UNDERSTANDING WATCH MOVEMENT TYPES

ECO-DRIVE MOVEMENT

An Eco-Drive watch never needs a battery—and won't have to sit in a drawer because the battery has run out. This unique watch movement technology harnesses natural and artificial light sources. The watch crystal and dial absorb light, and a lithium-ion cell converts light into energy to power the watch. A patented innovation from Citizen, Eco-Drive drive technology stores enough power to keep the watch running for six months, even in the dark.

AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT

Another battery-free watch option is an automatic movement watch, which basically winds itself through your movements as you wear the watch. A metal weight (“rotor”) attached to a winding mechanism responds to even subtle movements of the wrist, rotating back and forth to wind the mainspring of the watch.

Various designs for self-winding watches date back to 1770. Rolex introduced the Oyster Perpetual system in 1931, and Eternal Watch introduced a system using ball bearings in 1948.

QUARTZ MOVEMENT

A quartz movement watch uses the vibration of a quartz crystal resonator inside the watch to keep time. The quartz vibrates like a miniature tuning from in response to an electric charge (as from a battery). Quartz works exceptionally well for watch movements, and is among the most popular watch movement options on the market today. It is energy-efficient and exceptionally accurate. The accuracy of a quartz watch can let you time very small time increments, even fractions of seconds. A quartz watch design can work with either an analog or digital display.