Watches Customization: What Do You Know of the Watches Movement?

Lots of people show me photos of watches and ask if I can make one like it. Sometimes I say yes, but other times I can’t because the watch’s insides, known as the movement, do not support the features they need. That’s why understanding the watch’s movement is essential before you customize your own.

You need to know the types of movements. As well as the brands, quality, price, grade, etc. Knowing these will help you pick the perfect watch.

Are you interested in tailoring your timepiece with specific functions that cater to your preferences? Curious about the range of unique features a watch can possess? The heart of these customizations lies in the watch’s movement. Let’s explore and understand the intricacies behind the watch’s movement.

What is watch movement？

Watch movement is one of the most essential parts of a watch’s functions. It is considered both the heart and the brain of a watch. It defines the different designs of the watches.

Choosing your preferred watch movement may depend on the features you need. However, all of them surely have hands.

Any Types of Movements:

We can classify watch movements into different types. First is the Quartz Movement. This operates through the help of a coin battery or cell. Often, the battery can only last for 25 3 years12-24 months. If you want to continue using the same watch, you shall have the battery replaced by a trusted manufacturer.

The second one is Mechanical Movement. It is the opposite of Quartz as it does not need battery power to function. Under this category are further classifications called Automatic and Manual. Manual Mechanical Movement requires regular winding, while the former does not.

Aside from that, you can mention watch functions below when talking movements with the customized watches supplier:

● 2 hands (hour + minute hands)

● 3 hands (hour + minute + second hands)

● 3 hands + Date or Week or Calendar

● 3 hands + Tourbillon

● 3 hands + Second dial

● 3 hands + Chronograph

● 3 hands + Full Skeleton

● 3 hands + Middle Skeleton

● 3 hands + Multifunctional Movement

● Moon Phrase

● Timer (count down or up)

● Small Second

● Dual Time Zone

others…

Name Brands of Watch Movement:

Brand names are often easily remembered because of their trade features. The same is true with watches. However, while some watch brands employ their movements, there are some which adopted common but well-known movements. Perhaps, around 90% of brands use high-end popular movement styles.

In most cases, the middle and low-end watch brands use Japanese movements. Whereas the slightly higher-end brands use Swiss movements. Meanwhile, some of the top name brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, BLANCPAIN, Vacheron Constantin, Piaget, Jaeger LeCoultre, Girard-Perregaux, Breguet, and some others are using their self-made/self-designed movements.

Now, here is the list of top watch movement brands.

• Miyota (Japan movement)
• Seiko TMI (Japan movement)
• Randa (Swiss brand)
• ETA (Swiss brand)
• Sellita (Swiss brand)
• Sea-gull (Chinese Brand)
• Beijing (Chinese Brand)
• Shanghai (Chinese Brand)

You can click the following link to know more about the list of Chinese movements .

What are the Normally Used Types of Brand Watches Movement?

Arranged by types of movement and brands, here are the units of watches normally people use.

Quartz Movement:

Miyota (Japanese brand). Types are:

Seiko TMI (Japanese Movement). Types are:

Mechanical movement:

Miyota (Japanese brand). Types are:

Seiko TMI (Japan brand). Types are:

What is the Different Between Them? Prices? Watch Grade?

All watches have differences from each other. These differences may also be your consideration when choosing what to have.

Watches Grade Comparison:

In terms of grade, watches can be considered as low, middle, and high. Low-grade watches often come with quartz movement. TMI, the brand is the most classic example, along with some other brands that normally use quartz movement. On the other hand, watches with higher grades commonly use the Swiss brand movement. Lastly, top-grade watches are those that come with their self-made design movement.

Price and Quality Comparison:

In terms of price, quartz is less pricy than mechanical ones. Similarly, the Japanese brand is also less pricy than Swiss brands. However, this is just the general idea and may not be the case all the time.

While the price of Swiss brand movements is generally higher than the price of Japanese movements, this is not always the case. For instance, in some models, the price of Japanese movements is as equal to the Swiss brands’ price. Meanwhile, in the quartz movement, the Swiss brand movement quality may also be not as good as the Japanese movement. Furthermore, the Chinese watch movement is generally not as stable as other brands. Although sometimes that might not be the case, it is still important to be aware of such a matter. Nevertheless, it can still be used as gifts or as a movement for some cheap watches.

What do You Need to Know When Talking about the Movement of Customized Watches?

When talking about the movements of customized watches, you need to know your watch design and features. Through it, you will be able to choose the right movement. Right after then, have a quote for a price. In cases when the price is higher than your allotted budget, you can request the supplier for a change in movement.

Frequently Asked Question of Watch Movement

Here are more things you may need to know about watch movements.

1. Can I add my logo to the movement of my watch?

The answer is both yes and no. It depends upon the situation. The first is yes because technicality totally permits it. Manufacturers can add the logo, but the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) may get affected. However, it may also be no because some movement brands do not allow adding a logo.

2. How can I buy the watch movement?

When buying a watch movement, you would usually see a distributer’s agent. This is because big brands like movement manufacturers have their own sales model, which makes them more attractive. Usually, they are selling models through their distributors. They also set a fixed number of requirements every month to be fulfilled. Aside from that, the distributor also has their employed agents assigned to talk to you. So, you will never reach the movement manufacturer unless you are also a big supplier.

Now, what if you want to add a logo? It is the watch manufacturer who will disassemble the watch movement and gets your logo to be added there. It means you may also take the challenge of risking its quality.

3. How many types of movement are there?

Primarily, we have three types of watch movements. The first one is quartz and the second is mechanical movements. Mechanical movements are divided into two classes – manual and automatic.

4. Which type of watch movement is best?

If for quality and price, The Mechanical movement is the best.

But from one side, The best watch movement typically depends on the features a person is looking for. Other factors may also be considered such as level of maintenance and watch upkeep tolerance. Typically, quartz movements are easier to maintain when compared to mechanical movements.

5. What lasts longer? quartz or automatic?

In general, nothing lasts forever, and all watches truly degrade over time. Also, things will never reach their maximum durability if you do not take care of them. Nevertheless, each watch movement works in a different method. Therefore, some conclusions were drawn by watch experts in terms of their durability. Quartz movements are battery-powered, so you can change battery if the battery is off, then they can last for almost a lifetime. Whereas, automatic movements are powered by springs, which makes it degrade faster than quartz.

6. Does Japanese quartz movement need a battery?

Yes, Even Japanese quartz needs a battery. All watches, as long as they come with quartz movements are battery-powered devices.

7. What movement is Rolex?

Rolex uses its self-made movement. However, the brand is one of the pioneers in automatic movements. Nowadays, they offer various models, adding basic and advanced features.

8. Can you buy a watch movement?

You can definitely buy a watch movement. When your watch gets damaged, you can still have it for movement replacement. When purchasing, you have two choices – either you buy from online stores or purchase it from watch repair stores. However, you need to be careful when replacing it to avoid further damage.

9. What’s the difference between Manual mechanical movement and Automatic mechanical movements?

Manual and automatic movements are both mechanical movements. The main difference is manual movements require regular winding while the automatic does not as long as you are wearing it.

Conclusão

All in all, These are the basics of the movement. Knowing this basic movement knowledge, you are already half as professional as other buyers.

Do you have any other questions? Leave a message and we will answer it as soon as possible. If you want to customize your own brand of watch, remember to ask us for a free consultation as well!

Source link:

1. Miyota: (Retrieved from https://miyotamovement.com/)

2. Seiko TMI: (Retrieved from https://www.timemodule.com/)

3. Randa: (Retrieved from https://www.ronda.ch/en/)

4. ETA: (Retrieved from https://www.eta.ch/en/)

5. Sellita: (Retrieved from https://www.sellita.ch/index.php/en/movements)

6. Sea-gull: (Retrieved from https://www.seagullwatchcompany.com/collections/movements)

7. Beijing: (Retrieved from http://chinesewatchwiki.net/Beijing_Watch_Factory)

8. Shanghai: (Retrieved from http://chinesewatchwiki.net/Shanghai_Watch_Factory)

9. List of Chinese movements: (Retrieved from http://chinesewatchwiki.net/List_of_Chinese_watch_movements)