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 An Englishman John Hardwood enriched the watch industry with his brilliant invention – an automatic watch, known as Hardwood perpetual. Now this historical invention is an important component of some modern wrist watches. Hardwood company's history began in the beginning of 20th century in a small watch shop on the Isle of Man in Great Britain and is inextricably linked with the history of the creation and development of the wrist watches with automatic movements. As a soldier during the World War II, the company's founder John Hardwood was a witness of the development of wristwatches, that occured exactly at that time. As an experienced watchmaker, John Hardwood was aware of such problems as dust and moisture inside the watch case, that he was constantly facing during the repairing of watch movements. Therefore he paid a great attention to the creation of different watch covers and other protective elements inside the watch.
 Soon he went to Switzerland, taking with him two best watchmakers and his drawings of the automatic movements. It seemed to Hardwood that Switzerland was a place where he would be able to find all the necessary technical conditions for the development and implementation of his invention. And on September 1, 1924, a year after his invention had been registered in the Federal Office for Intellectual Property, Harwood was awarded a patent number 106 583 for this pioneering invention that changed the watchmaking. So it was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of watchmaking art. The first watch with automatic winding known as Hardwood perpetual was presented at the annual exhibition in the Swiss town of Basel. Before that, the watchmakers had produced only manual wound watches. These revolutionary watches' specifications were an absolute novelty in that time. The watch movement was automatically wound with the help of the kinetic energy that was generated when the owner of the watch moved his/her wrist. The idea of this invention occurred to John Hardwood when he was observing the children swinging in the yard. This innovation is considered to be a brilliant invention in the history of watchmaking.
Soon Hardwood watches acquired the definition of classic watches. The watches had also the manual winding, and the coloured visual indicator at “6:00” showing the watch efficiency and the setup mode. At that time, it was a great surprise, that there was no crown on the watch case, and the functions of the crown were carried out by the upper bezel. All these features still remaines in Hardwood watches. In 2004, in honor of the 80th anniversary of obtaining a patent for this historical invention, the company developed a watch with this important date on the dial. Soon the company presented a  limited watch collection. The watches from this exclusive limited edition were decorated with a miniature of the famous Swiss artist Louis Reguin (1872-1948) depicting a pair of angels flying in the center of the watch dials.
The collection consists of 25 watches, made of platinum and 100 watches, made of stainless steel. This anniversary edition reminds us of the high art and traditions associated with the craft of miniature painting. This rare watch is the desired model of any collector and true connoisseur of luxury watches. Nowadays, there are a lot of different watch manufacturers. So Hardwood's invention is no more a great surprise for modern people. Today, many brands produce different watches with automatic winding. However, to feel the spirit of innovation, you should become an owner of Hardwood wrist watch. The movement, invented at that time, is still considered unique. The company continues to produce wrist watches with original design of 1924. The company's official web-site gives everyone an opportunity to look through Hardwood models, that are not numerous.
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