An easy way to differentiate a quartz from a mechanical movement is by looking at the second hand. On a quartz watch, the second hand has the tick-tick motion that moves once per second while mechanical watches have a smooth, sweeping seconds motion.

If you have a mechanical watch, wind it by turning the crown (the button on the end of the spindle) clockwise. You can turn the crown counter clockwise on most watches, too, but it's only a neutral-gear mode that won't do anything to wind, or harm, the watch.

The barrel has gear teeth around the outside that turn the center wheel once per hour — this wheel has a shaft that goes through the dial. On the dial side the cannon pinion is attached with a friction fit (allowing it to slide when setting the hands) and the minute hand is attached to the cannon pinion.