A selective history of horology
The automatic or self-winding movement was a significant advance. It employs a weight to wind the mainspring. Something like it was first invented by Swiss clockmaker Abraham-Louis Perrelet who used a side weight but Englishman John Hardwood patented the modern design in 1922.
The other innovation that deserves more credit than it often gets is the co-axial escapement invented by George Daniels in 1974, which was finally commercialised by
