a wristwatch is powered by a movement, also called a caliber. Below are the general types of watch movements.

automatic – (self-winding) watch whose movement is mechanical. An oscillating weight (the rotor) turns by the motion of your arm and winds the mainspring. The energy is transferred into mechanical energy that creates the watch movement. These watches can be shaken or manually wound if the power reserve runs out.

manual – (manually wound) a mechanical watch movement that’s wound by hand.

quartz – a natural or synthetic silicon dioxide crystal used in quartz analog or solid-state digital watches when activated by a battery or solar power, the thin sliver of the crystal very predictably vibrates at an extremely high frequency (32,768 times per second) step motor, electric circuit block.

atomic quartz – a quartz movement that’s regulated by a highly accurate radio signal sent out by the nearest atomic clock.

thermo-compensated quartz – a thermo-compensated quartz movement adjusts for temperature variations, minimizing any potential deviation in timekeeping due to environmental changes.

digital – a quartz watch that uses an LCD or LED to display a continuous reading.

analog/digital – has both a digital display and the hands of a conventional analog watch.

meca-quartz – manufactured by Seiko, the timekeeping functions are controlled by a quartz movement, while the stopwatch functions of the chronograph are recorded by a mechanical module.

spring drive – manufactured by Seiko, uses a conventional mechanical mainspring and barrel, with automatic and hand to create energy in the mainspring and barrel. The conventional mechanical escapement and balance system is replaced by a Tri-synchro quartz regulator.

 

(synonym: caliber)