Here we have a rare and impressive example of the world’s first automatic watch from John Harwood of Harwood Watch Company. This example has a 30mm Sterling Silver case, which dates to 1928. It has the flat tapered lugs with the fixed bars. The bezel has the coin edge finish and is used to set the hands. The dial is the bright silver tone with the chequered guilloche finish. It features the outer railroad minute track with the black Breguet style numerals. Below 12 is the Harwood name, with the setting indicator above 6. The thermally blued Breguet hands shine in the light. Inside is the bumper automatic movement, created by John Harwood. It has been recently serviced and is keeping good time. Here is a chance to buy a charming example of watchmaking history, just after the 100th anniversary of its release in July 1926.

Harwoods Invention
John Harwood returned from WW1 and settled on the Isle of Man. He worked in a workshop in Douglas and noticed a consistent problem with watches. Dust and moisture enter a watch case through any gap, such as around the crown, thus damaging the mechanism.

How to counter this? Eliminate any gaps by sealing the watch. Instead of a crown to wind the watch, the movement would wind itself. A centrally pivoted weight would swing 230 degrees between spring book ends. Rumour has it, he was inspired by seeing the motion of children playing on a see-saw.

But how to set the hands without a crown? Use a rotating bezel which engages with the movement to set the time. To know when the time is set, he came up with an indicator cut out of the dial. White indicates the hands are in setting mode and red indicates the hands are set in position.

He protected his idea via patents in all the major markets, Britain, France, Germany, America and Switzerland. He had a prototype from an old pocket watch and to commercialise this dream, he needed to go to Switzerland. Once there, he formed a partnership with the movement maker Anton Schild and the case maker Walter Vogt, from Fortis watch company.

The Harwood automatic has recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. In 1926, Harwood officially presented the Harwood automatic watch at Basel trade fair. Sadly, timing wasn’t on his side and with the economic crisis of 1929 he lost his sponsor and the chance at significant growth. Harwood watches were produced and marketed to the public mainly between 1928 and 1931, a short-lived run. The company failed in 1931 and the patent expired. Between 1928 and 1931, around 30,000 Harwood automatic watches were produced.

How many people have had Rolex write a public apology to them? Well John Harwood was one. In 1931 Rolex released their Oyster Perpetual, claiming it to be the first automatic watch. This was incorrect, Harwood beat them by five years. Rolex subsequently apologised in full in 1956, giving Harwood full credit in the London Sunday Express.

This example
The dial is original and has a chequered guilloche finish, which is incredibly eye-catching. It has a classic railroad track to the exterior, with the Breguet numeral hour markers. Below 12 is the Harwood name, with the star setting indicator above 6. The hands are of a Breguet/moon style and have a bright thermally blued tone.

It is a 30mm x 30mm case, with a lug-to-lug measurement of 31.5mm. It is a petite watch by modern standards, but it is a joy to wear on the wrist. This is a charming silver cased example. It has a novel symmetry due to the lack of the winding crown. The coin edge bezel is designed to set the hands, but it is also a very attractive design adding presence and texture to the watch. The flat lug design is neat, leading into the fixed bar lugs. The rear of the case is snap on and inside it has British hallmarking from Birmingham assay office for Sterling Silver. It has the date letter ‘E’ which dates the watch to 1928. The case has the sponsors mark ‘SA’ for Selling Agency, which was a watch importer set up by the Dimier Brothers.

The Harwood automatic movement is marked with the patent number 106583. It travels 230 degrees, with bumpers on either side and a solid section, stopping its 360-degree travel. This solid section is also responsible for the engagement of the hand setting via a cog design. The detachment of the winding and hand setting was incredibly inventive. The movement has been recently serviced and is keeping time to within a two minute variation per day.

Full condition report below. Please see the images as these compliment and aid the description provided below.

Dial:
The dial is original and is in good condition with a bright silver tone. It has some small scratches. The signing is original, good and clear.

Hands:
The hands are original and are in good condition. They are thermally blued, with an even tone and no signs of corrosion or bending.

Glass:
The acrylic crystal is a modern replacement and is in very good condition.

Case:
The case is formed of silver and has a well defined coin edge to the bezel. There is some scratching to the bezel associated with age. The lugs are good and strong. There are some marks where a knife is used to pop the case back on the side.

Case back:
The case back is in good condition with only light surface scratching. It seals tightly.

Strap:
The watch comes on a new vintage style genuine leather strap for fixed bar lugs.

Movement:
The movement is an A.Schild 8.75 Lignes, with 15 jewels and two adjustments. It is a Harwood bumper automatic movement, the first automatic movement in the world. It is signed with the patent 106583.
The watch has been recently serviced and is keeping time to within 2 minutes variation per day.

Case dimensions
Case width: 30mm
Case length: 29.5mm
Case length lug to lug: 31.5mm
Case depth: 10.5mm
Lug width: 17mm