Tungsten Alloy Counterweight in Self Winding Watches

Tungsten alloy counterweight is one of the heaviest material available in self-winding watches usage by the general public. Most watches sold today feature an automatic movement. These watches require nothing more than regular wear to keep them running. But how does an automatic watch self-wind? Do you need a watch winder if you only wear your watch from time to time?   

A self-winding watch winds “automatically” or by itself. Of course, this isn’t meant in a literal sense since the energy has to come from somewhere. It gets their energy from the movement of the wearer. Even though the first self-winding watches appeared as early as the 18th century, they remained a niche product until the rise of the wristwatch in the early 20th century. This new way of wearing a watch took it from the serenity of the pocket to the constant movement of the wrist. The time had finally come for automatic winding technology to have its breakthrough.

Manual watches are wound by twisting the crown. Every self-winding watch has a rotor made of a heavy material like tungsten alloy counterweight so that they are powerful enough to wind the movement. As the wearer moves their arm, the rotor swings, thus setting the gears in motion and winding the spring. If your watch has a glass case back, simply flip it over to see this process in real time, which reveals its face when the wearer’s wrist motions activate the five tungsten counterweights under the blades, spinning them for a dynamic optical effect of shifting colors.

It all comes down to the movement. Not every automatic watch comes with a manual winding option. If these watches stop ticking, you’ll have to give it a little shake to get the gears turning again. However, most modern watch movements are also able to be wound by hand. This is particularly practical if you don’t wear your watch very often or move it frequently.

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