1770's, Abraham-Louis Perrelet (Swiss), invented a self-winding mechanism.
Texts from: www.Wikipedia.org
The Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Perrelet invented a self-winding mechanism in 1770 for Pocket-Watches. It worked on the same principle as a modern pedometer, and was designed to wind as the owner walked, using an oscillating weight inside the large watch that moved up and down. The Geneva Society of Arts reported in 1776 that fifteen minutes walking was necessary to wind the watch sufficiently for eight days, and the following year reported that it was selling well.
Perrelet sold some of his watches to a contemporary watchmaker, Abraham-Louis Breguet who improved the mechanism in his own version of the design; calling his watches "perpetuelles" (possibly the source for Rolex's brand name of the "Perpetual" watch brand).
The mechanism was more successful on wristwatches because the rotor could operate every time that the owner moved their arm. However the first version did not appear until the 20th century. It was invented by a watch repairer from the Isle of Man named John Harwood in 1923[4], who took out a UK patent with his financial backer, Harry Cutts, on 7 July 1923, and the Swiss patent on 16 October 1923. It used a pivoting weight which swung as the wearer moved, and which in turn wound the mainspring. When fully wound, the watch would run for 12 hours if the wearer removed it. It did not have a conventional stem winder, so the hands could be moved manually by rotating a bezel around the face of the watch.
The watches went on sale in 1928 and 30,000 were made until the company collapsed in 1931 as a result of the Great Depression. The Rolex Watch Company had taken up the design in 1930 and used it as the basis for the Rolex Oyster Perpetual, in which the centrally mounted semi-circular weight could rotate through a full 360 degrees rather than the 300 degrees of the original design. Rolex's version also increased the amount of energy stored in the mainspring, allowing it to run for up to 35 hours if the wearer removed the watch.
Virtually all mechanical watches sold today are automatic. A notable exception is the Omega Speedmaster Professional "Moonwatch", the model used by NASA astronauts during the Apollo Program. (The weightless environment meant that automatic watches were not considered reliable for space travel).
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