====== Harwood, John ======
{{wst>image_r|Harwood,_John|John Harwood (1893-1965)}}
**John Harwood** was an English watchmaker and engineer.

The history of the English watchmaker John Harwood starts in a watchmaker studio on the Isle of Man in England. As a soldier during World War 1 John Harwood came to know the shortcomings of the [[wristwatch]]. From these experiences, he developed the vision of a new, as reliable as possible [[wristwatch]] without a lateral case opening of the control shaft, which he had clearly identified as a weakness of the former [[wristwatch]]. Therefore he focused his whole attention on the development of a different, an [[automatic]]al kind of [[winding]] mechanism, which had to find its place in the interior of the watch. An accident gave him the crucial idea Children playing on a seesaw brought him closer to the solution of his now legendary "self-winding mechanism". The result was the [[Harwood Perpetual]], which was introduced for the first time in [[1926]] at the Basel Fair. For this [[automatic]] [[wristwatch]] Harwood received the patent no. 106583 from the "Federal Bureau of Intellectual Property of the Swiss Confederation in Bern" on October 16, [[1923]].

In the same year Harwood began a cooperation with the [[ebauche]] producer [[A. Schild SA]] and the watch manufacturer [[Fortis]]. [[1929]] the mass production of "Harwood" was started. [[Blancpain]] in [[1926]] also launched a [[wristwatch]] model on the French market with the name "Harwood", based on this patent. These watches had no [[crown]]; the hand position and a possible additional winding were implemented by using a [[turning bezel]]. Harwood's business was not successful, however, and was liquidated in [[1933]] after bankruptcy.

In the 1940s this principle was taken up successfully again. The second [[automatic]] winding system "[[Autorist]]" is due to a development of Harwood.

The tradition of Harwood watches is now carried on by his namesake brand [[Harwood|Harwood Watch Co.]], which is owned by the owners of [[Fortis]].


{{tag>Biographies}}