Help with movements
Hi crunch people. After some help if possible. I’ve been collecting for about 6 years and got a couple of nice watches - Ranger, 58, conquest 23, Willard…purchasing decisions have been made after reviews etc and I love them all. But I know very little on movements. Bit bothered after spending quite a lot of money! Hoping the movements in the above are ok! Where can I learn about movements and the mechanics of watches in a pretty simple way? Something accessible? Love to find out more! Cheers all.
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Gdog
Watch geek. Love field watches particularly. Art and science on a wrist - fascinating!!!!!
United Kingdom
Member since
Last active: 10 min ago
17.78 cm
I'd say you have nothing to worry about there, and movements from major brands tend to be more of a tradeoff than outright superior/inferior. There are benefits to movements from all across the price ranges. If you haven't seen any, I'd recommend you check out a video of a watch servicing on YouTube. There are many good channels. It will give you a deeper understanding of the intricacies and purposes of a lot of the parts.
If you're sticking with major brands, you probably won't find a "bad" movement. Some will have better finishing, more complications, longer power reserves, higher accuracy, higher beat rates, more resistance to magnetism, tighter tolerances, or overall longer expected lifespans. However usually, the more of those advantages you get, the more expensive servicing and replacement parts will be, the fewer people will work on them, and the longer wait times will be for service and parts.
Personally, I like fairly affordable, common, trusted movements. They're not fancy, but they work and can be conveniently serviced. There are advantages to appreciate about most movements, so it's largely down to personal preference and perspective.
That’s really helpful. Thanks! 👍
Checkout this YouTube channel. He talks about all sorts of movements, very informative.
https://youtube.com/@ChronoglideWatchmaking?si=t9QkMLey8HPFtBnA
Thank you.
Watch enthusiasts take quite some interest into particular kinds of movements, but as @Dallen pointed out, they generally function in a similar way. When it comes to the cost of servicing a movement, there are differences.
Standard Seiko movements (4R35, NH35, Miyota 8x and 9x etc.) are so inexpensive that they will likely be replaced. More expensive movements, such as ETA-2824-2 variants, such as Sellita SW-200-1, will likely see an actual service.
Teddy has a pretty good overview.
The only gotcha are movements that are non-standard. For some inexpensive Chinese mechanical watches you may end up with "mystery movements". It takes a little bit of expertise to find out what they are, but they are usually inexpensive.
Then there are true in-house movements. Unless you spent a lot of money on a watch, you are unlikely to have run into those.