How mechanical wristwatches are made
A watch's balance wheel swings up to ten times a second, and every swing lets the gears advance one step.
- stations
- 6
- things upstream
- 58
- raw sources
- 26
- steps from the ground
- 7
The short version
A mechanical wristwatch movement has five parts: a mainspring that stores energy, a gear train, a balance wheel that oscillates, an escapement that releases the gears one step at a time, and a winding mechanism. Makers machine and finish these parts, assemble the movement by hand, regulate it, then fit it in a case.
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Machine the plates and gears
Brass and steel are machined into the plates, wheels and pinions of the gear train. This train carries the force of the mainspring to the balance wheel and counts its swings into seconds, minutes and hours.
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Make the mainspring
A long thin strip of spring steel is wound into a barrel. It stores the mechanical energy that runs the watch.
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Build the escapement
The escape wheel and pallets are ground and polished. At each swing of the balance, the escapement lets the gears advance a set amount, and that stop-start action is the ticking sound.
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Assemble the movement
Watchmakers fit every part into the plates, oil the pivots and bring the movement to life. A self-winding watch adds a rotating weight that winds the spring as the wrist moves.
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Regulate the rate
A regulator lever on the balance spring is moved until the movement keeps accurate time in several positions, because the swings of the balance wheel set the pace.
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Case, dial and hands
The movement is placed in a case with a dial, hands and crystal, and fitted with a strap.
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Worth repeating
- Most watch balance wheels oscillate at 5, 6, 8 or 10 beats per second, which is 18,000 to 36,000 beats per hour.
- A tourbillon is a rotating cage around the balance wheel that was meant to cancel out the pull of gravity in a pocket watch.
Back to the ground
Follow every input upstream and mechanical wristwatch starts as these 26 raw sources.
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Sources
Cite this page: "How mechanical wristwatches are made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/wristwatch