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| Harwood Watch |
Anyone who has ever been interested in the historical development of watches will have come upon the name of John Harwood (1893-1965) after just a short period of time. The history of the first automatic wristwatch in the world is actually his story.
It all began in 1922 in a small watchmaker's atelier on the Isle of Man. This was where John Harwood had a vision of a new and more reliable wristwatch. At this point in time, watch movements were suffering from the penetration of dust and moisture finding its way into the interior of the case through the opening for the winding stem. Harwood fiddled with a winding and setting mechanism that would make any opening in the case obsolete. The movement should virtually wind itself - but how? After observing children playing on a seesaw by chance, John Harwood constructed a concept for a mechanism that used the conductor's kinetic energy to tension the mainspring via a toothed oscillating pendulum. The hands were not set as usual by the crown, but by turning a fluted rotating bezel, which has today become Harwood's trademark. The color of the window on the dial at 6 o'clock signals whether the watch is in the setting mode or if it is ready to tell time.
What started in England at the beginning of the nineteenth century, successfully found an end in Switzerland. John Harwood registered his invention at the Federal Office of the Swiss Confederation for Intellectual Property in Bern on October 16, 1923, and on September 1, 1924, patent number 10 65 83 was issued to him for the first wristwatch with automatic winding worldwide.
Nevertheless, John Harwood was threatened with experiencing the same fate of many visionaries, as it seemed no one was interested in his revolutionary idea. Contrary to many of his contemporaries, Walter Vogt, the Swiss founder of the Fortis watch company, recognized the groundbreaking principle of this invention and introduced the first-ever serially
manufactured automatic wristwatches to the international market only two years later. On the occasion of the patent's eightieth anniversary, the Harwood Watch Co. has introduced a new, larger edition in 39-mm diameter to complement its sought-after collection of women's models featuring a 35-mm diameter. These men's watches bear a reference to the patent acquired in 1924 on their dials. In addition, a new, especially elegant version rich in brilliant-cut diamonds on the bezel was introduced that, like the other models in the Harwood collection, are especially sought-after collector's pieces. After all, each one of them represents a milestone in the history of the wristwatch.
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Harwood Watch
Helvetia Time Co. Inc.
100 N. Wilkes-Barre Blvd., Suite 303
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
Tel.: 717-822-1900
Fax: 717-822-4699
www.harwood-watch.com
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