What do 23 jewels mean in a watch?
A good quality watch had 15 or 17 jewels and high-end watches had between 19 and 23 Jewels. The extra jewels in the watch usually mean that more bearing surfaces are protected from becoming worn and that the total amount of energy lost to friction in the gear train is reduced. What does 21 jewels mean in a watch? Similar to a 17-jewel watch that has a fully jeweled movement, but also has a few extra capstones added which are used to reduce positional errors. These extra stones are often found in higher-quality watches.
How many jewels is a good watch?
In general, a basic hand-wound or automatic watch will have at least 17 jewels, which is considered the standard for a fully-jeweled movement. These jewels are used in the key areas of the watch that experience the most wear and friction, including the balance wheel, the pallet fork, and the escape wheel. As widely known, ruby jewels are used in watch movements to reduce friction between the gears, ensuring smooth, silent, and highly precise movement. It is an absolute requirement for a mechanical watch to contain ruby jewels within its movement. The higher the number of rubies, the higher the quality of the watch.