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Avoiding movements without date quickset

Eve
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I actually find the date very usefull, and often miss it when wear my speedy or other nodate watch. Therefore my modern daily watches tend to have a date. But when chosing a vintage watch or something i dont wear often i would allways try to go for a nodate version if possible.
Also the date function is something that tends to break on certain calibers. Setting date also causes some wear when done too often.
 
dsio
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My favourite watches are my SMPPs but I only wear them if the date is super close as those bumpers are too annoying to spin around to the right one. Cal 551 is where it’s at imo, reliable, accurate, thin, looks great, no date.
 
Larry S
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This is gonna sound nuts but I’ve gone as far as to mark my calendar “wear “…. “ to avoid that issue. I have a cal 64 that doesn’t quickset. I wonder if that is correctable. When I bought it long ago, overpaid as a noob does, was told it had the chunky service crown and the wrong stem. It’s a nice piece and I should deal with that at some point.
 
LesXL
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Dan S Dan S
I also have a strong preference for no-date watches, but sometimes I just can't resist. I don't have @seekingseaquest's discipline.
I concur
 
michael e
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I never really bother with setting the date up even with a quick set feature, sometimes I forget to set the time even. When I look at a watch I’m wearing I am admiring it more for the watch and not its date or time which is pretty weird but there you go!
If I want to know the time I look at my phone, cooker, wall clock, stereo, microwave, tv. If all else fails I will look at my watch and hope I have set the time 😁
 
Aroxx
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I like having the date feature on a watch and obviously prefer a quickset date. I’ve learned to curb my OCD and just not set the date if I’m wearing a non-quickset that’s too far away from the current date. I wouldn’t avoid a particular watch I wanted just because it wasn’t quickset.
 
SOG53
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I like interacting with the watches so date isn’t an issue for me. I used to think same for day date, but I have learned and avoid those now.
 
Winston_Smith
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Regardless of daydate, I would definitely avoid a watch winder, for the reasons the OP mentioned but also this often neglected reason: Automatic mechanisms should not be wound all the times, IMO! I own several vintage watches and like to switch everyday. Apart from matching them with my outfit, I also like to give them some time out and avoid exhausting their mechanism (especially their main spring, i.e. their battery) by keeping them working everyday. Recalling your highschool physics class, a watch winder or wearing them everyday would eventually get that spring worn off. This is ofc besides other potentially vulnerable parts of the watch.
 
B
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Winston_Smith Winston_Smith
Regardless of daydate, I would definitely avoid a watch winder, for the reasons the OP mentioned but also this often neglected reason: Automatic mechanisms should not be wound all the times, IMO!
Sorry I do not agree. These watches were designed to be worn every day, 365 days a year. Get it serviced every 8 to ten years and it will be fine on a winder.
Auto's were intended to maintain a high state of wind. This actually assists with timekeeping. The torque available from the mainspring drops as a watch winds down and this can lead to timing errors. Whilst an auto winder still suffers from this problem, if you're wearing it the watch stays close to fully wound and you're never exposed to the issue.

As for the OP's question about avoiding mechanism's without a quickset.On most of my watches without quickset, the date can be changed by moving the hands from 9pm to midnight and back. I only have a couple that have to be set by moving the hands 24hrs to change 1 day.
Personally I change my watch weekly, changing the date is not a big deal for me. I'd rather have a variety of different mechanisms in the collection and live with the date change pain.
 
Larry S
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“On most of my watches without quickset, the date can be changed by moving the hands from 9pm to midnight and back.”
Conventional wisdom and manufacturer instructions tell you not to mess with the day, date function within that time zone. Am I missing something?
 
Peemacgee
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B BrokenSkunk
Sorry I do not agree. These watches were designed to be worn every day, 365 days a year. Get it serviced every 8 to ten years and it will be fine on a winder.
Auto's were intended to maintain a high state of wind. This actually assists with timekeeping. The torque available from the mainspring drops as a watch winds down and this can lead to timing errors. Whilst an auto winder still suffers from this problem, if you're wearing it the watch stays close to fully wound and you're never exposed to the issue.

Whilst the natural state, while being worn, is for an automatic mechanism to be wound all the time, I don't think you will find many supporters of keeping a vintage watch on a winder. (this has been discussed a number of times on OF over the years)

We are generally talking about 50-65 year old vintage watches.

Yes, the watches were originally designed to be worn regularly - and if you only have one vintage watch that you wear all the time that's a personal choice to make.

However, simple mathematics says that, even with regular servicing, if you wear your watches in rotation (which most here do - hence the discussion about setting the date) you will reduce the wear on your watch, prolonging the life of the constituent parts of the mechanism. (which will only become increasingly difficult to source as time goes by)

Each to their own but I would suggest that most members would think that prolonging the life of the mechanism far outweighs any possible benefits to timekeeping by keeping a vintage watch on a winder.
 
Peemacgee
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Larry S Larry S
“On most of my watches without quickset, the date can be changed by moving the hands from 9pm to midnight and back.”
Conventional wisdom and manufacturer instructions tell you not to mess with the day, date function within that time zone. Am I missing something?

I might be misunderstanding your post but I think we might be in danger of conflating two things here @Larry S

General advice says don't mess with the quickset change when your hands are above 9 and 3 (for safety move them to 6.30)
But without quickset, the intentional semi-quickset method of changing the date is the 12-9-12 method.
 
hen
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Must have a date, 565 have a quickset function, to much hassle to wind a month back or forth.
IMG_20211203_125106 (3).jpg
 
Larry S
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
I might be misunderstanding your post but I think we might be in danger of conflating two things here @Larry S

General advice says don't mess with the quickset change when your hands are above 9 and 3 (for safety move them to 6.30)
But without quickset, the intentional semi-quickset method of changing the date is the 12-9-12 method.
Hmm. I could swear that over at the UG forum, we’ve also discussed the danger of doing this to a Tri-Compax.
 
B
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
...Each to their own but I would suggest that most members would think that prolonging the life of the mechanism far outweighs any possible benefits to timekeeping by keeping a vintage watch on a winder.
Fair enough, it's horses for courses.

If the watch is serviced regularly the wear should be negligable. The earliest autos have been in continuous use since the 50s, those that have been looked after are in remarkable shape. They should it should survive for many many decades more continuous use, including use on a winder, provided they are cared for. Modern watch oils should mean the parts wear less now than ever!

If you only had two watches, I can see that a winder would make sense. The watch is only only off the wrist for 50% of it's life and may get worn a couple of times a week. Any wear caused by the winder is likely less than wear to the stem by winding at setting the time manually.

For the record, I don't have a winder. I must have 30 odd automatics. For me, the watches spend the overwhelming majority of their lives in the safe, not ticking. I don't have space for 30 winders and I agree that in my case the watches are better left dormant.

I guess my point is, if you're considering a winder, by definition you have a small collection and with the watch in very regular rotation. Keeping it wound will make b*gg*r all difference to the longevity. By the time your collection grows to the size that a watch spends 95%+ of it's time stored, owning a winder doesn't make a lot of sense.
 
Dan S
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
Each to their own but I would suggest that most members would think that prolonging the life of the mechanism far outweighs any possible benefits to timekeeping by keeping a vintage watch on a winder.
Agree 100%. There's no need to multiply the rate of accumulated wear and tear on a vintage watch. FWIW, in my experience, the auto-winding and calendar mechanisms are two of the most common places that replacement parts and/or repairs are needed.
Edited:
 
kaplan
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B BrokenSkunk
Fair enough, it's horses for courses.

If the watch is serviced regularly the wear should be negligable. The earliest autos have been in continuous use since the 50s, those that have been looked after are in remarkable shape. They should it should survive for many many decades more continuous use, including use on a winder, provided they are cared for. Modern watch oils should mean the parts wear less now than ever!

If you only had two watches, I can see that a winder would make sense. The watch is only only off the wrist for 50% of it's life and may get worn a couple of times a week. Any wear caused by the winder is likely less than wear to the stem by winding at setting the time manually.

For the record, I don't have a winder. I must have 30 odd automatics. For me, the watches spend the overwhelming majority of their lives in the safe, not ticking. I don't have space for 30 winders and I agree that in my case the watches are better left dormant.

I guess my point is, if you're considering a winder, by definition you have a small collection and with the watch in very regular rotation. Keeping it wound will make b*gg*r all difference to the longevity. By the time your collection grows to the size that a watch spends 95%+ of it's time stored, owning a winder doesn't make a lot of sense.

You live in a fantasy world friend, everything will turn into dust, you can pause/slow the process for watches, a winder seems like it accelerates it in my opinion

Also a watch with healthy parts and a good service has the ~same/good timekeeping rate even at no wind

I took a metallurgy selective in university and after that I was so traumatised I didn't even want to own a car for quite a while, at every beat you're wearing the parts atom by atom, as far as Omega's are concerned I think the best of the best of the materials were used, it's wondrous how perfect each part is and how good they are made, but one way or another, everything will be dust
 
gbesq
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kaplan kaplan
You live in a fantasy world friend, everything will turn into dust, you can pause/slow the process for watches, a winder seems like it accelerates it in my opinion

Also a watch with healthy parts and a good service has the ~same/good timekeeping rate even at no wind

I took a metallurgy selective in university and after that I was so traumatised I didn't even want to own a car for quite a while, at every beat you're wearing the parts atom by atom, as far as Omega's are concerned I think the best of the best of the materials were used, it's wondrous how perfect each part is and how good they are made, but one way or another, everything will be dust
But really high quality Swiss made dust. 😁
 
Zman4eva
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B BrokenSkunk
I guess my point is, if you're considering a winder, by definition you have a small collection and with the watch in very regular rotation. Keeping it wound will make b*gg*r all difference to the longevity. By the time your collection grows to the size that a watch spends 95%+ of it's time stored, owning a winder doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think it's the opposite. If I only have two watches they'll be wound just by my wear. If I have a large collection with complex calendar movements, you would want a winder to keep all the watches topped up.
 
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