Wristwatch by Harwood Self Winding Watch Co. Ltd, England, 1928

Record summary

Held and catalogued by Science Museum Group, London (object number L2015-3403), this is a wristwatch; lever movement by Harwood Self Winding Watch Co. Ltd, made in London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, London, dated 1928. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. The record is illustrated with 2 photographs.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

The source record does not include a narrative description. The structured fields above are reproduced from it.

Atlas type guide

Automatic (self-winding) watches

Self-winding watches use the wearer's motion to wind the mainspring. Abraham-Louis Perrelet and Breguet made 'perpétuelle' pocket watches with oscillating weights in the late eighteenth century, but the principle only became practical in the wristwatch. John Harwood patented a bumper automatic in 1923; Rolex's Perpetual rotor (1931) winding in one direction, and later bidirectional rotors (Eterna, Felsa Bidynator), established the modern form. Micro-rotors (Universal Genève, Buren) and peripheral rotors made automatic watches thinner.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.