How Does an Automatic Watch Work? - Patek Philippe 5180 | Watchfinder & Co.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- When you wear an automatic watch, it never stops, never runs out of power. Is this magic? Some breakthrough in perpetual motion? No, of course it isn't, but it is still pretty clever, and it's taken the best part of a millennium to perfect. Let's see what all the fuss is about.
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Patek Philippe Calatrava 5180/1R-001
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That is probably one of the most beautiful watches I’ve ever seen. That was a great video too.
If I had a watch like that, I would look at it with a magnifying glass all day
Super Dude, I would love every imperfection like I love every imperfection a beautiful woman has
Ed Eggermont wonderful, I love your optimism
Pateks don't have flaws
Its a $100,000 watch!
Daniel O. who cares about the price you stupid materialist, this is truely art
I don't understand why some ''hate'' skeleton watches, while some of them doesn't have the prettiest design, it's so awesome to be able to see the movement, the gears, everything!
Some look creepy.
I dont hate them, most of them are not my coup of tea
I think the one in the video is both. Up close, or under magnification, it's undeniably a work of art.
More than a couple feet away, though... it's too monochromatic for starters, and as a whole, repulsively gaudy, to my eyes.
But I absolutely love it; I'm more into the close-up details than I am _not_ loving the golden excess of the full picture.
I love skeleton watches. The mechanism is a thing of exquisite beauty and fascination to me. I prefer them not over-decorated as it detracts from the mechanism, but I've never seen one I find "creepy"
Personally, I love the idea of them! Nowadays, if not for prestige, you buy a watch for it's intricate design. So why not show this marble of engineering off?
I have lost you somewhere half way, but still enjoyed the presentation. Thank you.
TheGlasspix
Lol... that's what rewind is for:)
That little spinning weight rotates freely, powering a gear which winds the mainspring, like those toys where you twist the little thing behind and make it run by itself. Since the weight doesn't give enough torque to wind it unlike your hand, it has to use gear reduction, which makes it spin slower but gives more torque, like the first gear in a car.
That's what I understood about it.
Yep I lost it around 4:00 min. 🤗
You should review the Casio F91-W.
I know it's a $10 watch but it would be hilarious do to a full on, in depth review like the ones you do for these $50,000 watches.
Kyle Buchholtz i commented the same on other videos. I used a sieko for 12 years. Now I'm using f91w for past 7 months
Kyle you're right. This needs to happen
Whats wrong with casio ?
The wrong is with the awful looking potato of a watch, not the brand
Yea, they need to do this on April 1st.
I watched this video about 8 months because I wanted to learn what an automatic movement movement was and how it worked. I had no real interest in watches and never wore them even when my dad bought me cheap quartz or digital watches. This single video has made me a complete watch nut and since my first viewing I have sunk countless hours into reading hodinkee articles, youtube watch reviews, and the automatic watch my dad gave me when I told I was into them. I was 18 then and now Im going to be a watch nut for life, thank you.
this video ended up costing me 600 dollars because i needed a mechanical watch so badly after
I am there with you for being a watch nut.
Having understood 2% of that, I still find mechanical watches fascinating
I took a tour of a nuclear plant and felt the same way , I realized there a lot smarter people than me !
@@juniorjohnson5961prior to that had you believed you were the smartest person alive? Haha
@@jokeexplainer6006At times 🤠
I have never really cared how these watches worked in the past and thought the price of some these watches were ridiculous but now I see why they cost so much. Remarkable pieces of technology.
yeah, had computers not come around we would have had mechanical computers.
Like for real, a guy had invented a pocked mechanical calculator right before the electronic calculator mad it a neat but useless item.
I've been collecting watches for about 15 years now. I have about 150 mechanical watches, mostly pretty mundane, but watching and listening to the section of this video about the escapement has really reminded me about the real magic of a mechanical movement. Thankyou.
Another furry watch collector nice.
irkibby id like to see some proof of that you fucking furry
+Alpay proof of what?
irkibby your watches you fucking donkey
+Alpay nah
Oh god that is such a beautiful patek.
I generally don't care much for Patek but yeah, this one's a real beauty. Of course, the price reflects that at about 100k.
NewFormofSilence I don’t really care much either for patek’s but the detailing on this watch blows my mind
I feel like that is too beautiful, something that you can’t wear without it looking out of place
I agree that the caliber is beautiful but the watch as a whole in this skeletinized form is BS, looks like some cheap Chinese knock off. Oh yes, and its all in gold.. Disgusting...
vegass04
my dude... you are disgusting
Damn, I've never been into expensive watches... But that thing is just spectacularly gorgeous.
I’ve came here in order to understand how the automatic mechanism works, and couldn’t concentrate even a little on your explanation because I got hypnotized by the artistic beauty of that watch, I could stay all day watching that movement.
I don't know why this watch brings a tear to my eye... Its so beautiful.
I cannot describe how happy these videos make me feel. Narration and camerawork is top notch and topics ever so interesting.
Now, more than a watch I want to replace my eyes for a camera...
This quality of the video is soo perfect and clean
I could watch this video for eternity...
This is the most beautiful watch video I have ever seen in my life.
The oris artelier translucent skeleton looks similar for wayyyy cheaper
@@Bobbylim323 It really is, thank you. But there is something about this PP that is just... mesmerising
Love the subtle sophistication in all your presentations. Your voice and narration are more soothing than any ASMR video I've watched on youtube. Please keep making videos as frequently as you do.Unfortunately, I am not rich enough to afford anything from your shop or I surely would've because you've totally sold me on these extremely pointless but artsy machines.
I'm sat here looking here at my humble little $100 Seiko SNK809 in astonishment at how such complexity and finesse is wrapped around my wrist, and I had no idea. Thank you so much for not just straight up explaining how it works, but also explaining how it came to be.
The seiko SNK movements also have the "magic lever" system to wind the watch both ways. Personally, I'm on the mechanical side of the debate, as my watch is my grandpa's old one (his old Swiss watch, which has lasted him 67 years and promptly broke the minute it left his wrist, I'll be getting it from the watchmaker tomorrow)
These videos are incredible! Perfectly narrated and minimalistic, yet beautifully shot. Bravo.
Thanks very much!
This is so beautiful! This is why I love mechanical things. The digital age has robbed us of the ability to appreciate these mesmerising instances of human genius. We're too busy looking at the next annual update. Digital technologies have their place and purpose but should never try to undermine these pieces of art. Sure it's good to know how many steps have I walked but this is what we go to find inspiration and calm our souls and I seriously have no words to describe the feeling that these beautiful machines induce.
And you are commenting here with your digital device 😂😂😂 f o
amazing.
ps: for those who want to get a closer look at a mechanical watch, you can find on aliexpress a t winner for about 20$. it's an open work watch so you can see its movement in detail. i normally wouldn't recommend a such watch, but this one is an exception.
got it its amazing
My mouth just dropped open upon viewing this masterpiece of beauty... amazing.
The Patek Philippe Calatrava 5180 you see here costs about $120,000. This single watch is the same price as a luxury condo where I live.
That is one of the most beautiful watches I've ever seen! It is a real work of art!
I just got my first automatic watch, and I wanted to learn how it worked. Most of it went over my head. But I’m FASCINATED.
There should be some kind of TH-cam Award for this kind of excellence.
Thank you ! Not only for educating me about automatic watches but also for pouring quality English into my ears.
4:00 exactly what I was looking for
I’m in awe looking at the beautiful Patel Phillips Movement! Newer technologies are available but the engineering of these timepieces is so amazing! Thank You for the inner view of a Gorgeous Timepiece!
This is by far the most beautiful watch I've ever seen on video, excellent presentation, truly amazing machine.
I just had the watch my grandpa gave me repaired and it got me curious. He gave it to me when I was in highschool, I wasn't really interested in it and never wore it until lately when I started working. I always wondered why I never had to change its batteries cuz it just kept working. Now I know more about it, thank you.
I have an automatic Bulova, I like watching the gears move. It's neat.
6:55 we can see a human eye shaped into the rubin stone of balance wheel
xrtsmt lol no
Glad you could see it as well.
Yeah man.
@@perthwatchgirl duh no one thought it was a real one.Unless they took it from someone with a microscopic brain.
Imagine the amount of work that went into making it. Would anyone in the us have such patience
We make race cars and synthetic marijuana.
Wonderful narration and detail regarding the function of an automatic watch!
Honestly, this could very well be my dream watch !! It is the very definition of perfection and your showcase of the watch is absolutely stunning. Thank you for introducing me to this masterpiece :)
I came here because my dad gave me one of these watches and because it's partially transparent I couldn't help but to wonder how it works. Great video !
If I were rich this would defo be in my watch collection, absolutely precious watch
That skeleton Calatrava should be given to each dealer as an example of why you buy a Patek... Also, although it really goes against the classical design of the watch, it should become a model in the catalog. That thing's beautiful.
There's something wonderful about watchmaking timescales; Rolex jumped on the chance... launching the perpetual movement eight years later. Time, effort & dedication.
I'm not really into watches.. but now i felt like i want to own some of these 😍🥰. Beautiful exposed mechanism like this is truly stunning to look at, not a bunch of diamonds/gemstone. That just flexing.
Still don’t get it...
This video is in my opinion the clearest I have found to explain how a mechanical watch works : th-cam.com/video/Fh_8BFDcEkg/w-d-xo.html
Thank you, great video !!
I think it's more for looking at rather than telling the time.
Basically, they transfer power from turning to the crowen to regulate the hands to move. Basically it's a set of gear they transfer power to the minute hand and hour hand.
Don't feel bad.. 90% of people watching this don't get it. Even those that claim that they understand it basically lie.
When you consider that providing the watch is taken care of and can function as long as the wearer lives and moves it is amazing
It will take my whole life to buy a watch like this.
Its probably more than my whole life. Its such a beauty tbh. I dont deserve such perfection.
I was fortunate to have located an 1891 Patek Philippe pocket watch and would love to know some of the history involved in its creation. It keeps great time and the ticking sounds beautiful!
I don't usually let comments (actually it's very rare) but now I'm "obligated", the video is awesome, the quality and information perfect. Keep up the good work and thank you!
PS: I would watch your videos daily :)
🇦🇱
I can’t stop looking at this watch. I will save money for years in order to get it. Even if it takes me 30 years! I gotta have this beauty in my hands!
“Do you think the mechanism can be improved?”
Co-axial escapement adopted by Omega.
Also patented sadly
Man one time I walked in too a Rolex ad and they had that Patek in the video . I was amazed how cool and pretty the Patek was.
Great video but wish there was like a arrow indicating which part is being told..
Exactly, got really confused with what I’m supposed to focus on.
This is probably one of the most beautiful watches I’ve seen
Educated! I never know Rolex perpetual was the first watch to use the modern automatic winding mechanism. I actually gained a tiny bit of respect for Rolex. Only a tiny amount, but infinitely more that I had before this vid.
A brilliant history lesson on the evolution of & technical description of the automatic movement. And what a beautiful Patek Phillipe to feast our eyes on throughout this informative lesson. Thanks.
Beautiful watch and amazing video. The use of arrows would be helpful.
i just found out 5 min ago that there is such a thing as automatic watches lmao, i am loving this.. will defiantly buy one
"Do you think this mechanism can be improved?" Ah, but it has! In the 60s! I speak of quartz, of course ;) Hahaha, I only kid; this is a fantastic video and will surely be referenced many many times in the years to come by those fascinated with these intricate machines.
Cubulation A technical improvement, but several steps back artistically.
The time absorbed to create such a marvelous invention definitely worth it,and this episode of Watchfinder & Co definitely worth watching so many times!
The beauty of that watch distracted me from what you were trying to teach us.
I was fascinated with all the hand engraving, can’t imagine the time it took to complete it
I love this comment about the narrator on another Watchfinder Video - "The narrator could make a bag of turd sound luxurious!".............I agree!
You have just made my day. I just bought my first automatic watch and I am blowing away by this video. 👏
Beautifully made video, and the watch is exquisite. Thank you.
This video needs to be the first video for 'Introduction to automatical watches' for the enthusiast.
Ahhhh...I don't know, I mean, words fail me. I can't describe what this watch, this timepiece, does to my brain, my limbic system. My heart aches from both the joy of it and from the sadness that I shall never wear it. Had I known this watch existed thirty years ago, I would have striven harder that I might possess it, wear it, stare at it, fondle it.
G-d, but I do love this channel!
I'm not a watch person but ooh my gooood that thing is beautiful
I'd hope so at $100k
I don’t understand anything you’re talking about but I love watches.
wow, up close thoes grooves in the metal are really rough.
I love the look of watches that show all the gears like the one he's holding.
I need this watch to explain the working to my friends, but on a leather strap🤓.
Amazing video! Your explanation was very complete and hands-on, with that watch before you.
If I were rich I would have only beautiful things like this but I am poor so I rely on my automatic Seiko that I got on sale for $35.oo over 20 years ago and it had been keeping perfect time ever since. I always loathed quartz watches.
35$ for an automatic? That’s a absolute bargain!
You can buy automatic watches for 20$ from AliExpress
then do something and stop being poor lol... im 18 and have my first rolex, looking to get a second one.
@@MS-wf6hq Sweet. What model?
Everyone is forgetting that $35 20 years ago was worth more than $35 dollars today
Great videos! I’ll watch this again later. Lost me half way through. 😂 lol then at the end he says: And there you have it! 🤣
I like how the Patek Philippe logo looks reminiscent of the Rolls Royce logo. Coincidence? I think not. I do believe this brand is marketing itself as the "Rolls Royce" of wrist watches. And with the prices and obsessive quality I've seen for them, I think they are accomplishing that goal.
Patek Philippe is way older than Rolls Royce so it might be the other way around
Your so lucky you have a Patek. I respect you sir. I spent months saving to get a decent Rado and I thought I was a boss!
I never realized that watches were so simple
nigga what?
Wow that's a beautiful watch! I can't stop admiring it!... What was the video about? 😅😂
Just fall in love of this watch!!!
Wish I will be gifted😍😍😍!!
This was the most beautiful watch I've ever saw
Is the voice Alan Davies?
If it isn't, he sure sounds like him!
I love this comment about the narrator on another Watchfinder Video - "The narrator could make a bag of turd sound luxurious!".............I agree!
I would love to look at this watch, but every five seconds this video cuts back to his hands as if i needed his hands to hear him talk. Just show the amazing footage you took of the watch, its gorgeous.
Quartz gets you to work ,on time!
Best explanation of how does an automatic Watch Work I ever seen.
Seeing that watch is a joy, of course, but an animated gif of the action might have explained the mechanism more clearly. Not that the spoken explanation was bad.
The bronze colour of the hands over gold means you can't read the dial to tell the time!
These watches aren't about telling time. If somebody who can afford one is late to work, all of his employees will wait for him.
Yep, just pure douchebaggery.
I don’t particularly like skeletonized watches but that Patek is a stunning timepiece.
This watch looks almost as insane as its price tag.
Looks cheap
Probably because its all hand carved. I kinda get that too, weird piece for Patek
I think this is one of their worst designs, Patek is supposed to be the creme de la creme when it comes to watches and this piece doesnt show that
About Brand Haha looks like a 10 dollar watch
Blue Eyes White Dragon Yeah looks like a Wish watch
Only me saw many finishing defects in the gears and in same engravings ? wow Patek !!!!
If I had a expensive automatic watch every time I would smoke some weed I would watch it rotate for hours ..
I personally place concise timekeeping on the level of fire, when considering pinnacle moments of human ingenuity. What cool machines these are.
Watchfinder I'm curious, is there any rolex with glassback case? If not why do you think they haven't made one yet? I'm really curious about this, please enlighten me thanks!
Louis Sutriharta only one. The rolex cellini prince.
because they don't want everyone to know that the watches work via the movements of very tiny squirrels.
LLGS ELEMENT it's.. square.. thanks alot for the info!
Michael Williams hahahahhaa rolex is kinda overated nowadays huh?
Louis Sutriharta i dunno, have you ever tried to breed tiny squirrels? it's incredibly challenging.
So confusing but intriguing at the same time!
My left one
Would be interesting to see a comparison with the co-axial escapement
illuminati 7:00 confirmed!
xyphon123 daaayum
Lol, took me 3 times to see it...
xyphon123 how?
Jai K Gupta the all seeing eye in the jewel...
Damn' it scared me to shits😂😂
It's just so insane how people created this with gears and levers absolutely mind boggling
I'll give you twenty dollars for it
Mo 2k if I made that watch I would not sell it for $20 too much work 😂
Only magnified you can appreciate the delicately hand etched details.
Do I think THIS can be improved..? Really man?
Where does the balance spring get its energy from? Great video
I just don't see how it's worth £100,000 when you look at a £100,000 car that has a million times more work, materials and everything in it...
More materials, but arguably not more work. The design stage of a car may be greater but the production of the watch being hand made will be longer than the car.
I think the argument of it being hand made to justify such high price is overrated, cant a machine do exactly the same as the hand? Does the quality go down? no
Machines can't make these, it's too complex and complicated. Maybe in the future?
The price of most anything is "whatever the seller can get away with". If you look at the secondary market, Patek Philippe is actually very reasonable. Many of their references quickly sell used for much more than buying one from an authorized dealer.
The 5180/1R is as much a piece of art as it is a watch ... actually maybe more art. What's not mentioned in the video is that this is a true skeleton watch (not an open-worked timepiece). So, ... Patek's 240 movement is made to working order and then disassembled before sending to the artists for both skeletonization (cutting away all not totally necessary metal) and the intricate engraving. There's no assembly line as in the production of a car .. but rather a small number of parts traveling back and forth between watch makers and artists for many MONTHS.
I'll have you know that this model is only £25,000.
So delicate, such marvellous engineering.