Credits: Article and images by Joshua Munchow @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/03/17/automatic-watches-are-for-watch-enthusiasts-a-counterpoint-heres-why/
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Just because you want something to be beautiful, rare, and complicated doesn’t mean it needs to lose practicality. Plus, some people have the means to wear something horologically (and monetarily) incredible on a daily basis, and sometimes they want it to just work.
![Adding the linear rotor to the Golden Bridge Automatic movement](https://wristnews.com/storage/2022/03/Corum_Golden-Bridge-Automatic-assembley.jpg)
![Adding the linear rotor to the Golden Bridge Automatic movement](https://wristnews.com/storage/2022/03/Corum_Golden-Bridge-Automatic-assembley.jpg)
Adding a linear winding mass to the Golden Bridge Automatic’s movement
Many high-end watches now include automatic winding mechanisms in a variety of formats to expand on the already fantastic options for haute horology. From the likes of Romain Gauthier, Richard Mille, Hermès, Agenhor, Laurent Ferrier, Vacheron Constantin, Corum, Carl F. Bucherer, Roger Dubuis, Patek Philippe, and more we find peripheral rotors, dial-side rotors, micro rotors, and sliding linear weights; all of these solutions can be added in ways that don’t hamper the view of the movement like the standard center pivoting rotor, and in some cases become something even more interesting to see.
![Singer Reimagined Track 1 on the wrist](https://wristnews.com/storage/2024/03/Singer-Reimagined-Track-1_wrist_B9416.jpg)
![Singer Reimagined Track 1 on the wrist](https://wristnews.com/storage/2024/03/Singer-Reimagined-Track-1_wrist_B9416.jpg)
The Singer Reimagined Track 1 uses the AgenGraphe movement with dial-side peripheral automatic winding
This variety of automatic winding options allows for exquisite decoration, ingenious complexity, and a more practical and user-friendly experience that all enthusiasts love. In this way, an enthusiast can have some top-tier pieces without losing practicality, and connoisseurs can have practicality without sacrificing beauty and high-end horology. It really is a win-win situation.
![View through the display back to the beautifully finished movement of the Laurent Ferrier Galet Square Boréal](https://wristnews.com/storage/2022/03/Laurent-Ferrier_Galet-Traveler-Boreal_back_8573.jpg)
![View through the display back to the beautifully finished movement of the Laurent Ferrier Galet Square Boréal](https://wristnews.com/storage/2022/03/Laurent-Ferrier_Galet-Traveler-Boreal_back_8573.jpg)
View through the display back to the beautifully finished movement of the Laurent Ferrier Galet Square Boréal
There will always be a desire to have purely classic horology featuring mechanisms that would be familiar to Abraham-Louis Breguet or Ferdinand Adolph Lange, as there should be. But enthusiasts know that a watch that can keep up with their exploits is a valuable commodity indeed.
There can be no consensus on which is better, manual or automatic winding, because they both serve a specific purpose in the modern watch world. But it is certain that while manual winding movements sing of tradition and provenance, automatically wound movements are the true enthusiast option.
![The caliber 3500 movement visible through the display back of the Vacheron Constantin Harmony Ultra-Thin Grande Complication Chronograph](https://wristnews.com/storage/2022/03/Vacheron-Constantin_Harmony_Ultra-Thin_Grande_Complication_Chronograph_Calibre_3500_back.jpg)
![The caliber 3500 movement visible through the display back of the Vacheron Constantin Harmony Ultra-Thin Grande Complication Chronograph](https://wristnews.com/storage/2022/03/Vacheron-Constantin_Harmony_Ultra-Thin_Grande_Complication_Chronograph_Calibre_3500_back.jpg)
Caliber 3500, visible through the display back of the Vacheron Constantin Harmony Ultra-Thin Grande Complication Chronograph, with its half-circle of the gold peripheral rotor clearly visible
So where do you find yourself in this picture? More manual than automatic, automatic all the way, or a nice smattering of both? It doesn’t really matter, as we are all WIS with a devotion to watches and watchmaking that borders on comedic.
But to me, one thing is definitely certain: if I am ever lost on an adventure, I know that it’ll be an automatic on my wrist (and hopefully a satellite phone in my pack). How about you?
Happy collecting everyone, and don’t forget to be awesome!
You may also enjoy the article to which this one is a counterpoint: Here’s Why: Manual Winding Watches Are For Horological Connoisseurs.
* This article was first published on August 13, 2017 at Automatic Watches Are For Watch Enthusiasts: A Counterpoint Here’s Why.
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Here’s Why: Manual Winding Watches Are For Horological Connoisseurs
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Credits: Article and images by Joshua Munchow @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/03/17/automatic-watches-are-for-watch-enthusiasts-a-counterpoint-heres-why/