In the past watches were symbols of wealth. This was because around 15'th century they were made mainly of precious metals like gold or silver. They were called pocket watches and were tied to the pocked with a watch fob. Nowadays these pocket watches are purchased mainly for collectable purposes or to be worn with an elegant, fancy suit at a special event. Nowadays people wear mainly wristwatches that have either a bracelet or a strap that can be made of various materials.

The movement is an important thing to consider when purchasing a watch. If you choose a mechanical one, you should know that you would have to wind it manually. The automatic ones wind by themselves most of he times. Sometimes it only requires a movement of the hand. They also have a quartz crystal. This crystal is mounted to help the accuracy issue. Its job is to regulate the electronic oscillator.

Inside the case of a watch there is a sort of a framework that holds the wheels and the other mobile parts together. This framework is composed of two plates and a few pillars. Usually one of the plates is a circular one and stands in the front of the case. The other one can take several shapes, or it can be even replaced by bridges that help ease the movement. These bridges are actually a chain of bars.

The source of power is different in the case of manual watches and electronic ones. Manual watches have inside a spiral string that when rewound periodically create the necessary power. In the case of automatic watches, they have a battery that can be recharged in various ways. Some of them recharge themselves through a movement of the hand. However most of them have batteries that can be changed after a certain period of time.

Solar-powered watches have a battery that works on sunlight. This means that from time to time this battery has to be recharged using strong sunlight. The advantage is that it doesn't require replacing, but only recharging.

The display is yet another issue that concerns all the people when purchasing a watch. The display can be either analogue or digital. The analogue ones use hands to tell the hour, the minutes or the seconds, while digital watches indicate the time in numbers. The second type can even have additional features, other than showing the time, that for many people are very attractive.

Kinetic technology has been developing since 1997 under the signature design of Seiko arctura .

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Time - a powerful idea, with a definition still not exactly agreed upon by scientist or priests. Regardless of this haze over what time is, people agreed that it must be controlled in some way and devised tools for this purpose: sundials, hourglasses, clock towers - all to serve mans age-old dream to control time. When these devices reached the lower levels of the size scale - the wrist watch - inventors focused on diversifying them as much as possible: thus came about the army watch, the water resistant feature, the Braille watch, even a watch for outer space. One of these variations is our point of focus in this article - the wood watch.

While there have been wood watches in previous centuries, such as a wonderful Russian piece from 1870 made entirely of wood, they were then very expensive and not intended for every day use. Current wood wrist watches are more versatile, in that the mechanism is a regular one, in a stainless steel case, and only the face and the strap are wooden. Of course, for those with metal allergies or a sensitive skin, there are models whose back is covered with a wood flap.

If you are looking to this type of watch for its wow-factor, you are quite right. Each one is hand made and the fact that each piece of wood is different leads to no two pieces being exactly the same. From the point of view of available colors, while the spectrum is not fully covered, there are still surprisingly many hues to choose from - natural tones are in themselves quite varied, and further treatment obtains an even larger palette. Also, with wear, the wood watch takes on the owners skin oils and changes with time, becoming truly personal.

The most obvious element of comfort when wearing a wood watch is its incredible lightness. A less perceptible but at least equally important feature is the fact that, unlike metal, wood is not subject to changes in temperature, proving to be longer lived and more accurate than most regular models. A third benefit, relevant most of all for the haggard city dwellers, consists of a daily link to nature, helping its wearer feel less tense and more in touch with his or her earthy component.

The environmental component appears in the way certain manufacturers of wood watches do their best to alleviate the pressure on our planets natural resources. Recyclable materials, automatic movement (no more batteries needed), wood originating from sustainable forests where another tree is planted for each one used, the movement is automatic and does not require the use of batteries, and transportation methods that further reduce the carbon footprint of each watch.

Equally durable and elegant, high-performance Seiko Sportura watches are attractive for athletes as well as the everyday person.

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