Harwood Watches

The tale of Harwood watches commences in the early 20^th century in the United Kingdom. The entrepreneur was a soldier of the First World War who observed the limitations of the then wristwatches. In that era, the weather and dust hindered the motion of the timepieces. So he contemplated on inventing something novel in wristwatches that will liberate them from the problems they faced. He dreamt of making a wristwatch sans the opening for the winding stem. He applied the basic principle of a seesaw in his brainchild; but he had to move to Switzerland seeking the perfect technology in the proper ambience to vivify his ‘progeny’.

History was made on September 1, 1924 when Harwood was issued patent for his invention of ‘Harwood perpetual’ – the initiative step of automatic winding in Harwood watches which triggered off the birth of the present day’s automatic watches. Until this invention, one had to take the pain of winding the wristwatches manually by winding the crown.

The Harwood watches can be easily identified by their shape. The watches are unique because of the absence of a crown. They have a fluted bezel and singular hand setting mechanisms which make them exemplary in the world of watches.

Regarding the reputation of the Harwood brand, an anecdote can be thrown in. In 1929 the airship ‘Count Zeppelin’ made an around-the-world trip in 21 days where the sole female passenger, American journalist Lady Drummond Hay, read time from her Harwood timepiece.