A mechanical device that gently winds self-winding watches when they are not worn. When a watch is stored in a watch magazine, it is slowly rotated around the rotor axis of the winder. This movement activates the charging mechanism. Watch chargers are especially useful for self-winding watches with many complications, because manually setting the watch can take a long time, depending on the number of complications. Thanks to storage in a watch magazine, self-winding watches can be worn at any time without a time-consuming setting and charging process. This also allows the owner to control the accuracy of the watch.

Quartz wristwatches Electronic wristwatches in which an oscillating quartz crystal serves as the regulating organ. The frequency of 32,768 Hz has become today's de facto standard. Because the speed regulating organ oscillates very rapidly, quartz watches are more accurate than mechanical watches. Quartz wristwatches were first commercialized in 1968.

The commonly seen phrase "water resistant to 30 meters" (3 bar or 3 atmospheres) is based on German industrial standard (DIN) No. 8310. According to this standard, a watch can carry this phrase on the dial if its case is resistant to sweat, splashing water and rain, and is water-resistant for at least 30 minutes when submerged to a depth of one meter . The additional information "30 m," "3 bar," or "3 atm" is not subject to regulation, but still indicates that watches displaying this information have passed the corresponding pressure tests to which their manufacturers have subjected them. However, it is not advisable to wear such watches while swimming and certainly not while scuba diving.

Until the late 19th century, small keys were used to wind the springs and/or set the hands of many pocket watches. A watch with a modern crown winding system relies on a small crown to perform both of these tasks. The activity performed by the crown depends on how far it is pulled out of the case. The crown-winding system in common use today was invented by Jean Adrien Philippe, who received a patent for his invention on 7 September 1861. Philippe's idea consisted of a transmission wheel, which was installed on the winding stem in such a way that this wheel can rotate. This wheel is coupled via a gear cut with wolf's teeth to the manually adjustable pinion, which can be moved back and forth. The convenient backward 'idle' rotation of the crown was an improvement that improved the crown winding system. Today, this winding system is found on many millions of manual and self-winding watches.

Starting at zero degrees longitude (i.e. the Greenwich meridian), the time differs by one full hour every 15 degrees longitude. The world time zone system was first introduced by Canada and the United States in 1883. Germany began complying with this system in 1893. Watches with world time displays can show up to 24 time zones on a single dial. An additional mechanism supports the simultaneous display of time in more than one time zone. (A so-called 'heure universelle' can display the time in as many as 24 different zones). Watches with world time displays have been available since the 1930s and are particularly useful for people flying on long-haul flights or for business people having telephone conversations with colleagues in distant locations.

A wristwatch with a particularly sturdy dial and a crystal and bezel hinged so that the blind person can open the crystal, expose the dial, and "read" the position of the watch hands with his or her fingertips. The hour markers on watches for the blind are usually written in raised braille numerals.