Who Invented the Automatic?

[RolexEnthusiast]

Who invented the automatic (self-winding) wristwatch, and when?

[supermarz]

uummm in one of my rolex catalogue i think it stated it was created in 1931. make sense nowadays but it was revolutionary back then. ....

maybe rokex invented it??......dotn quote me on that though....im not sure

[RolexEnthusiast]

If correct, that's very interesting as it goes back a long way (75+ years).

Further information is welcomed by WISs....

[Tools]

There were self winding pocket watches in the late 1700's..

[Alcan]

According to Wikipedia:

The Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Perrelet invented a self-winding mechanism in 1770 for fob watches. It worked on the same principle as a modern pedometer, and was designed to wind as the owner walked, using an oscillating weight inside the large watch that moved up and down. The Geneva Society of Arts reported in 1776 that fifteen minutes walking was necessary to wind the watch sufficiently for eight days, and the following year reported that it was selling well

In more current history:

The mechanism was more successful in wristwatches because the rotor could operate every time that the owner moved his or her arm. However the first version did not appear until the 20th century. It was invented by a watch repairer from the Isle of Man named John Harwood in 1923, who took out a UK patent with his financial backer, Harry Cutts, on 7 July 1923, and a corresponding Swiss patent on 16 October 1923. The Harwood system used a pivoting weight which swung as the wearer moved, and which in turn wound the mainspring. When fully wound, the watch would run for 12 hours autonomously. It did not have a conventional stem winder, so the hands were moved manually by rotating a bezel around the face of the watch. The watches went on sale in 1928 and 30,000 were made until the company collapsed in 1931 as a result of the Great Depression.

[haakon59]

Many advances in horology (and other fields) are claimed by more than one company or person. Lee Iacocca always said the idea for the Mustang was his, yet 100's of people claim the same. The saying "success has a 1000 fathers but failure only one" applies here. In addition to what Alcan said above, I think that Eterna and Patek Philippe make some claims in this area as well, although right off the top of my head I am not sure if their claim concerns a certain "type" of automatic or not. Regardless it is a clever invention and I can imagine the excitement over it at the time.

Rolex invented the idea of the wristwatch itself, but not the automatic movement. Wilsdorf was quite revolutionary in his thinking, as is obvious when you see how quickly people adapted to wristwatches over pocket watches. I can just imagine the tension he felt until they started to sell in big numbers. Rolex also advanced water resistance in watches, although the first diver was Blancpain's 50 Fathoms. Both Omega and Girard Perregaux also competed in this area. Omega started the Seamaster and Girard Perreaux the Sea Hawk. Eterna also jumped into this area early by sponsoring Thor Heyerdahl's Kontiki in 1956 as he wore their watch and they used it in promotion photos. I think that Rolex was the first to run an ad with their wristwatch attached to a submarine to demonstrate how well it worked, which if you ask me must have been a pretty impressive feat at the time.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

JJ invented it for lefthanded tossers

[timebroker]

Like Al stated, 1770 Perrelet from Le Locle switzerland and 5 years later Breguet followed him, even made some improvements.
Herman von der Heydt was the only American producer.

Wristwatches opinions are different.
Pocket watches were converted to wristwatches but if they were automatic ...

[Flyjet601]

JJ in 1673......