What is a Skeleton Watch?
The skeleton watch is a special type of watch which you can see every inside part of the watch. Rather than hiding the mechanism under a solid dial as was done with conventional watches, skeleton watches strip off as much of the material as possible on the dial and the movement plates. This will allow you to peep in and watch all the little gears, springs and wheels in action to keep time.
Take the case of having a clear phone cover and you are peeking in the phone cases and you can see all the parts and circuit boards. This is also carried out with watches of skeletons, but in a very artistic and artisan way.
History of the Skeleton Watches
The concept of skeletonizing watches was instituted in France during the 18 th century. Watchmakers discovered that they could create beautiful time pieces of see-through metal through the removal of the metal that they did not need on the plates and the bridges of the movement. Cartier skeleton watch was not an exhibition of the mechanism. It was about the exhibit of the inconceivable skill and precision of the clockwork.
Summed up in these early years also, skeleton watches were a luxury good, which only rich collectors and royalties owned. Each watch had to be made manually and required hundreds of hours. The watchmaker needed to carefully cut the metals and at the same time, make sure that the watch was fully functional. Any accident can ruin months of work.
The skeleton watches were even more popular among the elite in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries. The designs of the skeleton watches gained popularity especially among the Swiss watchmakers ap skeleton watch was a miniature sculpture on which they worked and cut the metal in fancy designs.
There is skeleton watches that are available today like never before. Though luxury brands still make skeleton watches of the handmade and expensive type, there are many now selling the skeleton watches to the simple watch collector.
How Skeleton Watches Work
Simply put, skeleton watch is not any different to any other mechanical watch. The only difference that you can see is the key one.
Each mechanical watch contains something that Rolex considers as a movement. This is the clock-work which makes the watch tick. The movement has hundreds of minute parts that drag into harmony with one another. Here are the main components:
The Mainspring: This is a spring which is highly coiled around storing energy. You wind your watch when you tighten it, or when you tighten your audemars piguet skeleton watch when you go around your wrist. It is gradually unwinding and in the process, it gives off energy that propels the entire watch.
The Gear Train: This consists of a series of interlocking gears that transfer the power on the mainspring to the remainder of the watch. These gears are conveniently small in order to make sure that they turn at an optimum rate in order to have proper time.
The Escapement: This is the main part of the watch that causes it to go on. It gives the impulse of the mainspring in jerks that are regulated by securing that the bulova skeleton watch does not merely spin around, but moves at a uniform pace.
The Balance Wheel: This is a wheel that swings forth and back like a pendulum hitting some few times per second. It determines the speed in which the watch is running.
All these sections can be observed in the holes of the dial and the see-through case backs in a skeleton watch. Some of the skeleton watches are made of clear crystal on the face and the back, and thus can be seen at any angle.
Types of Skeleton Watches
The watches of the skeletons do not resemble. It has a number of styles:
It is possible to peep through the watch back. These are the most spectacular and vivid skeleton watches.
Partly Skeletonized: these watches have holes showing you a portion of the movement, but have portions of solid material. The style will offer a compromise of the classic watch skeleton man design besides skeleton design.
Skeletonized Movement with Solid Dial: Other watches have solid dial in front but on the back of the case, one can see the skeletonized movement because of its transparency. Open-Heart Watches: It is not a skeleton watch, but instead has a small opening in the dial that can look through the balance wheel or the escapement. They provide you with a good place to begin with in case you are just willing to have some mechanical action without spending money on some entire skeleton.
Why People Love Skeleton Watches
Skeleton watches are quite interesting watches which are not just used to tell time. The reason is that they appeal to the watch lovers because of the following reasons:
One can even watch a live mechanical watch. The balance wheel returning and forth is interesting to watch and the gears passing by the second.
They are Artistic: A good skeleton watch is an artistic work. Each of the skeleton watches has its personality.
They show Artisanship: it is inconceivable how a skeleton watch could be made with such agility. The watch manufacturer must never remove anything that causes an imperfection in the construction and at the same time must not tamper with the precision of the watch.
They are Conversation Starters: People pay attention to skeleton watch. In an assembly, dinner, or social a skeleton watch on your wrist will not pass unnoticed by somebody. The thought of showing that you are interested in mechanical watches is great.
They are Special: A skeleton watch is unique and different than other smart watches and digital readings in this world. It is a clinging to ancient-fashioned handicraft and mechanical ingenuity.
The First Skeleton Watch Shopping Guide.
You must think about some reasons when you want to buy a skeleton watch:
Budget: The Skeleton watches will go in between less than one hundred dollars and hundreds of thousands of dollars. You will have good skeleton watches, entry-level brands, that will enable you to have the style without necessarily spending the bank. The mid range brands also possess better finishing and reliable movements. The luxury brands are designed in such a way that it is capable of creating masterpieces of a museum quality.
Mechanical: Skeleton watches are either manually wound or automatically wound in great majority. Manual-wind watches need to be wound on a daily basis and this task is assisted by turning the crown. Automatic watches are also self wound and this implies that they are worn during the day. Some skeleton watches have quartz movement but this is rare because the appeal of the skeleton watches is the sight of the mechanical movement.
Fit: Skeleton watches can be put on the bigger sizes because one has space to have fun with them. But do not forget to make the watch on your wrist. A watch that is too large will be much cumbersome and therefore not comfortable to wear.
Other skeleton watches are too skeletonized so as to be easily read. It must have some visible hands and hours on the watch. Anyhow, it must still have the capacity to keep time. Are the screws aligned? Good finishing is a characteristic of a good handicraft.
Caring for Your Skeleton Watch
The skeleton watch needs a bit of care as compared to the normal watch:
Use of water should always be avoided unless the watch has been proved to be water resistant…
Service It: Servicing of mechanical watches is necessary after 3-5 years. During a service cleaning, a watchmaker will check the watch, and will oil the movement, adjust it, to ensure that it is able to run clean.
Keep It in a Box: You are expected to store your watch in a watch box or watch case when not on the wrist and also when not in areas that are near magnets, overheated or direct sunlight. Consider a watch winder to ensure that the watch does not run out in case you have an auto watch.
Be Gently: This is because the skeleton watches are relatively weaker since they have fewer metals in their mechanisms. Skeleton watch is a watch that should not be exposed to hard hits and coarse activities.
Popular brands of Skeleton Watches
There is a wide variety of skeleton watch brands within different price ranges:
Entry-Level: That type of cheap skeleton watches is also good at the entry-level under the brands of Stuhrling, Fossil, and Kenneth Cole. The price of these is normally between 100-500.
The Future of Watches of the Skeleton
Skeleton watches are currently under development. Some of the frontiers that contemporary watchmakers are stretching are the new material sapphire crystal cases, high-technology ceramics. Cartier skeleton watch are the wonders of engineering that are being developed by certain brands which are ultra-thin. Skeleton designs with tourbillons and chronographs among others are also taking place in others.
Should you buy a Skeleton Watch?
Not all people can wear a skeleton watch and it is alright. The perfect watch could be a skeleton watch since you are fond of mechanical engineering and unusual designs and would like to have a watch that will be discussed. They are fashion statement goods that portray your values as crafts and tradition.
However, when it comes to minimalist style of designs, then the need to use a watch which is highly legible in an employer place or when you want to be undetected you can choose to use a traditional watch design.
Final Thoughts
The combination of the shape and the functionality is the best in skeleton watches. They are the testament of utility not necessarily being practical and the fact that even the instruments which we use in our daily lives can be beautiful.
A skeleton watch cannot be just a mere watch whether you are purchasing a low-end model or are planning to save and purchase an expensive watch. A spring-driven, gear-driven, man-made source of power, fastened to the wrist, an item that does not require batteries or even software, is somehow very satisfying in these technical age of the digital world, just mechanical poetry on the wrist.
