Archive for March, 2010

The major component of a mechanical movement is the mainspring, a special gradually unwinding spring responsible for transmission of energy.  The oscillator of a  mechanical movement is the balance wheel, a small wheel moving very quickly.  In most watches produced at present day the balance wheel oscillates 28, 800 times per hour.  One more important component of the mechanical movement is the balance spring, also called the hairspring, a tiny delicate spring necessary for controlling oscillations of the balance wheel.  Mechanical movements are divided into two major groups – automatic, also called self-winding, and manual-wind, also known as hand-wound or wind-up.  More on that next time or click this link: Watches Infoniac.com.

How do you drag yourself out of bed in the morning ? Please don’t tell me that you are one of those “perky” people who wakes up without an alarm at 6AM all bouncy and peppy. Well, for the rest of us it just “ain’t” that easy. Do you hit the snooze button a few times or do you do what I do … I put the alarm clock on the other side of the room so I have to get out of bed to turn it off. But believe me, there have been days when I just let it ring without moving a muscle for what seems to be eternity until it goes off by itself. So how did everyone get up before we had all these conveniences ? They used everything from bladder control to the “knocker upper” … that is really what a person was called, the “knocker upper” and please refrain from the obvious comments on that name. So if you would like to find out more, click on the following link: 7 Ways People Woke Up, Pre-Alarm Clock