Watches are mechanical, electric, electronic or automatic instruments
that serve to measure the passing of time.
In researching systems to record and measure time more accurately,
man has made incredible progress. From observing movements in
our solar system, like the sun and the moon, to the construction
of ingenious mechanical systems, and finally, the ability to
measure invisible particles of energy moving around an atom.
By 1500 BC, the Egyptians found a more accurate way to tell
time. This method was the water clock, (also known as a clepsydra).
This clock uses the steady dripping of water from a vessel to
drive a mechanical device that tells time. Meanwhile the Greeks
observed, constructed and refined the Astrological charts as
a way of measuring time.
The modern watch, as we know it today goes back to medieval
times. All watches of this period required a source of energy:
For instance, the fall or drop of a weight, a spring or coil,
or an alternate form that had to be used in a very precise and
rigorous way so that the watch/timepiece functioned regularly.
A weight, a spring, or type of current allow for the rotation
of a wheel that in turn allows other smaller wheels (know as
gears) and mechanisms to rotate the hands which are controlled
by a stop mechanism know as an, “escapement” This
permits one of the teeth on the many gears to turn one at a
time.
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