Should I manually wind

[SearChart]

Originally Posted by jatco

Really....

Yes.

[jatco]

Originally Posted by Seibei

No, do not be manipulating your crown and winding. Don't develop an unnecessary habit that will over the years wear parts of your watch for no reason.

Originally Posted by padi56

Complete and utter nonsense.

Which is it then..??
.
My watchmaker suggests that when your watch as stopped, to just give it a few winds to get it running, then wear it...to bring it up to snuff. --
Had to have the Tudor serviced 'coz of probable excessive winding..to the gear(s) inside, not the crown itself. - again..!

[brucethemanlee]

Originally Posted by Seibei

So, screwing and unscrewing the crown and manipulating it thousands of times causes no wear? Good to know.

Yes....

I guess one can keep their watch in a plastic bag and sock drawer and wear gloves and avoid all forms of touching as well... but everyone is different

Cheers

[Seibei]

Originally Posted by brucethemanlee

Yes....

I guess one can keep their watch in a plastic bag and sock drawer and wear gloves and avoid all forms of touching as well... but everyone is different

Cheers

I just wear my watch and avoid constantly fiddling with it for no reason.

[RootBeerGMT]

I only take mine off to clean it with my toothbrush and toothpaste and change the date. I've had it 2 years since I bought it brand new and have never had to wind it up since the first day I wound her up, set the date and adjusted the glide clasp. Love my Sub-C.

[TheWatchStandard]

Only needs winding if you've left it sitting for the weekend, or any couple of days.
You're not going to hurt the watch by winding it though.

[TheWatchStandard]

Originally Posted by watchmaker

Correct

Your Rolex may or may not require manual winding after the initial full wind (40 turns of the crown). It all stems from your level of wrist activity (dirty minds need not apply )

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by jatco

Which is it then..??
.
My watchmaker suggests that when your watch as stopped, to just give it a few winds to get it running, then wear it...to bring it up to snuff. --
Had to have the Tudor serviced 'coz of probable excessive winding..to the gear(s) inside, not the crown itself. - again..!

The truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Just it always does.

IMO, your watchmaker is mostly correct.
This issue comes up from time to time and we always have the same range of responses. I can say that one very highly regarded watchmaker around these forums has stated something to the effect, that extra servicing requirements are called for due to excessive manual winding of Automatic Rolex movements. The causes for this occurance vary but it mostly stems from ignorance and inexperience.

Consider this.
For the last few decades, Rolex movements have been primarily designed to operate as Automatic winding movements.
They are not designed primarily as a manual wind movement with some sort of Automatic winding mechanism tacked onto it. Even though the Automatic winding mechanisms are added in a modular format.
With regard to our modern Rolex watches, the owners manual does not reflect any recommendation to manually wind the watch every day. Or for that matter as much as you feel like when ever you feel like it.
Automatic winding movements can indeed be wound manually to excess by the operator, simply because there is no clear indicator as to when to stop winding as is the case with exclusively manual wound movements.
Also remember that the old Seiko Autos never had any manual wind capability at all and relied exclusively on day to day wrist movement. I still have one somewhere around here

Personally, I just give our Rolex watches a few turns on the manual wind to kick start them a little and a quick shake to unlock the escapment if and when it's required. Then set the time and date on the watch normally. Put the watch on and let physics do the rest.
No problem what so ever. Even with timekeeping.

Of course, someone who is sedentary or borderline comatose or even heavily sedated may have a problem with this simple procedure, and may need to manually wind their Automatic watches.

[Gold Crown]

I wind mine about 10 turns twice a week just to make sure it won’t stop.

[jatco]

Originally Posted by Dirt

The truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Just it always does.

IMO, your watchmaker is mostly correct.
This issue comes up from time to time and we always have the same range of responses. I can say that one very highly regarded watchmaker around these forums has stated something to the effect, that extra servicing requirements are called for due to excessive manual winding of Automatic Rolex movements. The causes for this occurance vary but it mostly stems from ignorance and inexperience.

Consider this.
For the last few decades, Rolex movements have been primarily designed to operate as Automatic winding movements.
They are not designed primarily as a manual wind movement with some sort of Automatic winding mechanism tacked onto it. Even though the Automatic winding mechanisms are added in a modular format.
With regard to our modern Rolex watches, the owners manual does not reflect any recommendation to manually wind the watch every day. Or for that matter as much as you feel like when ever you feel like it.
Automatic winding movements can indeed be wound manually to excess by the operator, simply because there is no clear indicator as to when to stop winding as is the case with exclusively manual wound movements.
Also remember that the old Seiko Autos never had any manual wind capability at all and relied exclusively on day to day wrist movement. I still have one somewhere around here

Personally, I just give our Rolex watches a few turns on the manual wind to kick start them a little and a quick shake to unlock the escapment if and when it's required. Then set the time and date on the watch normally. Put the watch on and let physics do the rest.
No problem what so ever. Even with timekeeping.

Of course, someone who is sedentary or borderline comatose or even heavily sedated may have a problem with this simple procedure, and may need to manually wind their Automatic watches.

Excellent

[007_Omega]

I fully wind my watches when I reset them and then after that just wear them to keep them running.

No point in winding them everyday, unless you get satisfaction doing that. These are automatic watches so they are meant to be kept running by simply using them.

[dtwer]

Originally Posted by Dirt

For the last few decades, Rolex movements have been primarily designed to operate as Automatic winding movements.
They are not designed primarily as a manual wind movement with some sort of Automatic winding mechanism tacked onto it. Even though the Automatic winding mechanisms are added in a modular format.
With regard to our modern Rolex watches, the owners manual does not reflect any recommendation to manually wind the watch every day. Or for that matter as much as you feel like when ever you feel like it.
Automatic winding movements can indeed be wound manually to excess by the operator, simply because there is no clear indicator as to when to stop winding as is the case with exclusively manual wound movements.
Also remember that the old Seiko Autos never had any manual wind capability at all and relied exclusively on day to day wrist movement. I still have one somewhere around here

.

I also have one of these old Seikos, quite interesting. To get it going you would have to shake it a few times.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by dtwer

I also have one of these old Seikos, quite interesting. To get it going you would have to shake it a few times.

Not quite a shake per se.
But yes, it was a very simple process.

I remember getting my first Seiko 5 sometime back in the early 70's.
It was the first watch in the family that wasn't exclusively manually wound and an Auto. After consulting the owners manual it took my Dad and I a little bit of working it out between us how to start it up when we got it out of the box. She was a real beauty, with a blue dial to easily rival the current crop of Rolex blue dials
If I recall correctly, the manual called for a gentle, swinging, rocking type of motion whilst holding the watch in the hand for about a minute. There was a nice little diagram in the manual which I can still picture in my mind. A picture can be worth a thousand words
One could feel the sensation of the rotor spinning around inside it to wind it up. It was a marvel to us.
We set the watch as per normal practice and i put it on to wear it for around 5 years before it finally stopped because it needed a service. Otherwise, it never ever stopped or kept poor timing through that whole period. It never got that service because I couldn't afford it and the watch was eventually cast asside.
We were poor, but we were appy.

Years later and a good number of Rolex watches have come and gone to finally settle on the current collection, and I still fondly recall that first day with my first Seiko and the subtle quirky nature of that winding technique which brought it to life, whenever I pick up any of our stopped Rolex watches.
Sometimes I even use the good old Seiko method for a few seconds just to start them up for a little bit of nostalgia

[Seibei]

Originally Posted by Dirt

I can say that one very highly regarded watchmaker around these forums has stated something to the effect, that extra servicing requirements are called for due to excessive manual winding of Automatic Rolex movements. The causes for this occurance vary but it mostly stems from ignorance and inexperience.

Consider this.
For the last few decades, Rolex movements have been primarily designed to operate as Automatic winding movements.
They are not designed primarily as a manual wind movement with some sort of Automatic winding mechanism tacked onto it. Even though the Automatic winding mechanisms are added in a modular format.
With regard to our modern Rolex watches, the owners manual does not reflect any recommendation to manually wind the watch every day. Or for that matter as much as you feel like when ever you feel like it.
Automatic winding movements can indeed be wound manually to excess by the operator, simply because there is no clear indicator as to when to stop winding as is the case with exclusively manual wound movements.
Also remember that the old Seiko Autos never had any manual wind capability at all and relied exclusively on day to day wrist movement. I still have one somewhere around here.

Amen, great post.

[jsgiunta]

I just purchased a 2002 Air King three weeks ago from Crown & Caliper. When I wound it originally, it ran for 42 hours. The last time I did it just the other day, it only ran for 21 hours, so do I have a problem? Also, since this is my first one, when winding by the crown, is it supposed to just get tight at a certain point and not wind anymore when its fully wound, or continue to "wind" even after the mainspring is fully wound?