Why can't you shake your watch to start

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by cody p

hey JJ, is it a bad practice to 'dead start' a rolex auto by winding?

Good question, Cody.....one to which you will receive different answers.

Personally, to me it DOES NOT make sense to hold a STOPPED watch in your hand, unscrew the crown and start winding it.

Something like flogging a dead horse, if you get my gist!!

To me it makes more mechanical sense to get the damn thing going first by the "brandy like swirls" I described above, and THEN give the crown the 40 odd turns.

Once the watch is in MOTION, I think it's so much SAFER to wind. Surely 30+ years can't prove me wrong.

JJ

[padi56]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

Good question, Cody.....one to which you will receive different answers.

Personally, to me it DOES NOT make sense to hold a STOPPED watch in your hand, unscrew the crown and start winding it.

Something like flogging a dead horse, if you get my gist!!

To me it makes more mechanical sense to get the damn thing going first by the "brandy like swirls" I described above, and THEN give the crown the 40 odd turns.

Once the watch is in MOTION, I think it's so much SAFER to wind. Surely 30+ years can't prove me wrong.

JJ

Well JJ thats whats the crown is for, and a automatic watch is only a manual wind watch with a automatic winding mechanism fitted.Some auto watches watches like some models of Seiko you cannot wind they must be shaken.But IMHO its always best to manual wind a stopped Rolex auto watch.You will not put any extra wear on crown stem or threads whatsoever,just think of all the manual wind Rolex and many others that get wound daily for decades.But to answer the original posters question you could shake to start but its best to wind fully to get the maximum power reserve to start off.