Hand-wound
Hand-wound wristwatches have been an indispensable component since the earliest history of watchmaking and are one of the ways to power a clockwork. Unlike quartz watches, which are operated using a button battery or an automatic watch, which winds itself through the movement of the hand and the associated vibration of the rotor, hand-winding is, as the name suggests, a purely manual source of energy. The way the movement works is hardly different from an automatic watch. If you regularly wear a hand-wound watch, it is recommended that you wind it fully at the same time every day and then put it on.
Compared to automatic wristwatches, manual winding offers several advantages. The first thing that can be mentioned is that the space freed up is saved due to the lack of a rotor and the watch is built flatter. This means that the watch can be worn perfectly under a shirt as a dress watch and is not particularly noticeable. On the other hand, the view of the movement, which is normally only possible to a limited extent due to the rotor, is now completely free. This feature is granted to the wearer of wristwatches with a glass back. Winding up the watch has also become a bit of a ritual for some wearers and every time it awakens enthusiasm for the mechanical processes in the watch.
In the past, watches were generally wound using so-called winding keys. Over time, however, the requirements and therefore the watches evolved, leading to the invention of the winding crown. This is firmly connected to the clock and replaces the key as a transmitter of energy to the clockwork. The Swiss luxury watch manufacturer Paket Philippe must be mentioned here, which first introduced the way a winding crown works to the world in 1845. The form of the winding crown, which is much more common today, was invented in 1847 by Charles Antoine Jaeger-LeCoultre. He developed the winding crown with a rocker, which, in addition to winding the movement, also adjusted the hands and thus set the time correctly.
Well-known flagships for hand-wound wristwatches are no strangers to watch fans and connoisseurs and are certainly a surprise for some. Since Patek Philippe, as already mentioned above, released the first hand-wound watch, it is no surprise that the Geneva-based watch manufacturer has a well-known representative of watches with the Calatrava (e.g. reference 6119G-001, 5196J-001, 5196G-001). Produced with hand winding. The Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch is also well known. Known references are: 311.30.42.30.01.005, 310.32.42.50.01.001 or 329.30.43.51.03.001. Jaeger-LeCoultre should not be missing with their Reverso Classic Medium Duoface Small Seconds reference Q2458422.
