how to start a rolex ticking

[spoilsofwar01]

It crossed my mind that I perhaps better ask the follow question.... just in case.

generally I tend to use the following instruction to start my Rolex ticking.

unscrew the crown until the crown pops naturally into position - do not pull. In this position, the watch is able to be manually wound by turning the crown clockwise in direction.

Historically I saw a guy rock a watch from side to side to start an old watch going, when I enquired he advised me that it was also a good way to check to see if the balance was broken without opening the case and it starts the watch ticking.

SO, is it incorrect to rock the watch and use the rotor to start the watch ticking? And is this method likely to cause damage ?

[Frank80]

I don't see how rocking the watch to start it could do any damage. You'll still have to wind the watch after ofcourse. My old seiko watches could only be wound by rocking. No manual winder on those.

[R.G.Bramlett, CW21]

I am constantly telling people to hand-wind their watches. It amazes me how many people go to wear their Rolex, after not wearing it for a week or so, and just set the time and date, strap it on, and wiggle their wrist in the air to get it moving. Your watch will be starved for power all day, especially if you're not very active, and the timekeeping will suffer. You wouldn't pull into a gas station on an empty tank and pump $2 worth of gas, would you? (Well, I did that back in high school, but let's not go there)

The automatic winding system winds the mainspring VERY slowly, and is designed to sustain a full wind, NOT to quickly take you from a totally slack to totally wound mainspring.

So yes, absolutely, wind it by hand! it's fun to do, only takes 5 or 10 seconds, and ensures your Rolex will run its best. And if it doesn't start ticking immediately, not to worry--by the time you set the time and put it on your wrist, I guarantee it will have started ticking by then.

[spoilsofwar01]

One habit I know I must stop doing is ratcheting the winder, this is my mothers fault as I saw her do this at a very young age and assume this was correct, I now look upon this as a possible sawing effect on the shaft connected to the Crown possibly causing unnecessary wear or potentially breaking other parts in doing so? "or could it be that I could be wrong.............!"

[R.G.Bramlett, CW21]

Ha! i do it constantly with all my watches that don't have a screw down crown. nervous habit.

Whether the watch has a screw down crown or not, i always hand-wind using a back-and-forth motion, not just a clockwise motion. Therefore, there is some "backwinding" going on, and yes, the teeth of the winding pinion and sliding pinion are sliding harmlessly off each other.

Having overhauled countless movements over the last decade plus, i can tell you that the wear you're causing on those 2 components due to this "Backwinding" is negligible. especially given how rarely you hand-wind an automatic watch in comparison with a non-automatic. Maybe, **maybe**, if you wore a hand-wound watch that didn't have a screw-down crown and backwound the thing constantly, *maybe* you might eventually have an issue. But even then, probably not.

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by R.G.Bramlett, CW21

Ha! i do it constantly with all my watches that don't have a screw down crown. nervous habit.

Whether the watch has a screw down crown or not, i always hand-wind using a back-and-forth motion, not just a clockwise motion. Therefore, there is some "backwinding" going on, and yes, the teeth of the winding pinion and sliding pinion are sliding harmlessly off each other.

Having overhauled countless movements over the last decade plus, i can tell you that the wear you're causing on those 2 components due to this "Backwinding" is negligible. especially given how rarely you hand-wind an automatic watch in comparison with a non-automatic. Maybe, **maybe**, if you wore a hand-wound watch that didn't have a screw-down crown and backwound the thing constantly, *maybe* you might eventually have an issue. But even then, probably not.

May I ask what purpose it serves to "rock" the winding crown when winding? I would be concerned about the crown threads possibly unwinding from the stem. The crown only winds rotating clockwise. Winding it counter? I see no logical reason.

[R.G.Bramlett, CW21]

sure, if your loctite is old or gone, then you might unthread the crown from the stem. not likely, though. And of course that could still happen when you set the hands using a counterclockwise motion on the crown. If it means anything, when customers have brought me crowns that they have accidentally unthreaded from the stem, they pretty much always say it happened when they were setting the hands, not hand-winding (many people don't even realize you can hand-wind an automatic in the first place, and of course in a quartz watch there's no hand-winding at all).

but, a logical reason to wind using a back and forth motion? none, zero, zip. Just feels quicker, easier, more natural to me. I'm constantly hand-winding watches, so that's part of it.

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by R.G.Bramlett, CW21

sure, if your loctite is old or gone, then you might unthread the crown from the stem. not likely, though. And of course that could still happen when you set the hands using a counterclockwise motion on the crown. If it means anything, when customers have brought me crowns that they have accidentally unthreaded from the stem, they pretty much always say it happened when they were setting the hands, not hand-winding (many people don't even realize you can hand-wind an automatic in the first place, and of course in a quartz watch there's no hand-winding at all).

but, a logical reason to wind using a back and forth motion? none, zero, zip. Just feels quicker, easier, more natural to me. I'm constantly hand-winding watches, so that's part of it.

[spoilsofwar01]

Originally Posted by R.G.Bramlett, CW21

Ha! i do it constantly with all my watches that don't have a screw down crown. nervous habit.

Whether the watch has a screw down crown or not, i always hand-wind using a back-and-forth motion, not just a clockwise motion. Therefore, there is some "backwinding" going on, and yes, the teeth of the winding pinion and sliding pinion are sliding harmlessly off each other.

Having overhauled countless movements over the last decade plus, i can tell you that the wear you're causing on those 2 components due to this "Backwinding" is negligible. especially given how rarely you hand-wind an automatic watch in comparison with a non-automatic. Maybe, **maybe**, if you wore a hand-wound watch that didn't have a screw-down crown and backwound the thing constantly, *maybe* you might eventually have an issue. But even then, probably not.

phew! it was troubling me, many thanks for restoring some order in my world,