Every now and then a customer asks us about watch
movements and winding. It's easy to forget that what seems obvious to some is
not to others and having grown up with mechanical watches and clocks, winding a
mechanical movement to add power to it's spring everyday seems natural to us,
but watch movement technology can be completely alien to others.
For those interested in how the motive power of
their watch stacks up against the other options and learn a little about
winding, read on...
Manual
Watch
|
Automatic
Watch
|
Quartz
Watch
| |
Winding
|
Daily, by hand
|
Daily, by wearing the
watch
|
Not required
|
Power source
|
Spring
|
Spring
|
Battery
|
How long does it take to wind
(typically)
|
20 seconds
|
8 hours of daily
wear
|
Not required
|
Power reserve
(typical)
|
30 hours
|
42 hours
|
1-3 years depend on
type
|
Commonly used in
|
Omega Moon watches
Cal 321 / 861 / 1861
Panerai base models
Unitas 6492
Most Patek Calatrava
Most Jaeger Reverso
|
Anything described as
Self-winding, perpetual, automatic
etc.
|
No description on dial or
"quartz"
|
Maintenance
|
5 years
|
3-5 years
|
When required
|
Cost and resale
value
|
Medium to high
|
Medium to high
|
Low to medium
|
Accuracy [COSC]
|
-4 / + 6 sec per
day
|
-4 / + 6 sec per
day
|
1 sec/day or
better
|
1. Which type should you
buy?
To be honest any specific type of
movement is very hard for us to recommend as there is nothing “wrong” with any
of these of movements; their power sources are just different and some have
features the others do not have. What we would say is that for buyers looking
for accuracy, low maintenance and entry level price, the quartz models offer
serious ‘bang for your buck’. For those who enjoy the knowledge that an
intricately engineered mechanical movement is purring on their wrist, then your
choice is already made. In previous newsletters we have discussed the delight
many receive from their daily half a minute manual winding ritual, something we
believe that everybody who loves watches should experience!
2. How to wind a manual
wind watch?
To avoid confusion, it is
recommended to wind the watch by rotating the winding crown forwards and
backwards between finger and thumb. Typically 20 turns are needed until the
spring is fully wound. At that stage resistance will be felt and the crown will
no longer move in the direction of winding.
3. How to wind an automatic
watch?
Simply wearing an automatic watch
will wind it. The oscillating weight (called 'rotor') which is connected to set
of reverse wheels winds the main spring.
4. What is the "power
reserve"?
This is the amount of time that
your watch will run for before it needs to be wound again.
5. Can I overwind a
mechanical watch?
No. People often say a watch is
‘over-wound' but in reality spring is either wound or not.
6. Can I wind an automatic
watch by hand?
It depends on the watch. Some
automatic watch movements can be handwound in the same manner as a manual watch,
but the crown will not 'stop' when the spring is fully wound, however you may
feel a light click at that point. It is important to understand that automatic
watches are not design to be would manually.
7. What is kinetc?
Well... Probably too big a subject
for today, let’s discuss it in another newsletter. In short: a cross-over
between automatic and quartz.
Did you
know? Manual wind watches have never said ‘Manual Wind’ on a dial, but
Automatic and Quartz often proclaim their movement type in that manner. The
reason is simple - why state the obvious? Automatic watches were first
mass-produced after WW II. Before wrist watches, gentleman wore pocket watches
which required daily manual winding. The oldest surviving pocket watch is one
made by Peter Henlein in 1505.
