What Makes It Tick (And Occasionally Makes Me Lose My Mind)

An amateur watchmaker's guide to the little machines that keep time. And occasionally waste mine.

Most people buy a watch because they like how it looks. The dial, the case, the bracelet. Maybe they appreciate the craftsmanship.

Very few ask about the movement inside. Which is understandable. Nobody buys a car and immediately asks to see the transmission. Well, some people do. And I imagine they're a real treat at parties.

But the movement is what makes a watch work. It's a collection of tiny gears, springs, and other mechanical components working together to accomplish the remarkable feat of telling you what time it is.

Something your phone does for free.

Since starting JMR Watches, I've worked with several different movements. Some are dependable, some are complicated, and a few have caused me to say things that I hope my daughters never repeat.

Here's what I've learned.

The NH35: The Toyota Camry of Watch Movements

If watch movements were cars, the Seiko NH35 would be a Toyota Camry.

Nothing particularly exciting about a Camry. But it starts every morning, gets you where you're going, and rarely leaves you stranded on the shoulder of the highway contemplating your financial decisions.

The NH35 is an automatic movement, meaning it winds itself through the motion of your wrist. It has a date complication, approximately 41 hours of power reserve, and beats at 21,600 vibrations per hour.

I've used it in several JMR watches, including the Pin High, Bermuda, and Coconut. It's reliable, affordable, and relatively straightforward to work with.

I say relatively because installing a seconds hand onto a pinion approximately the size of something you'd find in a grain of sand isn't straightforward by any reasonable definition.

But once you've worked with enough of them, you develop an appreciation for the NH35. You know what you're getting.

And in watchmaking, that's a wonderful feeling. It's also a wonderful feeling in marriage, though I wouldn't recommend comparing your wife to a Toyota Camry.

The NH34: For People Who Need to Know What Time It Is Somewhere Else

The NH34 is essentially an NH35 with an additional hand.

It's called a GMT movement. That fourth hand makes one complete rotation every 24 hours, allowing you to track a second time zone.

This is particularly useful for travelers, international businessmen, and people who have friends in other countries but refuse to do basic arithmetic.

My Out of Office GMT uses the closely related Seiko 4R34 movement. The watch was inspired by travel and my friendship with someone halfway around the world in Nairobi, Kenya.

I love the GMT complication. I think it's one of the most practical additions you can make to a watch. But that extra hand comes at a cost.

Not so much financially. More emotionally.

You now have four hands to install, all of which need to be perfectly aligned and spaced so they don't interfere with each other. Get one a little too low and the hands can touch. Get one a little too high and it might hit the crystal.

I've also had a watch run beautifully until I tightened the caseback.

At that point, it stopped. I loosened the caseback. It started again.

A fascinating feature. Though not one mentioned in the movement's specifications.

Miyota 8215: The Other Dependable Japanese Movement

The Miyota 8215 is made by Miyota, part of the Citizen family.

Like the NH35, it's an automatic movement with a date complication, roughly 42 hours of power reserve, and a 21,600-vibration-per-hour beat rate.

I've used it in watches like The Sunday, which I built as a traveling trophy for my fantasy football league.

The movement has an interesting characteristic: the seconds hand can occasionally appear to hesitate or stutter. It doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong. It's a consequence of how the movement's indirect seconds-drive system works.

Still, there's something unsettling about building a watch, looking at the seconds hand, and watching it seemingly reconsider its next move.

I've done the same thing plenty of Monday mornings.

The 8215 is a reliable, proven movement. It doesn't have quite the same reputation among hobbyists as the NH35, but it's perfectly capable of doing its job.

And at the end of the day, that's all I'm really asking. Tell me the time. Preferably the correct one.

Miyota 8285: Because Apparently Knowing the Date Wasn't Enough

The Miyota 8285 takes the 8215 concept and adds a day-of-the-week display. You get the full day at 12 o'clock and the date at 3.

I've used this movement in The Martini, which has that classic Day-Date look.

It makes for an elegant watch. There's something satisfying about seeing the entire word Wednesday stretched across the top of a dial.

Although I'm not entirely sure who needs a mechanical device to remind them it's Wednesday.

Usually, by Wednesday, I'm painfully aware.

But the day-date complication adds a lot of character. It's also another mechanism that needs to be installed, aligned, and functioning properly.

And that's the interesting thing about mechanical watches. Every additional feature introduces another way something can go wrong.

Engineers refer to these as complications. I think that's a remarkably honest choice of words.

The Blue Steel: Moving the Date Six Hours

When I built the Blue Steel, I ran into an interesting problem.

The date window was at 6 o'clock. The movement's original date wheel was designed for a different date-window position.

Now, most reasonable people would probably look for a movement already configured for that dial.

I decided to take the movement apart.

I removed the original date wheel and replaced it with one designed to display the date correctly at 6 o'clock.

This involved working with incredibly small components, carefully removing parts, and making absolutely certain that I didn't lose anything.

Because if you lose a screw on a watchmaking bench, it's gone. You can search for it. You can get down on your hands and knees. You can shine a flashlight across the floor.

Eventually, you come to accept that the screw has moved on with its life.

Fortunately, the modification worked. And now the date sits perfectly at 6 o'clock.

A detail that probably nobody will ever notice.

I've spent quite a bit of time making sure of that.

PT5000: A Little More Refined

The PT5000 is a Chinese-made automatic movement based on the architecture of the Swiss ETA 2824.

It operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour, compared with the 21,600 of the NH35 and Miyota movements. That higher beat rate gives the seconds hand a smoother-looking sweep.

The PT5000 is also relatively thin, making it useful for builds where I want to keep the watch from becoming something resembling a hockey puck.

It offers approximately 38 hours of power reserve, a bit less than the NH35, but it's an interesting alternative when I'm looking for something different.

Some people assume a higher beat rate automatically means a better watch. Not necessarily.

There are plenty of other things that matter, including reliability, construction, and how well the movement suits the build.

It's a bit like buying a car because the speedometer goes to 180.

Nice to know it's there. But I'm mostly driving to the grocery store.

Sellita SW200: Swiss Engineering Meets Detroit Football

The Sellita SW200 is a Swiss-made automatic movement.

And as anyone who has ever purchased a Swiss watch knows, the word Swiss usually means two things.

Excellent engineering. And a higher price.

The SW200 operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour, has 26 jewels, and offers approximately 38 hours of power reserve. It's a well-established movement with a reputation for reliability and precision.

I used it in the 313, a custom watch for a fantasy football commissioner from Detroit.

He wanted something that represented the Detroit Lions without looking like something purchased at the stadium gift shop. Fair enough.

He also specifically requested a Swiss movement. Said he wanted it to run as smoothly as Jared Goff.

Now, I'm a Chicago Bears fan.

So naturally, I was thrilled to build a beautiful watch celebrating the Detroit Lions and their quarterback.

I suppose next I'll be building a watch commemorating that team from Wisconsin. Maybe I'll deliver it personally. Bring a nice fruit basket.

But I have to give the commissioner credit. He knew what he wanted.

The SW200 is an excellent movement, and the higher beat rate gives the seconds hand that smooth, sweeping motion he was looking for.

Is it automatically better than an NH35 because it's Swiss? Not necessarily. The NH35 is a remarkably dependable movement at a fraction of the cost.

But the SW200 was exactly what the client wanted for this particular build. And that's the point of building custom watches.

The finished 313 came together beautifully. Swiss movement. Detroit colors. Custom details.

And somewhere inside it, a little piece of me died.

Not because of the movement.

Because I built a Lions watch that I actually liked.

VK63: Three Tiny Hands and a Personal Vendetta

Now we arrive at the Seiko VK63. A meca-quartz chronograph movement.

It combines battery-powered quartz timekeeping with a mechanical-style chronograph mechanism. You get the accuracy of quartz and a satisfying mechanical feel when operating the stopwatch.

I used it in The Southsider, my chronograph inspired by growing up on Chicago's South Side.

It's a wonderful movement.

I hate installing the hands.

Specifically, the three subdial hands.

These are tiny little things. And I don't mean small in the way that a regular watch hand is small.

I mean small in the way that you start to question whether the human eye was ever intended to see them.

You have to carefully position each hand over its pinion, make sure it's aligned correctly, and press it into place without damaging anything.

The first one might go on perfectly. Naturally, this gives you confidence.

Then you attempt the second.

Forty-five minutes later, you're sitting at the workbench wondering whether the Amish might have had the right idea about technology.

Eventually, all three are installed. The chronograph functions beautifully. The hands reset to their proper positions.

And you feel an enormous sense of accomplishment.

Which is a little embarrassing when you remember that all you've done is attach three tiny pieces of metal to a watch.

But I'll take the victories where I can get them.

The Half-Price NH35 Clone: A Lesson in Economics

At some point, I discovered a Chinese-made clone of the NH35.

It cost about half as much as the genuine movement.

Now, I'm a small business owner. When somebody tells me I can get something for half the price, I'm at least going to listen.

So I ordered one.

The movement looked similar. The specifications were familiar. And in theory, it should have been a perfectly reasonable alternative.

In practice, I found it considerably more difficult to work with.

Things that were familiar and predictable on the genuine NH35 became frustrating exercises in patience.

I don't know whether the particular movement I received was poorly manufactured or whether the design simply wasn't as well executed.

But I know I didn't enjoy working with it.

And that's when I learned a valuable business lesson.

Sometimes you can save 50% on a component and spend 200% more time working with it.

I'm not a mathematician, but that doesn't sound like a particularly good deal.

To be fair, this isn't an indictment of Chinese-made movements. The PT5000 is made in China, and I've had an entirely different experience with it.

But with that particular clone, I decided the savings weren't worth the aggravation.

There are only so many hours in a day. And I'd prefer to spend at least a few of them not swearing at a wristwatch.

So Which Movement Is the Best?

After working with all these movements, people might expect me to have a clear favorite.

And I do.

It's whichever one is working correctly when I finish assembling the watch.

The NH35 is dependable and versatile. The NH34 adds a practical GMT function. The Miyota 8215 and 8285 are excellent options for different styles of watches. The PT5000 offers a higher beat rate and thinner construction. The Swiss-made Sellita SW200 is another excellent choice for a custom build. And the VK63 makes a terrific chronograph, despite my personal differences with its subdial hands.

Each movement has advantages, limitations, and its own personality.

What I've learned is that watchmaking isn't just about putting attractive components together. It's about understanding how those components work, figuring out why they sometimes don't, and developing enough patience to try again.

And again.

And, on occasion, again.

When I started JMR Watches, I was fascinated by the idea of creating watches that told personal stories. That's still why I do it.

But somewhere along the way, I developed a genuine appreciation for the little machines inside them.

Dozens and sometimes hundreds of tiny parts, working together with extraordinary precision.

All to tell us what time it is.

Which, when you think about it, is a tremendous amount of engineering devoted to reminding us that we're late.

Wear the memory.

— JMR Watches