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- Hacker News
- As observed from a comment [1] in a previous discussion: in the first animation the time and date shown are actually correct (per your web browser) when it initially renders, though it does not increment as the seconds hand reaches 12.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533#unv_31268444
by throw0101c - by alxgsv
- I got really excited thinking it was a new post for a second :(by StrLght
- Thanks! Macroexpanded:
Mechanical Watch (2022) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38591084 - Dec 2023 (163 comments)
Mechanical Watch - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533 - May 2022 (413 comments)
by dang - Another one from Dec, 2023: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38591084by redbell
- Are we allowed to see it again?by wateralien
- I have LOVED the beauty of mechanical watches my entire life. About 15 years ago, I started a little savings account to purchase an Omega Speedmaster. I have long since past the amount needed to purchase that beautiful timepiece, but I now have a wife, child, and house. The money is still there, but I cannot seem to pull the trigger. My wife says she is entirely Ok with me doing this as we are comfortable money-wise, but the "dad" in me keeps saying "You might need that money for a rainy day."by NoSalt
- It might be worth purchasing one second hand, then most of the depreciation is already gone. If you need the money, you're likely to recoup most of it by re-selling.by dnemmers
- I also recommend this demonstration from 1949, in that excellent style they used back then with large scale physical models and stop-motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMW-QWPZEm0by kqr
- I love that there's not only the internals of a standard three-hand, but the automatic mechanism as well. If you're going pure mechanical, an automatic is the best way. As long as you actually move during the day the watch generally stays wound up (though a twist when you put it on is a good measure). There's a ton of great watches out there powered only by walking around, and it's fascinating to look at what they can do with that.
The mechanics of a six-hand are similar, using the mechanism that is described here for the date indicator.
Another fun device, though more from an EE POV, are the solar+radio/GPS versions of the same. Automatics can hold power for a few days and need walking around to wind. Solar needs light (any light, though sunlight is always best) and hold power for over a month. Many higher-end models can self-set over radio time or GPS signals as well.
When the world goes tits-up someday, both classes of watches will suddenly become essential, and are already essential for people who spend a good amount of time "unreachable" for work or pleasure.
by ahknight - Casio Oceanus S100 is made of titanium, adjusts itself over the radio[0], understands 29th of February, sets itself on/off DST, never needs tinkering or battery change, and sells for a whooping $350. It's the watch you can set all your other watches to.
[0] Don't have radio coverage where you live? "There's an app for that" -- or several -- that simulate radio control signals.
by maratc - I think one of my favourite things about an automatic is that its design calls for it to be worn and not collected. If you collect them, then you'd either be wnding or shaking them when you actually want to wear them, so they aren't automatic. It forces you to wear, and therefore own, just the one, which is how it should be. I have a seiko 5 which i always wear except in the shower.by haritha-j
- Any reason for not wearing yours in the shower? I wear mine pretty much all the time except sleep.by Esophagus4
- Anyone with a few auto mechanicals will tend to be a 'luxury' watch collector and almost certainly have an auto-winder watchbox or similar solution. It gets way too finnicky to constantly reset crown based Chronos, nevermind something with wheel based control like an AirKing.
Those who collect manual-winders tend towards trench watches, marriage watches converted from pocket or 1950-69 era vintage Omegas and the like - as the Timex/Hamilton/Seagull re-issues hold little cachet to a collector. The glaring recent exception being the appalling SwatchxAP collab with the hand-wound version the SISTEM51 movement, bringing the worst aspects of both manual wind movements and the unservicable and ultimately disposable nature of contemporary swatch movements.
by piltdownman - I recently bought the book 'Watch Repair for Beginners' for reference (a project I slightly unwisely agreed to do).
It has some great diagrams, but obviously nothing on these interactive animations (er, naturally, since it is a book).
However the author (Harold C. Kelley) has descriptions for the diagrams similar to a maths proof - like "Warning lever W is raised in position to engage the pin P ... The unlocking lever U lifts the drop lever D ..." - not easy to follow, but maybe if you have the mechanism in front of you!
by gilleain - I find there is something indescribably fascinating with mechanical timepieces. I'm more of a clock guy than a watch guy, though I've had plenty of watches apart, and the two disciplines merge in many places. I've learned so many new mechanical skills in my now six year journey to be able to repair these things, and to learn to repair them is to learn to make them, as you need to know how to fabricate every single piece in order to be able to repair any movement, thus why clock and watch repairers are called clockmakers and watchmakers.
- Related: https://jacobandco.com/timepieces
- Probably my favorite thing about the author's posts is that it's all handwritten, vanilla code - as far as I can tell. It seems like all the HTML, CSS, and JS are just plain, standard, universal code. It's one of the few "advanced" sites that just works on an old iPhone 7, for example. So many modern sites that use modern frameworks just don't work anymore.
Also just a huge fan of using the existing infrastructure of browsers - even older ones - in effective ways. Browsers have been quite capable for awhile now.
by harrisi - As a teacher I understand how difficult it is to explain complex topics in a simple step by step way.
The site has some really impressive technical aspects, but the educational angle is the most rare and special! The simplicity of the language and explanations disguise how difficult this is to do.
This is the original use of the internet- giving away free knowledge to people, perfectly suited for the medium of a website.
by awongh - While I do agree, if the author is reading the comments one piece of feedback I have is the overuse of the phrase "In this article I will...". It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, and they use a version of the phrase three times in the first four paragraphs.by aquova
- The combination of straightforward explanations and clear diagrams reminds me of David Macaulay's The Way Things Work which is one of my favorite books.by kej
- The author seems too humble to put a giant Patreon link in a popup (it's at the very bottom), but in case anyone wants to know how to support: https://www.patreon.com/ciechanowski/membership?vanity=ciech...by turzmo
- This article inspired me to build an exploded view of a mechanical watch movement in real-life (2025): https://fellerts.no/projects/epoch.htmlby fellerts
- This is wonderfulby Teynah
- Thank you for your post! It's only through yours I got to know about the posted article. Your efforts on the exploded view are mind blowing!
- > Bartosz, if you are reading this, contact me and I'll send you the final casting. This project would never have happened without your blog post.
Did he ever contact you?
by FergusArgyll - Were my father still alive I would pay you nearly anything for such a model. Or would totally be inspired to work on this for his next year's birthday (he would have had his 80th bd next year).
This made me smile and in remembering cry. Thanks a ton kind stranger. It was a lovely stroll down memroy lane. I still have a few pieces from his collection that are near and dear to my heart.
by sdoering