A century ago, the world of mechanical watches was on the brink of a revolution. It was a time when the wristwatch was still a relatively new concept, and the reliability of these timepieces was a significant challenge. Every watch required daily manual winding, a process that was both mundane and problematic. The crown, a vital component, was the weakest link in the mechanical chain, vulnerable to dust and moisture, and thus prone to wear and tear. This was the backdrop against which John Harwood, a British watchmaker, and Fortis, a Swiss manufacturer, collaborated to create a breakthrough that would change the course of watchmaking forever.
In 1926, Harwood and Fortis introduced the automatic wristwatch movement, a concept that seemed almost magical at the time. The idea was simple yet revolutionary: the watch would generate its own energy through the natural movement of the wearer's wrist. This meant no more daily winding, and the crown, once a liability, was no longer needed. It was a game-changer, and it marked the beginning of a new era in watchmaking.
The technical challenges of creating an automatic mechanical wristwatch were immense. The entire construction had to be rethought, and the movement had to be protected despite the elimination of the traditional winding process. Reliability had to be engineered into every component, and the promise of a watch that would simply keep working without daily attention had to be fulfilled. Fortis, with its manufacturing infrastructure and engineering capability, and Harwood, with his invention, formed a partnership that would define watchmaking for the next century.
The first Fortis Harwood automatic wristwatches, introduced on July 13th, 1926, were groundbreaking. They had no crown, and the wearer would set the time via the rotating bezel. The movement would power itself through the wearer's motion, a principle that remains unchanged today. Around 30,000 Harwood automatic watches were produced, a significant number by the standards of the time.
The evolution of the automatic winding system was rapid. Full rotors, capable of winding in both directions through a full 360-degree arc, replaced the bumper system as the standard, bringing greater efficiency and longer power reserves. Movements became thinner, more refined, and more precise, and the central principle of drawing energy from the motion of the wearer remained unchanged.
However, the origins of the automatic wristwatch became blurred in the popular imagination as Rolex's Perpetual rotor system rose to dominance in the post-war decades. Rolex's marketing, understandably focused on the brand's achievements, created an impression that the automatic wristwatch had begun in Geneva. In 1956, Rolex published a correction in the London Sunday Express, publicly acknowledging that John Harwood had invented the first self-winding wristwatch. This was a remarkable act of industry acknowledgment.
Today, Fortis still builds its watches in the same building in Grenchen where this chapter of watchmaking history began. The company, founded by Walter Vogt on the idea of robust mechanical watches made for real-world performance, continues to make precisely that. The centenary of the automatic wristwatch is a moment worth pausing over, not just as a brand anniversary but as a genuine historical moment. It is the day the automatic wristwatch entered serial production and began its journey toward becoming the defining mechanical movement type of the modern era.
For those who love mechanical watches, the automatic movement made the relationship more practical. It turned the daily ritual of winding from a necessity into a choice. It is a testament to the ingenuity and craftsmanship of watchmakers like Harwood and Vogt, and it is a reminder that sometimes the most significant innovations are those that seem almost invisible, working in the background to make our lives easier and more efficient.
