How Watches Are Made

Have you ever been curious about the intricate process of crafting a watch? Here’s your exclusive peek behind the scenes. You’ll be amazed by the complexity and care of making a classic timepiece.

At first glance, a watch may seem like a simple accessory, but its creation is far from straightforward. It takes the skill of experienced watchmakers to bring even the most basic designs to life. So what does it take to create a quality watch? From sourcing raw materials to its ultimate delivery, there’s no denying it’s an art form.

Parts That Make Up a Mechanical Watch

Mechanical watches are especially complicated, with hundreds of tiny pieces all playing their part. Here’s a quick look at the parts that make up a mechanical watch:

  • Case: This protects the delicate inner workings of the watch and can be made of stainless steel, titanium, or gold.
  • Stem: This is the little button at the side of the watch that allows you to set the time.
  • Crown: This is connected to the stem and allows you to set and wind up your watch.
  • Movement: The movement is the internal mechanism that powers your watch and keeps it ticking.
  • Balance Wheel: This oscillates back and forth at a consistent rate, measuring out equal amounts of time for each second that passes by.
  • Escapement: This converts energy from the mainspring into equal intervals, releasing power through irregular impulses so your watch continues ticking accurately with each passing second.
  • Mainspring: This provides energy for all power used in your mechanical watch and needs to be wound up regularly.

Making the Watch Movement: Dial, Hands, and Gears

Now let’s take a closer look at how watches are crafted. This begins with the watch movement, the engine behind all that ticking. 

Dial

The first component that’s created is the dial—that’s the face of the watch. The dial blank itself is cut from metal sheets that were previously stamped. It’s then treated by layering different materials like lacquer and enamel in a process called guilloché.

Hands

The next component to craft is the hands pointing to the hour, minute, and seconds indicators on your watch dial—the thin metal pieces you see pointing inwards towards each other, indicating what time it is.

Gears and Springs

This brings us to gears and springs—the components that power up your watch movement. The gears help transmit energy while releasing it at specific moments.

Casing the Watch Movement

One of the most important steps when crafting a watch is to case the movement. This is the process of securely fastening the watch’s internals inside a shell or case. It’s basically like assembling a model kit.

Water-Resistant Casing

To ensure that your watch is waterproof, it’s first important to ensure that all connections are sealed tight with appropriate sealants and gaskets.

The Bezel

Another key part of casing a watch is attaching the bezel, which holds the glass in place and gives your timepiece character. Depending on the design of your watch, this could be anything from an ornate or simple metal ring to an intricate design made out of diamonds or other precious stones. Contact Send Gold Get Cash to learn more about selling a watch and watchmaking.