The invention of the automatic watch is one of the neatest there is. Imagine a mechanical device that gets all the power it needs simply by being used as intended. It’s almost magical. Nevertheless, its advent in the 1940s did not kill off the manual movement, and today the watch that you have to wind with your very own hand enjoys a proud place in the hearts of many aficionados. There is multi-faceted purity to a hand-wound movement. At the most elemental level, it changes your relationship with the watch. Neglect to wind it and it will sit there, prim, proper and unmoving. Then, when you miss that train, or arrive late for a big meeting, while you’ll be tempted to blame the watch, the fault will be yours alone. (Speaking from experience, it’s a mistake you make but once.) You get out what you put in with a hand-wound watch. Indeed, if automatics are like dogs, leaping into life the second we give them any attention, then manual movements are cats – they require greater investment. Still, being forced to play an active role in their operation is the reason most men warm to their hand-wound time-pieces. In today’s world, they provide a rare tactile connection to engineering.

Hand-wound watches are less mechanically complex too, so in theory, there’s less to go wrong and a service should be quicker. Unlike automatic watches, manual specimens do not require a rotor, which leaves the carefully polished work beneath exposed. And while not every hand-wound model is a delicate waif, if you want to go ultra-thin, manual is the way forward. Here, then, is a selection of the best hand-wound watches available on MR PORTER.

Find out more at MR PORTER’s Luxury Watch Guide 

Santos De Cartier Skeleton 39.8mm Interchangeable Stainless Steel And Alligator Watch

Cartier’s Santos is best known for its 1980s-throwback stylings, including the exposed rivet heads on the case and bracelet, and integrated lines of said bracelet into the bezel. But as part of the model’s 2019 revival, Cartier brought it up to date with a fully skeletonised version that displays the inner workings of the movement while cleverly using its signature Roman numerals to hold everything in place. This plays perfectly to the strengths of a hand-wound movement. Without an automatic rotor, the skeletonisation is more emphatic and you have an unimpeded view of the gears, escapement and barrel. Even if you have minimal desire to understand the watch’s precise workings, being able to see the wheels turning, tightening up the mainspring as you wind adds a certain something.

Altiplano 38mm 18-Carat White Gold And Alligator Watch

Named after the high-altitude plains of the Bolivian Andes (because they are so incredibly flat), Piaget’s Altiplano has been a market leader in ultra-thin watchmaking since it was first produced in 1957. Today’s model is no exception, measuring just 6mm from top to bottom of the watch’s case (the movement itself is just 2.1mm thick). This is all possible because the watch is hand-wound. An automatic rotor would make the movement almost twice as thick. The power reserve when fully wound is 43 hours, which is even more impressive when you consider it’s a direct function of the size of spring that can be fitted into the watch.

Portofino Hand-Wound Moon Phase 45mm Stainless Steel And Alligator Watch

IWC Schaffhausen’s Portofino presents a contrasting approach from Piaget. Following the logic that even though many will buy into a hand-wound watch for the sense of mechanical connection, most don’t want to be constantly worrying about it running down, it fits its in-house calibre 59800 with an enormous eight-day power reserve, which is indicated by the gauge on the dial at nine o’clock. That means the watch isn’t as diminutive as some, but at 45mm x 13.2mm, it’s far from oversized. This model also comes with a moonphase indicator at 12 o’clock.

Excalibur Aventador S Limited Edition Skeleton 45mm Multilayer Carbon And Titanium Watch

The opportunity to behold exactly what your money has bought is seldom as blatant as in the Excalibur Aventador S by Roger Dubuis. Thanks to a highly skeletonised design that relies on the thinnest possible struts and bridges to show off as much of the movement as possible, you get a superb view of this complex calibre, which uses two inclined escapements joined by a differential for improved timekeeping. Designed to imitate the layout of a Lamborghini engine, the mainspring barrel is under the “engine cover” at two o’clock and, thanks to a cross-hatched yellow and grey decoration, you’ll easily spot it move when you wind the watch.

H1.0 Hand-Wound 48.8mm Stainless Steel And Rubber Watch

Watches don’t come more futuristically styled or creatively composed than the HYT H1, which features a minuscule glass tube filled with a viscous liquid to indicate the passage of time in hours, while minutes are shown on the central conventional dial. The liquid is pushed along the tube by two diminutive bellows (visible at six o'clock). It’s somewhat surprising, then, to discover that these are in turn powered by the old-school by-hand approach. The 65-hour power reserve is indicated by the blue curved gauge on the right of the dial, which fittingly enough, is right next to the crown.

Luminor 1950 3 Days Acciaio 42mm Stainless Steel And Alligator Watch

One of the most desirable attributes of a Panerai watch is its unabashed elegance. The watchmaker has barely changed its design template since the 1950s and, as a result, has one of the world's most recognisable silhouettes. That is down in large part to the crown guard, a system unique to Panerai whereby a spring-loaded lever presses against the crown to prevent it accidentally turning if knocked. Releasing the lever adds to the sense of engagement when you come to wind up the in-house P.1000 calibre, which will run for 72 hours when fully wound.