obsession started when I inherited my father’s mid-70s Rolex. Back then, they weren’t as insanely out of reach as they’ve become; they were a very robust watch that would Just Work for a long, long time, and which looked nice. (Remember, this was only about 15 years after Sean Connery wore a Submariner in Dr No; Rolex was even LESS upmarket in the 60s, which was a time when very few watches were waterproof AT ALL.)
Then the dot-com boom happened, and I had a little money, and I bought an Omega (which I’m actually wearing right now). It’s a late-90s Seamaster, like the one they put on Pierce Brosnan’s wrist for Goldeneye around the same time. (Incidentally, snooty jewelers do not think you are funny if you ask how to make the laser shoot out.)
There are others, too, but the Omega is the nicest one I own. They are all EMP-proof, spring-driven marvels. Most have dates, but none show days or months. I do enjoy that there ARE mechanical movements with perpetual calendars, though, even if they do cost as much as a cheap house.
About 5 years ago, I fell down the AppleWatch hole after buying one to use while running and biking, and finding it so useful that I wore it to the exclusion of all the other watches. I have a nicer Apple Watch now (titanium S6) that I wear MOST of the time, but several times a month I’ll pull one of the others out to wear. With this usage pattern, they’re all “oh, shiny!” to me, too, which is neat.
Re: How Watches Work
#35For those who are interested in superior technology, start reading about quartz movements and the piezoelectric effect. Citizen Watch Company recently release the most accurate quartz watch ever, accurate to 1 second per year . Contrast that to the mechanical watches that Rolex—one of the best mechanical manufacturers—produces and the best they can do is an accuracy of about 1 second per day . Hundreds of times less…
My daily driver is an Apple Watch. It does a dozen small things which add up to a great deal of utility. Sure I have to charge it every day, but it's worth it. Needless to say the time is always accurate, and I can display it however I want just by flicking a finger across the surface. When I dress up, I put on one of my mechanicals (I have three and will probably add more before I'm done). There's just something coo…
Are you me? Because this is me:
- Apple daily driver; fancy mechanicals for dressing up
- Utter boredom at the prospect of quartz watches
Re: How Watches Work
#36For those who are interested in superior technology, start reading about quartz movements and the piezoelectric effect. Citizen Watch Company recently release the most accurate quartz watch ever, accurate to 1 second per year . Contrast that to the mechanical watches that Rolex—one of the best mechanical manufacturers—produces and the best they can do is an accuracy of about 1 second per day . Hundreds of times less…
I respect Quartz watches. In fact, I've thought about getting a Citizen eco-drive. I've had a timex for years. But I got into mechanical watches earlier this year - a Hamilton Pilot and a Field. There is a beauty in the combination of accuracy, complexity and the lack of reliance on electricity that I find fascinating, just as someone can appreciate a sailboat or a record player for their amazing engineering. I haven…
You left out fountain pens, which is something that often goes hand in hand with these other things.
If this had not yet occurred to you, well, let me be the first to welcome you to that particular club. ;) A Lamy Safari is a great place to start.
Re: How Watches Work
#37I recently fell into this rabbit hole. I bought a cheap automatic watch - a Seiko 5, for both practical reasons and otherwise (will work after an EMP attack/solar event, but it's also just cool as hell mechanical engineering using 200 year old technology). Then I started putting watch repair youtube videos on in the background as I did chores or wrote code. Then I started actually watching the watch repair videos. La…
Is there any mechanical watch like the Seiko 5, but thinner and hopefully not much more expensive? I have a 5 and like it, it does feel a bit chunky at times.
Re: How Watches Work
#38I love this. As a watch enthusiast myself, it's always great to see the history of watches and how their internals came to be.
For anybody interested, there's also an awesome video from Hamilton made in the late 40s that shows a lot of the information in this article!
Re: How Watches Work
#39I made a WebGL mechanical clock simulation if anyone wants to look at it in motion: https://clock.leshenko.net/
Super cool - thanks!
Re: How Watches Work
#40For those who are interested in superior technology, start reading about quartz movements and the piezoelectric effect. Citizen Watch Company recently release the most accurate quartz watch ever, accurate to 1 second per year . Contrast that to the mechanical watches that Rolex—one of the best mechanical manufacturers—produces and the best they can do is an accuracy of about 1 second per day . Hundreds of times less…
A mechanical watch is a piece of jewelry that happens to tell time. It’s more like a film camera or record player, things people still actually use.