Contrats new NOVO owner:
Congratulations on owning a mechanical NOVO watch!  A manual movement, frequently called a hand-wound movement, is the oldest type of watch movement made, dating back to the 16th century. It requires daily winding in order to work. Manual movements are the most traditional movements and are usually found in very conservative, expensive, and collectable watches. Mechanical watches are incredibly fun to own and we hope you love it. There’s something special about the human-watch interaction. Yes it sounds weird, but the watch is one of the first machines that required an individual to directly work with it to keep it moving and in return it would keep you on time. The purpose of this post is to take you though the workings of your watch and give you a greater understanding of how it works and how to best take care of it. We hope it helps you appreciate the amazing detail of these pieces as well as the incredible workmanship included with it. Take care of your watch and it’ll take care of you :). Important aspects to consider before purchasing a manual watch:
  • Daily winding is required.
  • When winding a manual watch, it should be wound until there is a feeling of tension or tightness on the crown. If it is wound past this point, damage to the movement may occur.
  • Remove the watch from the wrist prior to winding or setting. Failure to do so will cause damage to the movement, crown, and stem.
Your NOVO is powered by a reputable ETA-6498-1 movement, which is one of the most reliable mechanical movements in the world. We chose it so that our craftsmanship of each watch isn’t deteriorated by poor-performing mechanics. Each movement is manually wound, 18,000 beats/hour, 46 hour power reserve, has a sweeping second hand, and has incabloc shock protection. Let’s dive into how it all works together. If you have a NOVO, grab it and flip it over so you’re looking at the movement. 
 
Powering your NOVO:
First, simply spin the crown clockwise. Since the watch is upside down you’re going to spin the crown towards you. As you spin it, you’ll see a series of gears turning and, if the watch wasn’t wound yet, you’ll start to see the balance wheel starting to work. If this is spinning This means your watch is officially alive and working! Congratulations on powering up your watch! Once fully wound, the power will last for around 46 hours. 
 
A lot of things are happening as you spin the crown. The crown is attached to a stem, which interacts with the mainspring of the watch. The mainspring is the piece that holds the power of the watch as you wind it. Now that you’ve “powered up” your mainspring it will start to try and unwind, but the series of gears that power has to go through makes sure it can only release its energy at a certain rate.
  • The first gear that the power hits is the centre wheel. This wheel is at the very centre of the movement and spins once per hour. This is what moves your hour hand.
  • The second gear it hits is the third wheel. This is the piece that moves your minute hand.
  • The third great it hits is the “fourth wheel”. In our particular movement, this is attached directly to the second hand and is in control of the seconds. 
Now all of these are directly linked together and as we follow the power from the mainspring to the second hand none of those pieces are letting the power go. So where does the power get regulated and released?
 
Enter the “escapement system". It's a system that relies on a pallet fork that looks like king Tritons sword and an escape wheel that is actively moving back and forth. The system acts like a brake, taking the energy transmitted from the mainspring through the gear train and pushing it out into equal, regular parts.
 
As the power is transferred through each gear of the watch it gets to the escape wheel and pallet fork. The power moves the fork one way then stops it based on the angles of each of the components and as the wheel spins one way and winds up it eventually shoots back the opposite way moving the fork the other direction letting out a tad bit more energy. Replicate this over and over and over and you have the gradual release of energy you’re looking for to have all the power you initially put into the mainspring transfer it gradually through each wheel keeping your time throughout the day.
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