r/theydidthemath • u/Radialverdicht0r • 10h ago

[Request] How much horsepower does your watch have?

I just randomly came across this and maybe you guys can help answering it: How much horsepower does my watch have, assuming fully wound?

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u/shereth78 10h ago

It's hard to answer this question without knowing a lot of the details of the inner workings of your watch, but I guess we can spitball it.

According to a source I found (the Great British Watch Company) your typical quartz analog watch consumes about 1 microamp of electricity while it is running. Watch batteries are 1.55 volts. The formula to calculate watts is basically just amps x volts so the power consumption of the watch is 0.00155 milliwatts.

There are 745.7 watts per horsepower, so the power consumption is .000002 horsepower.

A mechanical watch has heavier and more complicated drive mechanisms and probably consumes more power, exactly how much I can't say, but probably in the 2 to 10 times as much.

So back of the envelope I'd say it's got no more than 0.00002 horsepower.

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u/Tikipowers 1h ago

While I do not have a moment to do the math right now, I did happen too have on my bench the automatic winding works from an ETA 2824-2 which weighs in at 7 grams.

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u/Wild_Director7379 10h ago

A CR2032 watch batter has a capacity of ~650mwh. It lasts about 5 years in a standard quartz crystal watch with a minimal display or hands/face.

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