Mechanical watch

A mechanical watch takes all of its energy from a wound metal spring and regulates its release with a moving mechanical oscillator. Grand Seiko's own technical page sets out the chain: "A wound-up mainspring exerts force to turn gears at a set speed as it unwinds", and "the escapement regulates the rotation of the gears to ensure precise timekeeping".

The spring can be wound by hand or by the wearer's movement, and one movement can accept both. A patent filed by Montres Breguet SA on 21 June 2022, "Device for automatic winding of a barrel spring of a timepiece movement", describes winding by an "oscillating mass" that "drives the first wheel to rotate", while also retaining stem winding.

The craft, rather than the object, carries a heritage listing. The Swiss Commission for UNESCO states: "Le 16 décembre 2020 l'UNESCO a inscrit les savoir-faire en mécanique horlogère et mécanique d'art sur la Liste représentative du patrimoine culturel immatériel de l'humanité." It was a joint Swiss and French nomination. The Musée international d'horlogerie gives the English form: "UNESCO has registered the craftsmanship of mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity." UNESCO's own committee decision, 15.COM 8.B.8 on nomination file 01560, submitted by Switzerland and France, "Decides to inscribe Craftsmanship of mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity".

What this Codex does not do: quote UNESCO's element page. That page still refuses requests from this environment, so the decision text above is cited instead; it carries the operative wording and the file number, and the 16 December 2020 date comes from the two national sources. No standards body's definition of "mechanical watch" was read at all, so the category is described above from a manufacturer's page and a granted patent, not a standard.