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| Choosing the size of your Swiss watch. |
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| Written by James Enloe | |
| Sunday, 15 June 2008 | |
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When shopping for a Swiss automatic watch, one factor buyers have to consider today is: what size? The Swiss watch industry is getting larger. Not just in the sense of new manufactures and companies, but in the sense that big watches are the big thing. Whether you're looking for an ETA automatic pilot watch; a yellow dialed automatic diver's watch or even a thin automatic watch, you'll find one, and you can bet they'll be available in jumbo sizes no matter your wrist size. Once upon a time 40-mm was considered to be a "large" wrist watch; today we have well surpassed the 40-mm size into 44-mm and well beyond. Seeing a watch at 48-mm or 50-mm is not uncommon in today's market. A factor in one's decision is one's own wrist size: some individuals with smaller wrists tend to gravitate towards watches at the smaller end of the spectrum to avoid an oversized look. Of course, it is all a matter of personal preference, as far as what size one prefers to wear. Big watches have been around for some time, however, and not always at the call of fashion. Some of the earliest big pieces were vintage military watches, developed large for ease of legibility and functionality. Some earlier divers as well (such as a well known orange dialed automatic watch) were created at larger than average sizes, again primarily necessary for the job at hand, not the fashion statement they make today. These early big watches have been recreated using current technologies and movements as a throwback to the watches of yesteryear, which can frequently be difficult to find or they are very expensive. Whether your choice is big or small, however, one thing that most all Swiss watches have in common is how one adjusts and set's an automatic timepiece (note that some fine Swiss watches can be very complex in terms of their functions and may be exempt from what is discussed here). In most all cases one first has to get the watch working in order to set it. So how does an automatic watch work? The idea is actually pretty simple: through the movement of the wearer's wrist a rotor attached to the movement spins and winds the watch's mainspring, which as it uncoils sends that power through gears to the hands, thereby powering the watch. Getting an automatic watch started can be accomplished usually in one of two ways: holding the automatic watch in one's hand, parallel to the floor, and gently swinging it in a circular motion to get the rotor moving and wind the watch, or, most Swiss automatic movements can be hand wound as well, normally by pulling the crown out to the first position and turning the crown clockwise. After a few turns one should see the hands begin to move. As one acquires Swiss automatic watches, an important accompanying piece of equipment can be the automatic watch winder. Once your watch is running via one of the above methods, or through wearing the watch, it can be placed on the winder and kept running for wearing at a later time. This prevents the mainspring from loosing all its tension and all of the energy running out of the watch. An automatic watch winder can be as simple as a single unit used to keep one automatic watch wound, or a more complex one designed to run several automatic pieces. Most of them are accommodating enough to wind large or small watches and are either programmed or programmable to prevent over winding of watches, which can lead to problems. Travel automatic watch winders are available for those who frequent the airlines and like to have a choice of watches with them. In fact, some luxury hotels are now installing watch winders in some of their suites. Single units can cost as low as $20, while the top end, multiple automatic watch units can cost in excess of $5,000. If you own more than one automatic wrist watch you should definitely keep a watch winder on one's list of must haves. In some cases it may be necessary to make adjustments to the performance of a watch, typically when it is running consistently slow or fast and is not keeping reasonable, accurate time. An automatic watch (or manual hand wind watch) can have its rate adjusted to allow it to run more (or less) accurately. This can be done by removing the case back of the watch and adjusting the adjustment lever in small increments. This lever is often marked with a "-" on one side and "+" on the other to indicate moving the lever in the direction of these markings will make the watch run slower or faster. This process is normally done by experienced watchmakers in the case of fine Swiss watches. At Debaufre Watches we pride ourselves in offering high-quality Swiss made watches without the extreme prices usually associated with Swiss timepieces. Take a look at our collection and you will see a wide spectrum of wrist-watches, designs from classic to formal to sporty. The Nav-B Unitas Classic watch priced under $800, using the famed Unitas 6498 hand wind movement. Or our line of GMT watches prices under $700, powered by the ETA 2893-2 movement. Debaufre, Definitely Worth Your Time. - written by James Enloe |
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