Mechanical watch accuracy. How is the accuracy of a mechanical watch adjusted?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Swiss or maybe Japanese, mechanical or quartz - which watch is the most accurate? Is it true that the precision of a Swiss mechanical watch is a reference? Who even needed the most accurate clock in the world? How to adjust the accuracy of the watch? In our article you will find the answer to all these questions.

Mechanical watches - time-tested precision

For many centuries, people have constantly come up with various ways and methods for measuring and determining time. For example, on a clear and sunny day, time was determined by the movement of the sun's shadow, but in cloudy weather and at night this method was absolutely useless. Also, water and candle clocks were used to determine the time.

The first mention of a watch that had a water escapement dates back to the 3rd century BC. e. At the end of the 10th century, clocks with a mercury escapement were invented in China. So, the first anchor clock was invented in China, in 725. Later, Arab engineers improved the water clock and for the first time used mechanical gears to drive rotating elements. Mechanical wall clocks with pin triggers were created in the middle of the 14th century. And already at the beginning of the 16th century, spring mechanisms and the first samples of pocket watches were created. Then the most accurate pendulum clock was invented.

The first mechanical watch was without a dial, shaped like a bell and gave sound signals after a certain time period. The oldest clock without a dial, which has not yet lost its efficiency, is a clock from 1386, located in the British monastery of Salisbury. Well, the oldest pocket watch is a portable chronometer made by Peter Henlein in 1504 in Germany. In 1790, in Switzerland, the company "Jacquet Droz and Lachot" presented the first collection of wristwatches.

Accuracy is the courtesy of kings

The most accurate clocks are atomic. There are cesium, rubidium and hydrogen atomic clocks, while the most accurate clocks use a cesium atom and an electromagnetic field with sensitive detectors.

Several years ago, the most accurate clock in the world, the Quantum Logic Clock, was produced in the USA. Their only drawback is the bulky boxes in which the mechanism of the device is located, therefore, despite the ultimate, reference, accuracy, such watches are absolutely impractical in everyday life, and ordinary mechanical or quartz watches are quite suitable for measuring the exact time.

Today you can buy mechanical watches of various design, functionaldestination and price category, but the main parameter when choosing a watch is the device of their clockwork.

Quartz and mechanical chronometers

The main difference between them lies in what exactly is used as an energy source to ensure the operation of the watch mechanism. The operation of the mechanism in mechanical models is provided by a spiral spring, which is located in a drum with a serrated edge. When starting, the spring is twisted to the maximum level and, in the process of unwinding, sets in motion the drum, which, when rotated, directly starts the entire clockwork. The main drawback of the spring mechanism is the uneven speed of its unwinding, which affects the accuracy of the movement of mechanical watches. The standard indicator of discrepancy with the exact time for a mechanical watch is -20/+60 seconds per day, it is best if the error does not exceed 4-5 seconds per day.

How a quartz watch works

The operation of the clock mechanism in a quartz watch is carried out using a quartz battery, which feeds the electronic unit and the stepping mechanism of the watch. The electronic unit sends every second an impulse to the engine, which drives the clock hands. Thus, the frequency stability and accuracy of the rate is ensured by the quartz crystal, thanks to which the watch got its name. The rate accuracy is 20-25 seconds per month, the error rate of the most accurate watches does not exceed 5 seconds per month. Quartz watches do not require regular winding, while battery life can befor several years. It is safe to say that even the most expensive mechanical watches are significantly inferior in time measurement accuracy to any model of quartz analogues.

It is believed that mechanics are more reliable and durable than quartz watches, but this is absolutely not the case. The resource of moving elements and parts in quartz watches is largely similar to mechanical models, so high-quality products have a long service life. Unlike quartz watches, mechanical models have a higher cost, even Russian mechanical watches, not to mention foreign products, due to the technological and labor-intensive process of their production. The mechanism of a mechanical watch is set up only manually, and most of the parts for quartz products are made on automated lines.

So what is better - mechanics or quartz?

Unfortunately, there is no single answer to this question. Mechanical Swiss watches belong to the classics of watchmaking. For many, such watches are a more familiar, proven and even more prestigious option. Quartz watches are more accurate and do not require regular winding, moreover, such models are lighter and more convenient to use. Therefore, the choice of watches is an individual matter and depends primarily on personal preferences.

Japanese watches

Japanese watch movements are not inferior in accuracy and many other parameters to high-quality Swiss watches. At presenthigh-quality products of the watch industry in Japan confidently hold a leading position in the world market due to the successful combination of classical technologies with innovative developments, which allows us to constantly improve mechanical watches, filling them with new functions and capabilities. Now many Swiss watch manufacturers are trying to borrow Japanese electronic technology in the production of their own products.

Japanese watch technology

For example, the classic Japanese Citizen Chronomaster design is the most accurate wristwatch in the world, with an annual error of no more than ±5 seconds per year. The cost of this model is 70,000 rubles. The choice of both men's and women's watches is really great. The models are distinguished by their original external design, they can be made of various materials, but at the same time, all products are equipped with a unique mechanism that ensures the uninterrupted and accurate movement of mechanical watches. The most famous Japanese brands are Seiko, Citizen, Casio, Orient, Pulsar.

A prime example of Japanese craftsmanship is the Citizen Promaster Sky chronograph, which has a unique and original design, and an interesting way to get information about the exact time. The main advantage of clocks with radio synchronization is that such products have absolutely no error in measuring time, since time is constantly checked against the radio signal that comes from atomichours. Unfortunately, this signal is not caught all over the world.

Electronic models of Japanese watches

Electric models of Japanese watches, which have a huge variety of additional functions, deserve special attention. All models are produced in metal cases made of durable steel. The products are ultra-precise and have a high level of water protection and increased resistance to mechanical damage. The leader in Japanese watchmaking is still Seiko, which recently invented watches with an innovative caliber 9F. Thanks to him, their annual error does not exceed +/- 10 s.

American watches

The history of the development and existence of American watches dates back several decades, while manufacturers try to match the classical style when creating their models, and the accuracy of mechanical watches made in the USA is absolutely no different from the accuracy of mechanisms produced in Switzerland or Japan. Well, the variety of models of different price categories, which are represented by both classic and sports versions, will surprise even the most demanding consumer.

Military watch models are especially accurate. For several years, Bulova has been developing a new collection of women's and men's wrist watches, which was called Precisionist, which literally means "precision". It is this indicator that characterizes the products of this collection to a greater extent, while the travel error is +/- 10 s inyear. Quartz models have many other innovative features - a new design, a floating second hand, which allows you to reduce the adverse effects of temperatures without the use of additional microcircuits responsible for thermoregulation processes. The watch also has a trihedral crystal, the vibration of which is several times higher than that of dihedral crystals.

Adjusting the precision of clock movements

Undoubtedly, the most important characteristic of any watch is the accuracy of mechanical watches, despite the tolerances, which in most cases are up to 30 seconds per day. In the manufacture of watch movements, manufacturers adhere to the established certification. Manufacturers carry out all settings directly at the enterprises. A mechanical wall clock, like a manual one, is a complex mechanism, so their accuracy depends on the coordinated work of all systems and parts in the design of the device.

In the production process of watches with a mechanical movement, manual adjustment is provided, in which it is possible to reduce the accuracy error. To perform the adjustment, you need to know the device and the specifics of the clockwork.

Simple (single) thermometer

Adjustment of the accuracy of the movement of a mechanical watch occurs with the help of a component of the bridge in the balance unit, which is called a "thermometer". The thermometer is a lever, at one end of which there are two pins or a lock-lock, at the other end -small ledge. With this protrusion, you can adjust the accuracy of the mechanical watch and adjust the working length of the spiral. "Thermometers" differ in design, which can have a different length of the arrow, the diameter of a split apple and different shapes of pins. "Thermometers" are simple (single) or complex (double).

Mechanical watches are expensive

If we talk about wrist mechanical watches, then they show off on the hands of people with high incomes.

The cost of products can exceed one hundred thousand euros. Therefore, you can choose a different option, the price will be much lower, of course, if you are willing to sacrifice accuracy in favor of economy and prestige.