# Curious!!!!



## Guest (Oct 7, 2008)

:wub:

Hi Guys,

I have been collecting pocket watches for a couple of years now and today I was looking through my collection of 24 hour wrist watches. Some of them have automatic movements, I was then asking myself has there ever been a pocket watch made with an automatic movement? As you all know auto wrist watches are kept going by the movement of your wrist, (now now no dirty thoughts!) :lol: , how would an auto pocket watch be kept wound as its in your waistcoat pocket, or other pocket and is not moving? I am keen to know the answer.



Rabbit


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## Mikrolisk (Jan 23, 2008)

Oh yes, there were some. You must know, a certain Mr Abraham-Louis Perrelet, who was born in january 1729, has invented an automatic winding system; in in these times no wrist watches were known.

But Mr Perrelet was ahead of the times, the autmatic winding system was not working well in pocket watches, because a pocket watch is in a pocket always in (almost) the same position: crown up. So many many years later, in the beginning of the 20th century, when the first wrist watches appeared, the automatic winding system was rediscovered, improved and patented by a certain Albert Pellaton in 1946, and completed in 1950.

Today we can find some pocket watches with an automatic winding system, some modern pieces made in China (uarg...), and some very very very few ancient pieces.

Andreas


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Pocket watches were manufactured with self-winding mechanisms, but as Andreas has rightly pointed out - a pocket watch gets so little movement, that a self-winding mechanism is useless.

By the way, I read somewhere that the first self-winding wristwatches were made available in 1926, is that right?


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2008)

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the above answers, very interesting. I have seen on the net an auto pocket watch by rotary, I might buy one for the collection - not sure though.

Rabbit


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## Chascomm (Sep 9, 2005)

Shangas said:


> By the way, I read somewhere that the first self-winding wristwatches were made available in 1926, is that right?


Yes, John Harwood registered the patent in Switzerland in 1923, and production of Harwood automatic watches started in 1926. They were of the 'bumper' type in which the occilating weight only rotated through a limited arc.

1946 was when the first 360deg rotor-driven auto-winding system was introduced. All modern autos are of this type.


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

How common are/were self-winding/automatic pocket watches, and just how practical are they?

I ask because of this: http://pocketwatchcentral.com/Departments/...s/Bellagio.aspx

Bellagio Bel Tempo, an Italian watchmaking company, makes self-winding mechanical pocket watches and I just wondered how well they sell and work, because while the idea of such a watch sounds nice, to get the watch to work, you'd need to wear it every day, and let's face it, not many people do that anymore. And even if you did wear it every day, you'd need to do a fair amount of movement to get the watch to wind, since usually it'd just sit nice and still in your trouser/coat/shirt pocket.

Just thought it was a bit weird that there was still a firm out there that makes self-winding pocket watches.


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## Chascomm (Sep 9, 2005)

Shangas said:


> How common are/were self-winding/automatic pocket watches, and just how practical are they?
> 
> I ask because of this: http://pocketwatchcentral.com/Departments/...s/Bellagio.aspx
> 
> ...


I don't think Bellagio make anything except money. Those watches look like they've been ordered complete from a Hong Kong OEM catalogue. The movements look like popular Chinese models.

Chinese automatic pocket-watches are pure novelty items for buyers who haven't thought it through carefully. The movements used are designed for use in wristwatches and are unlikely to charge up in the pocket.


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