Can a mechanical watch tell the direction?

Now that information and technology are so advanced, do we need a mechanical watch? Of course we do, because it not only has the function of reading the time, but also can use the pointer of the mechanical watch to distinguish the direction and save itself when it is critical. In remote places, the signal is still very weak, so the mobile phone signal will not be accepted. So mechanical watches are also like compasses. When we go hiking or get lost, we can borrow a mechanical watch to tell the direction.

Of course, the premise is that the time of your watch is accurate, and it is also an analog watch. In addition, you must be able to see the sun and sunlight clearly in your environment, so that you can easily discern the direction. If you are in the northern hemisphere, you can use the following methods to determine the direction.

Step 1: When there is the sun during the day, we slowly place the watch flat on the palm of the hand, with the front side of the watch facing up and parallel to the ground.

Step 2：We need to keep the watch time accurate, and don’t need to be precise every second. Then we turn the watch or our body to align the hour hand of the watch towards the sun. If you feel that this method does not work, you can also use the shadow of the surrounding branches to assist the hour hand of the watch to align with the sun. Because shadows are also projected through sunlight. Therefore, it is also accurate to align the hour hand of the watch with the shadow relative to the sun.

Step 3：We need to find the time scale in the middle of the angle between the hour hand and the 12 o'clock scale on the watch. Before 12 o'clock noon, the hour hand of the watch is clockwise to the midpoint between the 12 o'clock scale. If it is past twelve o'clock noon, we should use the hour hand in the counterclockwise direction to the midpoint between the 12 o'clock noon scale. The middle scale point between the two scales corresponding to 12 o'clock and the hour hand is south in the clockwise direction, and the middle point in the counterclockwise direction is north.

So when we travel outside or go hiking to some places with poor signal, when the smartphone is not available, we can use the pointer of the mechanical watch to identify the direction. The pointer type of the watch also has some functions of the compass that can distinguish the direction. But we can only use this function when it is in the sun, and it can also be used in the case of extreme daylight within the Arctic Circle in summer.