Automatic Watches

An item of luxury, automatic watches can last forever providing the movement is serviced and maintained. To this extent, automatic watches can stay in the family for generations. Accordingly, the lifespan of the watch never truly ends. Comprising of several hundred moving parts, automatic movements can only be assembled by hand, celebrating the true art form of fine watchmaking.
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An item of luxury, automatic watches can last forever providing the movement is serviced and maintained. To this extent, automatic watches can stay in the family for generations. Accordingly, the lifespan of the watch never truly ends. Comprising of several hundred moving parts, automatic movements can only be assembled by hand, celebrating the true art form of fine watchmaking.

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IWC Pilot's chronograph 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert IW389402
IWC Pilot's chronograph 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert IW389402
IWC

Pilot's chronograph 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert

IW389402
 £10,100 
IWC IWC Pilots IW389401
IWC IWC Pilots IW389401
IWC

IWC Pilots IW389401

 £7,900 
Cartier Santos de Cartier W2SA0016
Cartier Santos de Cartier W2SA0016
Cartier

Santos de Cartier

W2SA0016
 £10,100 

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Frequently Asked Questions

Below are the answers to our most commonly asked questions. Should you want to find out more please feel free to Contact Us us and begin your Pragnell experience.

Also referred to as “self-winding,” automatic movements harness energy through the natural motion of the watch wearer's wrist. Watches with automatic movements are very popular because the wearer doesn't have to worry about winding the watch daily to ensure constant operation.
No, an automatic watch does not need a battery as kinetic energy generated by movement is stored in the mainspring of the watch and is the source of the watch’s power.
This can depend on the calibre of automatic movement used by the manufacturer. The average power automatic watch has a power reserve of 70 hours, after 8 hours’ worth of activewear. But some calibres we stock offer up to 8 days of power.
Automatic watches are a popular choice for the following reasons:

• No need for a battery.

• No hand winding is necessary if worn every day due to high power reserve.

• The prestige of a mechanical timepiece that has been micro-engineered to have high accuracy.
Automatic watches are generally a better investment than quartz watches as they tend to be made to a higher standard and finish.
You can generally tell the difference between an automatic and quartz watch by looking at the second hand. Quartz watches use a quartz crystal and stepping motor, which gives a characteristic stop-start or ticking motion. An automatic timepiece releases its power gradually through mechanical regulation, giving a much smoother sweeping motion.

About Automatic Watches

The preferred choice of most luxury watchmaking brands, the automatic movement is a mechanical movement with a self-winding feature. Unlike a mechanical watch, which requires manual hand-winding of the crown, an automatic watch runs by drawing energy from the wearer’s hand movement. Introduced first in the late 1700s for the use of pocket watches, the engineering of an automatic watch and its functionality have increased exponentially ever since. Mechanical or hand-wind watches require daily hand winding of the crown to keep them in motion. Watch engineers introduced the concept of an automatic watch to overcome this small, yet significant challenge. Allowing the wearer to enjoy their watch without having to worry about winding it manually every day at a particular time, automatic movements quickly became the pinnacle of watchmaking in the modern world.

Automatic and mechanical watches use similar mechanisms to build up tension at the mainspring. This fully built-up tension then powers the watch as it is released. For an automatic watch, the kinetic energy generated by the movement of the wearer builds the tension to power the watch. Every automatic watch comes equipped with a rotor that connects to the beating heart of the watch. This rotor uses strong metals like gold or platinum as ball bearings or weights.

An item of luxury, automatic watches can last forever providing the movement is serviced and maintained. To this extent, automatic watches can stay in the family for generations. The watch stops only when there is no physical movement and is immediately brought back to life by merely wearing the watch and setting its gears in motion. Accordingly, the lifespan of the watch never truly ends. Comprising of several hundred moving parts, automatic movements can only be assembled by hand, celebrating the true art form of fine watchmaking.

Automatic watches have many benefits when compared to other watch types. Primarily, you never have to worry about winding them on or changing a battery; they are a carefree choice for those who want to wear their watch with lots of pride and zero hassle.

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