My OP's power reserve is not 48 hours...

[Adam Brian]

Hey guys,

Bought my Oyster Perpetual a few months ago. The power reserve was fine when I bought it (I think, I was wearing it so much that I didn't really give it a chance to use the reserve haha). Anyways, it only runs for about 36-38 hours now. This would normally be fine for me but I have school in the morning and it is a pain manually rewinding it when I have to be at school in 10 minutes since the last thing I do is put on my watch. I have thought about getting an automatic winder but another AD told me some can damage the watch. Can anyone give me suggestions? Thanks.

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[Hub6152]

The power reserve should be 48 hours without wearing the watch, from fully wound, so how are you arriving at the 36 hours you say it has?

A winder will keep it wound when not wearing it, and provided you have it serviced regularly a Winder isn’t going to do any real harm.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Adam Brian

Hey guys,

Bought my Oyster Perpetual a few months ago. The power reserve was fine when I bought it (I think, I was wearing it so much that I didn't really give it a chance to use the reserve haha). Anyways, it only runs for about 36-38 hours now. This would normally be fine for me but I have school in the morning and it is a pain manually rewinding it when I have to be at school in 10 minutes since the last thing I do is put on my watch. I have thought about getting an automatic winder but another AD told me some can damage the watch. Can anyone give me suggestions? Thanks.

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First you do not want a machine winder,second just because you are wearing your watch does not mean you are winding your watch.Its wrist activity that winds the movement,on a full manual wind thats 40 full crown turns clockwise only.Then movement should then run between 39-48 hours give or take a hour or so off wrist.And I am sorry this pain of having to wind your watch that must take all of 30 seconds to do,have such a effect on your very busy life.Simple answer get up 5 minutes early just encase you have to do the painful task of winding your watch.

[Fallranger]

Originally Posted by padi56

First you do not want a machine winder,second just because you are wearing your watch does not mean you are winding your watch.Its wrist activity that winds the movement,on a full manual wind thats 40 full crown turns clockwise only.Then movement should then run between 39-48 hours give or take a hour or so off wrist.And I am sorry this pain of having to wind your watch that must take all of 30 seconds to do,have such a effect on your very busy life.Simple answer get up 5 minutes early just encase you have to do the painful task of winding your watch.

Savage.

What’s wrong with a machine winder??


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[Hub6152]

Nothing wrong with winders provided they’re a decent quality and can be programmed for the specific needs of a given movement. If a watch is regularly worn, and not left on a winder for months at a time, then it causes no more wear than wearing the watch does. The counter argument is that constantly winding can also wear the keyless works so it’s 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other. Again regular maintenance is the best wear prevention.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Fallranger

Savage.

What’s wrong with a machine winder??


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Winders IMHO are a complete and utter waste of money unless you have lost the use of your fingers,or have a watch with many complications which no Rolex has.If you don't wear any watch every day you also reduce wear to the movement components by letting it rest and stop. Why waste that benefit by having it wound when it is not required to tell the time on wrist?.

[Hub6152]

Originally Posted by padi56

Winders IMHO are a complete and utter waste of money unless you have lost the use of your fingers,or have a watch with many complications which no Rolex has.If you don't wear any watch every day you also reduce wear to the movement components by letting it rest and stop. Why waste that benefit by having it wound when it is not required to tell the time on wrist?.

That’s all well and good if you have several watches and rotate them allowing them to stop when unworn, but if you only had one watch, and wore it daily, it’s unlikely to ever come to a stop unless you purposely run it down. Winders are a personal choice.

[georgekart]

Do yourself a favor, set the time correctly, manually wind the watch fully (40 full turns of the crown CCW as already stated), check on it every 12 hours at least and see what time it shows when stops, if you are in 40-48 hour range, it is fine.

Originally Posted by Fallranger

Savage.

What’s wrong with a machine winder??


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Causes excess unnecessary wear, setting a watch doesn't take too long so I'd rather set it every once in a while than have unnecessary wear. Exception is something extremely complicated that's hard to set and has a high chance of getting damaged when being set, such as perpetual calendar without rapid calendar advance.

[Hub6152]

Can anyone show me the evidence of excessive wear caused by a winder? And why is it that AP, Patek and some other brands sometime give winders away with a new watch? Would a perpetual calendar or a watch with extra complications be any less vulnerable to wear?

[Sublovin]

Originally Posted by padi56

Winders IMHO are a complete and utter waste of money unless you have lost the use of your fingers,or have a watch with many complications which no Rolex has.If you don't wear any watch every day you also reduce wear to the movement components by letting it rest and stop. Why waste that benefit by having it wound when it is not required to tell the time on wrist?.

Agree
The old day date can sometimes take a few minutes inventory it has sat, but I don’t see the need to keep watches running that aren’t being worn.

[watchmaker]

Originally Posted by Hub6152

Can anyone show me the evidence of excessive wear caused by a winder? And why is it that AP, Patek and some other brands sometime give winders away with a new watch? Would a perpetual calendar or a watch with extra complications be any less vulnerable to wear?

Any mechanical mechanism is subject to wear when it is in use. A watch that spends it's entire life running is subject to more wear than one that has periodic breaks.

A watch that is left static also has the drawback of greater chance of oil migration.

If you stick to recommended service intervals the increased wear or oil migration will pose little harm whichever you choose.

[mjclark32]

Originally Posted by Adam Brian

Hey guys,

Bought my Oyster Perpetual a few months ago. The power reserve was fine when I bought it (I think, I was wearing it so much that I didn't really give it a chance to use the reserve haha). Anyways, it only runs for about 36-38 hours now. This would normally be fine for me but I have school in the morning and it is a pain manually rewinding it when I have to be at school in 10 minutes since the last thing I do is put on my watch. I have thought about getting an automatic winder but another AD told me some can damage the watch. Can anyone give me suggestions? Thanks.

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Go back to wearing it all the time? Why not?
When I had an OP I tested the reserve it and was right around 48hrs, I wrote it down somewhere, but can't find it.

[Sublovin]

Originally Posted by Hub6152

Can anyone show me the evidence of excessive wear caused by a winder? And why is it that AP, Patek and some other brands sometime give winders away with a new watch? Would a perpetual calendar or a watch with extra complications be any less vulnerable to wear?

Surely you are joking? It is a mechanical movement. Would you leave your car running 24 hours a day?

[Hub6152]

Originally Posted by Sublovin

It is a mechanical movement, and wear is caused by movement.

Well you summed it up perfectly! Wear is going to happen regardless of using a winder or simply by wearing the same watch every day! Winders are not turning continuously, decent ones are programmable to do just enough to keep a given movement running. In the case of most Rolex that’s 650 turns per 24 hours. 325 clockwise and 325 anti clockwise. It’s actually not very much.

[a_plus1234]

My power reserve was ~36 hours. I sent it to RSC under warranty and they said the rotor needed servicing. The watch was less than 2 years old at the time.

I encourage ppl to check the reserve right before their warranty ends. It's something worth checking because it might be a problem that you might never know about if you wear your watch daily

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Hub6152

Can anyone show me the evidence of excessive wear caused by a winder? And why is it that AP, Patek and some other brands sometime give winders away with a new watch? Would a perpetual calendar or a watch with extra complications be any less vulnerable to wear?

Simple because watches with many many complication can be quite difficult to set, and can be quite delicate in setting and again can be broken if set wrong,on I machine this decreases the risk of owner misshapes.But none of the Rolex movements have many complications mostly just a very simple date.

[Sublovin]

Originally Posted by Hub6152

Well you summed it up perfectly! Wear is going to happen regardless of using a winder or simply by wearing the same watch every day! Winders are not turning continuously, decent ones are programmable to do just enough to keep a given movement running. In the case of most Rolex that’s 650 turns per 24 hours. 325 clockwise and 325 anti clockwise. It’s actually not very much.

The point is that it will obviously cause more than letting the watch rest. Is it excessive compared to wear, no.

[Likestheshiny]

Surely you are joking? It is a mechanical movement. Would you leave your car running 24 hours a day?

While I agree that a running watch will obviously experience more movement wear than a watch sitting in a safe, this is a silly analogy. A watch is specifically designed to operate 24/7, and a car is not.

[brandrea]

I love how this turned into a winder vs. no winder thread.

OP, let the watch run down and then wind it 40 “full turns of the crown clockwise. Let it rest and observe how much power reserve you got.

If it’s less than 45 or so, I’d contact RSC for their recommendation on service options.

[Dr. Robert]

Originally Posted by padi56

Winders IMHO are a complete and utter waste of money unless you have lost the use of your fingers,or have a watch with many complications which no Rolex has.If you don't wear any watch every day you also reduce wear to the movement components by letting it rest and stop. Why waste that benefit by having it wound when it is not required to tell the time on wrist?.

My man,

[Dr. Robert]

Originally Posted by padi56

Winders IMHO are a complete and utter waste of money unless you have lost the use of your fingers,or have a watch with many complications which no Rolex has.If you don't wear any watch every day you also reduce wear to the movement components by letting it rest and stop. Why waste that benefit by having it wound when it is not required to tell the time on wrist?.

My man X 2

[pickettt]

None of my Rolexs’ reserve times are as advertised.

[Sublovin]

Originally Posted by Likestheshiny

While I agree that a running watch will obviously experience more movement wear than a watch sitting in a safe, this is a silly analogy. A watch is specifically designed to operate 24/7, and a car is not.

It’s not a silly analogy, as it applies to anything with gears!

[mjarolex]

I get a kick out of those comparing a watch running to a car. A watch is designed and intended to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for decades. Having a watch running all the time is what it's designed for.

[SearChart]

Originally Posted by Sublovin

The point is that it will obviously cause more than letting the watch rest. Is it excessive compared to wear, no.

This exactly.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Adam Brian

Hey guys,

Bought my Oyster Perpetual a few months ago. The power reserve was fine when I bought it (I think, I was wearing it so much that I didn't really give it a chance to use the reserve haha). Anyways, it only runs for about 36-38 hours now. This would normally be fine for me but I have school in the morning and it is a pain manually rewinding it when I have to be at school in 10 minutes since the last thing I do is put on my watch.. . .

So your real problem is poor time management.

Your watch is likely perfectly fine. You are simply not active enough to fully top off your watch on a daily basis, hence, you only see what you have put into it. It is not magic, it is your daily activity that winds your watch.

In any event, I don't see your problem. Give your watch a few winds when you take it off at night and you won't have to worry about it when you are rushing in the morning.

[Hub6152]

Originally Posted by Likestheshiny

While I agree that a running watch will obviously experience more movement wear than a watch sitting in a safe, this is a silly analogy. A watch is specifically designed to operate 24/7, and a car is not.

Exactly, and that car analogy was slipped in by a later edit! It’s always the same argument the anti winder folks use!

A car has an internal combustion engine producing friction, heat, pressure, and internal stress. Considerably more forces involved than a spring unwinding in a controlled manner. And no you don’t leave a car running because it burns expensive fuel, pollutes the environment, and is likely to get nicked by some thieving little toe rag.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Hub6152

. . .

A car . . . producing friction, heat, pressure, and internal stress. . . .

These are exactly the same forces that go on inside a running watch movement, although to a lesser degree.

[Fallranger]

Originally Posted by Sublovin

Surely you are joking? It is a mechanical movement. Would you leave your car running 24 hours a day?

Anecdotal evidence doesn’t count here. An internal combustion engine is not a watch. Watches are engineered to run continuously for years while cars are not. How much damage can come from unscrewing a crown and winding it daily? Do solvents settle or can parts seize up like a car engine if they sit idle too long?

I think it’s a fair question to ask for some sort of study or proof that watch winders are good for or harm your watch if used consistently. Any number of Google searches will turn up differing opinions but I’ve yet to see any scientific evidence supporting either case.


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[Hub6152]

Four independent watchmakers were posed the question about winders by one of the online watch magazines not so long ago. Their opinion was spilt 50/50 and the verdict was inconclusive. It’s personal choice and, as long as proper maintenance is observed, a good quality winder is a perfectly acceptable device to use. It’s really that simple.