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Thread: Preferred way to wind an Automatic Watch

  1. #1
    Master
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    Preferred way to wind an Automatic Watch

    I'm not an expert on how the "automatic" movement works, but which is the "best" way to wind an automatic watch

    I'm thinking more of when I put the watch on in the morning, or keeping a watch wound that you may not be wearing for a few days

    shake/move it side to side OR use the winder

    obviously on your wrist it winds automatically, but does using the winder every day or so cause less wear on the watch parts than the "shake" method

  2. #2
    Master
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    I was told that shaking is a bad thing because it imposes stress on the movement as the shakes are stronger than regular arm movements. Manual winding using the crown is better I was told.

  3. #3
    Master RAFF's Avatar
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    Either use a winder or manual wind. You can’t sufficiently wind an automatic watch by giving it a few shakes.


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  4. #4
    Grand Master Griswold's Avatar
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    Other than my Seiko's I wind them with the crown as I would with a manual wind watch.

    With my Seiko's I rock them gently side to side with the crown upwards around 30 times, then set the time and put them on my wrist.

    Works for me.
    Best Regards - Peter

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  5. #5
    Master
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    It’s another thing I like about my Zenith Tipo, the the crown doesn't screw down so I can easy wind it like a hand wind.
    You can feel it when it’s fully wound unlike my other autos,I only wind forwards nowadays instead of rocking.

  6. #6
    Grand Master
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    I’m not a fan of watch winders to keep watches running for weeks on end when not worn, but if its only a couple of days it makes sense.

    What people overlook is the fact that their watch may keep running for 40+ hrs if it isn’t worn, but a fair amount of that time will be spent with the watch running at very low amplitude during which time the rate will be way off. A watch that’s running with amplitude around 140 degrees will typically be running 30s/day different from the normal rate when in a high state of wind, so although the watch has kept running whilst not being worn but it could easily be 10-15 seconds wrong. Once its worn again the amplitude will improve as the watch winds itself (provided the wearer is reasonably active).

    I’m not a big fan of screw- down crowns, sooner or later the crown and threads in the pendant tube will wear and eventually fail. There’s an argument for not screwing and unscrewing too frequently, certainly not every day!

  7. #7
    Master
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    Affixing it to her indoors lower jaw for five minutes works well! :)

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by walkerwek1958 View Post

    I’m not a big fan of screw- down crowns, sooner or later the crown and threads in the pendant tube will wear and eventually fail. There’s an argument for not screwing and unscrewing too frequently, certainly not every day!
    That's what worries me a bit - can be hard work to push the screw down crown in and home and you "feel" that it's not doing the watch any good - on Rolex and Seikos for example

    Is it best just to leave them unwound when not worn - even for a few days, but more importantly if the watch is not being worn for say, months

  9. #9
    Master
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    Personally I do give a gentle shake and wear it for a while. If I'm not going to wear it for a few days (or weeks, as can sometimes be the case) I just let it run down.

    I'm a bit OCD about unscrewing a crown and disturbing the hands, and for this reason if I'm going to wear a watch that's been out of action for a while, I'll wait for real time to match the displayed time, then start wearing it. That's one reason I don't like watches with a date. Can be impossible to know whether it's AM or PM, and I don't want to have to set it. I've sometimes been known to wait for the right date before wearing a particular watch.

  10. #10
    Grand Master Wallasey Runner's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BillN View Post

    Is it best just to leave them unwound when not worn - even for a few days, but more importantly if the watch is not being worn for say, months
    That's what I do. If I wear a watch on rotation for a few days or a week, wind it about 40 times when setting the date and and time, then you don't need to touch it again whilst you are wearing it, even if you don't sleep in it. When it goes back in the box I just leave it run itself out, which can be a day or two depending on the power reserve. This way you only fiddle with the crown every few weeks or months, which I don't think is excessive.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by monogroover View Post
    Personally I do give a gentle shake and wear it for a while. If I'm not going to wear it for a few days (or weeks, as can sometimes be the case) I just let it run down.

    I'm a bit OCD about unscrewing a crown and disturbing the hands, and for this reason if I'm going to wear a watch that's been out of action for a while, I'll wait for real time to match the displayed time, then start wearing it. That's one reason I don't like watches with a date. Can be impossible to know whether it's AM or PM, and I don't want to have to set it. I've sometimes been known to wait for the right date before wearing a particular watch.
    I’ve read a lot of strange things people do, but you just took weirdness to a completely new level

  12. #12
    Grand Master Wallasey Runner's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by monogroover View Post
    That's one reason I don't like watches with a date. Can be impossible to know whether it's AM or PM, and I don't want to have to set it. I've sometimes been known to wait for the right date before wearing a particular watch.
    I have a trick for that. Firstly I always set the hands to 6:30 before turning the date. Then I move it round until it gets to yesterday's date (whatever that is) - then I move the last 12 or more hours via the hands - that way you always have the correct AM or PM 👍

  13. #13
    Master RAFF's Avatar
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    Way too much science applied to something so simple in this thread!


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  14. #14
    Master
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    with dates in the morning I will


    1,wind the watch

    2,turn the hands until the date changes

    3,carry on moving the hands until its 7 in the morning,so I know where the watch is at.

    4,move the date to yesterdays date using speed change

    5,move the hands around until the date changes to the correct date

    6,hack the secounds to 12 then set the time

    7,exhausted after all that make a cup of tea.

  15. #15
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    with dates in the morning I will


    1,wind the watch

    2,turn the hands until the date changes

    3,carry on moving the hands until its 7 in the morning,so I know where the watch is at.

    4,move the date to yesterdays date using speed change

    5,move the hands around until the date changes to the correct date

    6,hack the secounds to 12 then set the time

    7,exhausted after all that make a cup of tea.
    you forgot

    Log in to time.is

  16. #16
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RAFF View Post
    Either use a winder or manual wind. You can’t sufficiently wind an automatic watch by giving it a few shakes.
    OP. Have you read the manual that came with the watch? (Serious observation. Many manufacturers state what to do if your watch is fully out of power).

    If my watch is run down - I wind it for 30 or so clock-wise winds to fully wind the mainspring - then slight reverse twist if it is a screw down crown to seat the thread in (after setting the time of course).

    the only alternate to this is my 5146j where I was advised by Patek to wind gently to half power then allow wrist movement to wind the rest. It has a PR indicator which makes this easy to see.

  17. #17
    Craftsman
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    40 half turns the nice young lady at WOS told me when I bought my explorer

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wallasey Runner View Post
    I have a trick for that. Firstly I always set the hands to 6:30 before turning the date. Then I move it round until it gets to yesterday's date (whatever that is) - then I move the last 12 or more hours via the hands - that way you always have the correct AM or PM 
    That's a good answer, but the thing is - I don't usually like to set the hands! I like to have the the minute hand dead on the marker when the tip of the second hand glides past the 12 and that can be a bitch to get right on some watches. The minute hand on my Inge and Mk XII especially have a habit of jumping half a minute randomly when the crown is pushed in and it drives me mental. I actually haven't set the hands manually on my XII for about three years.

  19. #19
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    I always wind with half turns until I start to feel a slight increase in tension. I've never had any problems yet. I do the same for my Speedie which is obviously manual wind, and not always easy to feel the increase.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Speedy2254 View Post
    I was told that shaking is a bad thing because it imposes stress on the movement as the shakes are stronger than regular arm movements. Manual winding using the crown is better I was told.
    +1

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  21. #21
    Craftsman
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    On all my manual wind watches, the crown will stop when the watch is fully wound. On all my automatic watches, the crown never stops turning, even though the watch is obviously fully wound. I believe there is a kind of clutch mechanism to stop over-winding ... what I don't understand is why this isn't an issue on a manual wind watch (obviously it is if you force the crown, but it's on you then). I'm never quite sure if my autos are fully wound, so I end up winding them for a long time, just to make sure! (I know wearing them will top them up, but equally I know that if I start wearing the watch without it being fully wound, it won't be quite as accurate until it is.)

  22. #22
    Master bobbee's Avatar
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    Pretend it's a Hackey Sack.
    Unless it's ceramic...

  23. #23
    Craftsman mitch1956's Avatar
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    having broke two watches setting dates at 12/ 1 oclock , I now keep all my unworn watches in the cabinet at 6 oclock ( that allow me to), I set them to 6 after they have wound down. remove the watch set the date to the day before , wind the hands round to change the date to the correct one , set the correct time ( usually by computer clock)

  24. #24
    Craftsman NCC66's Avatar
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    Jeez, my head hurts.....

    Who’d have thought winding a watch could be so complicated?


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  25. #25
    Grand Master
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    On some automatic watches (ETA movements) you can hear a faint clicking sound as the mainspring slips around the barrel when the watch reaches full wind, the inside wall of the barrel has small cutouts and the spring slips from one to the next. You can just hear this if you listen carefully.

  26. #26
    A few winds then put it on.

    No need to fully wind it up if your going to be remotely active.
    Andy

    Wanted - Damasko DC57

  27. #27
    Grand Master magirus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by andy tims View Post
    A few winds then put it on.

    No need to fully wind it up if your going to be remotely active.
    As above.
    F.T.F.A.

  28. #28
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by NCC66 View Post
    Jeez, my head hurts.....

    Who’d have thought winding a watch could be so complicated?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    I could start a thread on drilled lugs!!

  29. #29
    Holding the Revue Thommen Airspeed Automatic to my ear when winding, a faint clicking sound is audible when fully wound.


    Quote Originally Posted by walkerwek1958 View Post
    On some automatic watches (ETA movements) you can hear a faint clicking sound as the mainspring slips around the barrel when the watch reaches full wind, the inside wall of the barrel has small cutouts and the spring slips from one to the next. You can just hear this if you listen carefully.

  30. #30
    Master pacifichrono's Avatar
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    Winder for me.

  31. #31
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    Maybe slightly off-topic. Some watch winders advertise having the rotation on / off in certain time intervals, claiming that it doesn’t damage the watches as much as winders that are constantly rotating.

    How much of this is true/bullshit?

  32. #32
    Master
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    Take crown in hand. Wind it.

    If you need to do anything else, then surely the only argument is that the movement in your watch is a load of crap and you should consider buying a decent watch

  33. #33
    Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by cheesycake7 View Post
    Maybe slightly off-topic. Some watch winders advertise having the rotation on / off in certain time intervals, claiming that it doesn’t damage the watches as much as winders that are constantly rotating.

    How much of this is true/bullshit?
    Think about it. If the winder runs constantly you’re creating a situation where the watch is fully wound, so the mainspring is slipping inside the barrel. This will happen during normal wear if you’re a active, but on the winder its happening constantly and over a period of time will cause premature wear to the barrel.

  34. #34
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Red face

    Quote Originally Posted by hafle View Post
    Take crown in hand. Wind it.

    If you need to do anything else, then surely the only argument is that the movement in your watch is a load of crap and you should consider buying a decent watch
    Thank! I needed a laugh - and that comment certainly did it.

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