If you ever wanted to know who the original maker of the automatic wrist watch was, it was Harwood, a British watch company. They didn't invent the automatic winding mechanism, that was done previously in pocket watches, but they were the first to bring them to the wrist watch with a patent in 1924. Founder, John Harwood was a soldier in World War 1 and a watch maker. He wanted to create a watch that could withstand the elements better, as well as make it more convenient. He understood that constantly winding a hand-wound watch exposed it to lots of dust and other types of wear. Thus, it seemed an obvious solution to bring automatic winding via an internal rotor to the wrist watch. The design of which needed to be miniaturized and modified to work best on the wrist, rather than the pocket. In addition, Harwood created an interesting crownless, bezel adjustment system.
Well that was history, and since then Harwood watches went the way of so many other watch makers. Now, after many years, the Harwood watch name has been revived. While the new company has no real roots with the original Harwood (and no patent rights to exclusively make automatic watch as that patent obviously expired LONG ago), it is another sign that the watch industry is doing so well, that we are beginning to see more and more old names anew.
The new line of Harwood watch are technically very nice. Other than being automatics, they have an interesting (though not exclusive) no crown system for adjusting the watch (which existed on several of the original watches). You use the bezel to make all necessary adjustments to the time. A window near the 6 o'clock position on the dial tells you whether the bezel is in safe mode, or adjustment mode. This is good to ensure that you don't accidentally make adjustments to the time. I also really like the 5 link metal bracelet that looks to be a nice high quality design. The leather and crocodile straps are pretty standard.
Aside from that, the watches are a bit blase. Sure they are very legible with an old-world charm, but not particularly exciting. I wouldn't go so far as to call them a yawnfest, but this isn't exactly the haute look of the season. One of the silliest parts of the watch is the unnecessary messaging on the face. An homage to "heritage" with a statement around dial saying: "The world's first manufacturer of automatic wristwatches - Patent NO 106583 - 1924 - Harwood Watch Co." I mean come on, is any of this really necessary? Maybe some of this on the back of the watch would be appropriate, but does anyone really want to stare at this writing every time you look to see what time it is? No, you don't. At least the smaller 35mm version doesn't have these egregious words on the face. Then again, this isn't a woman's watch, and I would presume that only a few men would take the 35mm over the more reasonably sized 39mm size.
So yes, there are steel, gold, and even some diamond studded versions available. Pretty basic stuff really. I'd like to see how much of the "first automatic wrist watch" messaging they use in their marketing materials. Got to push any unique angle you know! Check for the new Harwood watches soon.
See Harwood watches on Amazon here.
 Vintage HARWOOD Self Winding Automatic Watch 1930’s  US $23.50
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 John Harwood Automatic Original Antique Watch US $3,950.00
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Interesting, although the facts of hisotry have never been entirely clear to me, I believe that credit for the first automatic wrist watch should go to Perrelet an/or Breguet. Perrelet claims the first selfwinding movement circa 1770. Breguet claims the first automatic watch, or perpetuelle, circa 1780 - but these may have been pocket watches. Breguet also claims the first wristwatch, via a commission from the Queen of Naples dated June 8th 1810 (the watch, Breguet watch no. 2639 took 2.5 years to complete). Thus, it seems odd to me that that automatic wristwatch did not follow for a century after both the automatic movement and wristwatch were invented, but I don’t know for certain.
I appreciate any further insight you may have!
Kyle,
It is easy to get confused, and I certainly don’t know all the facts. Harwood is careful not to describe itself as the first maker of automatic movements. It simply was the first to import the concept into wrist watches. The beginning of wrist watches was not a logical next step for pocket watches, that still had the luxury of being a “gentleman’s watch.” A wrist watch was really a blue collar device, even though the early ones still cost a lot. It was not until the first world war that wrist watches found a lot of use, and the brutality of war invigorated watch makers to focus on creating sturdier, more functional wrist watches. This is the lineage behind Harwood, and many other watch makers at the time.
You are right that Breguet came up with the first automatic movements, but they were limited to pocket watches. Perrelet was likely instrumental, but I don’t know if they even actually got a working watch out of making the movement. The first wrist watch was little more than a pocket watch strapped to the wrist. Funny enough, there was not much demand for automatic watches for many years. It was not seem as a big deal to wind watches. For some, even a pleasure. Further, the position of a pocket watch on a coat or pocket was not really great for winding, as there was not enough oscillating movement. Thus, manual winding was the best form of powering a watch until wrist watch become more popular. The automatic movement found its way into wrist watches relatively soon after wrist watches became mainstream. Hope that clears things up a bit. You really need to wade through lots of marketing BS that the watch companies produce before you can get to the facts. Thanks for reading.
Well, we agree on one thing for sure - there is often a lot of marketing hype clouding the facts!
The Perrelet brand has been revived in the last few years on the single theme that it is the “inventor of the automatic watch”. Clever slogan, in that most consumers will not make the assumption that “watch” in the late 1700’s meant pocket watch!
Thanks for your editorial insights. Best Regards.
Kyle,
Always a pleasure. There will be many more interesting topics of conversation sure to come up.