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Automatics Bore Me...

SC1
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anyone else?

Realized recently that I very much enjoy the engagement and tactility of manual wind movements far more than the "set it and forget it" nature of an automatic movement.

With a manual wind I have to interact with the watch to keep giving it life and thusly offers the added benefit of removing it from my wrist to do more than just merely fondle it.

Even better, a manual wind that also allows me to manipulate a bezel and engage/disengage a chronograph.

Yeah, I am missing my Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster (which allows all three interactions) but in the meantime I've got the Speedmaster Professional to at least scratch two of those three itches.

Does anyone else feel like the more you can interact with a watch, beyond just wearing/holding it, the more you enjoy it?
 
sheepdoll
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I used to love automatics. I even bought books on the subject. I had a real passion for them. Especially the vintage Omega watches.

It might not be the automatic that bores me. Most cheap automatics have a date ring. Sometimes I struggle to get that working as this part is probably worn out. One has to really like a watch to take it apart over and over again. The worse part is this risks damage to the hands and dial.

The real issue with automatics is that I do not regularly wear the same watch. So the tend to sit unworn in the drawer. Probably better for rotor wear. Rotor wear did not seem much an issue 30 years ago. Now the watches are more likely to have another 30 years of rotor wear as most of these are 50 or 60 years old.

I noticed with the quartz watches, the 'set it and forget it' is probably why I tend to not play with them as much.

There is something about winding the watch and setting the time what I find interesting.

Of course the best thing is when one has a watch on the bench that has not run in decades, and it starts ticking when one winds it.
 
M'Bob
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SC1 SC1
anyone else?

Realized recently that I very much enjoy the engagement and tactility of manual wind movements far more than the "set it and forget it" nature of an automatic movement.

With a manual wind I have to interact with the watch to keep giving it life and thusly offers the added benefit of removing it from my wrist to do more than just merely fondle it.

Even better, a manual wind that also allows me to manipulate a bezel and engage/disengage a chronograph.

Yeah, I am missing my Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster (which allows all three interactions) but in the meantime I've got the Speedmaster Professional to at least scratch two of those three itches.

Does anyone else feel like the more you can interact with a watch, beyond just wearing/holding it, the more you enjoy it?

100% agree. I have automatics, but gravitate towards manual wind watches exactly for the reasons you outline.
 
noelekal
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I like manual wind watches without date features best. Not too keen on gathering up a bunch of automatics though I have an infestation of them.

I will make exception for some vintage models, particularly the Omega Constellations with 505 movement (my favorite Omega watches of all), Longines with 19AS movement, and the Zodiac Sea Wolf.
 
MRC
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I only have two automatics (Omega and Hamilton) but generally wind them anyway because I'm not sure I've been active enough due to age & slowing down and I don't want to get out the habit of winding my manuals when they come around the carousel.
 
gbesq
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I agree. There’s just something about the way you connect with a vintage manual winder. It’s like connecting with that comfortable pair of old leather shoes or broken in jeans or weathered flannel shirt that just feels right.
D84AC433-AE9B-4794-BBFF-0450E592E9AB.jpeg
 
noelekal
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gbesq gbesq
I agree. There’s just something about the way you connect with a vintage manual winder. It’s like connecting with that comfortable pair of old leather shoes or broken in jeans or weathered flannel shirt that just feels right.
D84AC433-AE9B-4794-BBFF-0450E592E9AB.jpeg


One feels needed when using a manual wind watch.
 
__ryan__
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I have several automatics and don't find them boring, but I probably do have a preference for manual winding. It's a nice exercise in the morning and some make a pleasant sound. Maybe it gives them some character -- a unique sort of voice.
 
Canuck
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When a portion of what you collect is pocket watches, you haven’t any choice but to wind them (60 of them). I have about 2 dozen Accutrons. Nothing to wind. Of my 70 odd wrist watches, probably 2/3 of them are stem winders or Accutrons. So I maybe have 20 or so self-winders. So, out of a collection of about 130 (or so) watches, 20 (or so) are automatic winders. I don’t have a preference for automatic/manual winders. I don’t find either automatics, manuals, transistorized, or quartz, boring. Although quartz watches come close to boring me. (I have two of them).
 
Aroxx
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Manual is definitely more fun. I love the way my Minerva winds. Very tactile, loud click, and the crown springs back a bit. Side note, I just got my first bumper and it is pretty cool to hear and feel when it bounces against the stop.
 
NGO1
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Quality automatic movement gives me no joy.
A shitty movement, preferably made by Panerai or Tag Heuer (Heuer 02 movement, to be exact) literally shaken your wrist with every spin. Those bring excitement in my life.

Don't drink hot coffee on days I wear a Panerai. That rotor will shake half of the coffee on my shirt. I miss that freak of a hockey puck.
 
22EF387B-451F-4414-BA06-D46691F77EDE.jpeg
janice&fred
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SC1 SC1
Even better, a manual wind that also allows me to manipulate a bezel and engage/disengage a chronograph.

Yeah, I am missing my Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster (which allows all three interactions) but in the meantime I've got the Speedmaster Professional to at least scratch two of those three itches.

Don't despair. With a pair of channel-locks you can scratch all 3 with your Speedmaster 😁
 
SC1
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janice&fred janice&fred
Don't despair. With a pair of channel-locks you can scratch all 3 with your Speedmaster 😁

Hmmm, interesante... 👍
 
kingsrider
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You know what pisses me off?

The fact that I can't hand wind some of my Seiko automatics.
This one for example.
s-l1600.jpg
I bought this handsome example of a Field Watch for work. Gotta do the Hippy Hippy Shake if you don't wear it for a day or two.
 
JwRosenthal
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Considering I rarely wear any of my watches more often than once or twice a month in rotation- they are all manual winders in the morning.
 
Dsloan
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I have found that I really don't enjoy manual winding.

Part of it is the face my wife and kid make when we're trying to get out the door the morning and I'm just standing there winding a watch. The other part is that I'm probably just lazy.
 
SC1
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Dsloan Dsloan
I have found that I really don't enjoy manual winding.

Part of it is the face my wife and kid make when we're trying to get out the door the morning and I'm just standing there winding a watch. The other part is that I'm probably just lazy.

Pro Tip: lock yourself in the bathroom to wind them... negates looks from the family. Works for me every time.

How can winding a watch be a chore... maybe pretend you're rolling a booger on your finger before flicking it at a coworker?
 
Canuck
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Not too many candidates wanting a membership in the fraternity of clock collectors. Except , of course, for novelty battery powered ones. Automatic wind watches give me a break from winding six mantel and shelf clocks, and two marine chronometers. And my regular wearing of manual wind watches which are part of my rotation. Today it is two self-winders, and a 140 year old Waltham pocket watch.
 
JwRosenthal
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Dsloan Dsloan
I have found that I really don't enjoy manual winding.

Part of it is the face my wife and kid make when we're trying to get out the door the morning and I'm just standing there winding a watch. The other part is that I'm probably just lazy.
Try a setting a slow date or 9/12 with a stiff crown and 27 days to go when your wife is ready to go and staring at you.
When I go to the office, I have taken to just slapping on the watch I want to wear in the morning and setting it (time and date) on the train.
 
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