A movement is the engine inside your watch—the part that makes the hands move.
There are many types of movements, from traditional mechanical designs to battery-powered quartz systems. This section gives you an overview of how they work, which watches use them, and what I can do when they need care or repair.

Driven by springs and gears, not batteries. These are the traditional heartbeats of horology.

Manual-Wind Movements

  • How They Work: You wind the crown to tighten a coiled mainspring. As the spring unwinds, it releases energy through a gear train and escapement to move the hands.
  • Popular Models: Omega Speedmaster Professional, Longines vintage dress watches, Patek Philippe Calatrava (manual variants)
  • Era: 1700s to present—one of the oldest movement types, still made today
  • Category: Vintage, enthusiast, high-end mechanical
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How They Work: Similar to manual movements, but with a rotor that spins as you move your wrist—automatically winding the mainspring.
  • Popular Models: Rolex Submariner, Seiko 5, Hamilton Khaki Field, countless Swiss models using ETA or Sellita calibers
  • Era: Introduced in the 1920s, widely adopted from the 1950s onward
  • Category: Entry-level to luxury mechanical
  • Serviced: Yes

Battery-powered accuracy, introduced during the “Quartz Revolution” of the 1970s.

Standard Quartz

  • How They Work: A battery sends current through a quartz crystal, causing it to vibrate consistently. These vibrations are translated into movement via stepper motors. Highly accurate and low-maintenance.
  • Popular Models: Casio F-91W, Swatch Originals, Citizen Quartz, many fashion brands
  • Era: From the late 1960s onward
  • Category: Entry-level to mid-range
  • Serviced: Yes 

Niche & Hybrid Movements

Less common, often more specialized—sometimes vintage, sometimes cutting-edge.

  • How They Work: A battery vibrates a tiny tuning fork at 360 Hz. The consistent hum drives a mechanical gear train, resulting in a silky smooth seconds hand.
  • Popular Models: Bulova Accutron (Spaceview), Omega f300Hz (ESA 9162)
  • Era: 1960s–early 1970s
  • Category: Vintage electronic
  • Serviced: Yes (selectively—depends on coil and parts availability)
  • How They Work: Early electronic watches that use a transistor-controlled circuit to power a mechanical gear train. These predate quartz.
  • Popular Models: LIP Electronic, ESA Dynotron series, Landeron 4750
  • Era: Mid-1960s to early 1970s
  • Category: Vintage, transitional technology
  • Serviced: Sometimes (if circuitry and coils are intact)
  • How They Work: A solar panel beneath the dial charges a rechargeable battery or capacitor, powering the quartz movement.
  • Popular Models: Citizen Eco-Drive, Seiko Solar
  • Era: 1990s to present
  • Category: Entry to mid-range modern
  • Serviced: Yes (capacitor/battery replacements, function check)
  • How They Work: These watches receive atomic time signals via radio waves and adjust automatically—extremely precise without manual setting.
  • Popular Models: Casio Wave Ceptor, Citizen Atomic Timekeeping
  • Era: 2000s to present
  • Category: Tech-focused mid-range
  • Serviced: Limited (quartz service only—radio module not repairable)
  • How They Work: Traditional hands with a hidden smart module for step tracking, notifications, etc.
  • Popular Models: Withings Move, Fossil Hybrid HR, Garmin Vivomove
  • Era: 2010s to present
  • Category: Lifestyle tech
  • Serviced: Limited (basic mechanical elements only)

Mechanical Escapements

The escapement is the part of a mechanical movement that keeps time ticking evenly.
It controls how energy is released from the mainspring to the hands. While most modern watches use a Swiss lever escapement, there are many older and more unusual types still ticking today. Here, you’ll find the most common escapements I come across—and which ones I service.

  • How They Work: A lever locks and unlocks the escape wheel with each swing of the balance wheel, releasing energy in steady beats. It’s the most widely used escapement today.
  • Popular Models: Nearly every modern mechanical watch—Rolex, Omega, Tissot, Seiko, and many others
  • Era: Dominant since the mid-19th century
  • Category: All categories
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How They Work: Designed by George Daniels and adopted by Omega, the co-axial escapement reduces sliding friction by separating locking and impulse functions. This leads to longer service intervals and more stable performance.
  • Popular Models: Omega Seamaster, De Ville, Speedmaster Co-Axial series
  • Era: Introduced in the late 1990s, common in Omega watches from ~2007 onward
  • Category: High-end modern
  • Serviced: Yes

How They Work: A dual-wheel, indirect impulse escapement using silicon components reduces friction and boosts efficiency by ~30%, operating at 5 Hz for enhanced precision.
Popular Models: Debuted in the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Land-Dweller with Calibre 7135.
Era: Introduced in 2025.
Category: High-performance mechanical watches.
Serviced: Yes.

  • How They Work: A hollow cylinder allows controlled release of the escape wheel’s teeth. It was common in pocket watches before lever escapements became widespread.
  • Popular Models: French and Swiss pocket watches from the 18th–19th centuries
  • Era: ~1750–1880
  • Category: Antique
  • Serviced: Visual service, watch will always run unpredictable
  • How They Work: One of the earliest escapements. Uses a vertical crown wheel and pallets to control energy release. Visually striking, but inefficient by today’s standards.
  • Popular Models: English and Continental pocket watches from 1600s to early 1800s
  • Era: 1600–1830
  • Category: Collectors’ antiques
  • Serviced: Yes Limited, open to discuss
  • How They Work: A small chain connects a fusee (cone) and barrel, equalizing force from the mainspring as it unwinds. A brilliant early solution to inconsistent torque.
  • Popular Models: English pocket watches, marine chronometers
  • Era: 1600s–1800s
  • Category: Museum-grade antique
  • Serviced: Limited, open to discuss

Mechanical Complications

More than just hours and minutes—complications are the extra features that add both charm and complexity to a watch.

In watchmaking, a complication refers to any function beyond basic timekeeping. These features—whether practical or poetic—require additional components, gears, and mechanisms within the movement. From the rhythmic tick of a chronograph to the quiet jump of a date wheel, complications are often where mechanical artistry truly shines.

Below are some of the most common (and uncommon) complications found in mechanical watches.

  • How They Work: A small gear advances a numbered disc once every 24 hours. Day/date models add a second disc for the day of the week.
  • Common in: Seiko 5, ETA 2836, vintage Omega and Longines dress watches
  • Category: Entry-level to mid-range
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How It Works: A chronograph is a mechanical stopwatch, with additional pushers to start, stop, and reset a central seconds hand and sometimes sub-dials.
  • Common in: Omega Speedmaster, Valjoux 7750-based watches, vintage Landeron and Venus movements
  • Category: Mid- to high-end mechanical
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How It Works: A rotating disc shows the phases of the moon, usually advancing every 24 hours with a 59-tooth gear.
  • Common in: Dress watches from Longines, Omega, or Blancpain; many modern microbrand offerings
  • Category: Decorative complication, often found in classical designs
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How It Works: Displays how much energy is left in the mainspring. Uses a small cam linked to the barrel.
  • Common in: Seiko 6R series, Orient Star, higher-end Swiss movements
  • Category: Useful, technical complication
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How It Works: Instead of slowly moving, the hour hand (or disc) jumps exactly once per hour. Requires a tensioned spring and release mechanism.
  • Common in: 1970s digital-style mechanical watches, high-end modern pieces (e.g., Hautlence, IWC)
  • Category: Vintage and modern avant-garde
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How It Works: Instead of rotating, a hand sweeps across an arc (for date, seconds, etc.) and then snaps back to the start.
  • Common in: Breguet, Longines Master Collection, independent brands
  • Category: High-end decorative
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How It Works: Tracks the date, day, month, and even leap years—automatically adjusting for different month lengths.
  • Common in: Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, high-complication pieces
  • Category: Haute horlogerie
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How They Work: Chimes the time using gongs and hammers, often activated by a slide on the case.
  • Common in: Very high-end pocket watches and modern luxury pieces
  • Category: Museum-grade, artisanal horology
  • Serviced: Yes
  • How It Works: Rotates the escapement in a cage to counteract the effects of gravity—originally designed for pocket watches.
  • Common in: Luxury brands like Breguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and some modern microbrands
  • Category: Decorative and technical showpieces
  • Serviced: Open to discuss