Hi guys,John here, I just joined tonight. I have had a Seamaster Professional Automatic for the past 6 years but treated myself to a Speedmaster with Hesalite and Manual Winding. Call me sad but I walked into the shop to buy it on the 11th day of the 12th month at 13:14hrs. This was to represent Apollo 11 and 12 and then Apollo 13 and 14. At 05:12 hrs that night was the full moon and I got up at 5am to introduce my moonwatch to the moon at precisely 05:12.Very sad but very true..... I have the main tachometer hand stopped at 13.8 seconds for the Apollo 13 final approach burn. Love the history of this watch. ... looking for some words of wisdom regarding the winding of my watch. When winding it's really hard to tell when fully wound. No definite end wind. On winding it, each turn it turns back on itself. The strangest bit is that twice it has stopped but the second hand has kept going. This makes it challenging to tell when it has actually stopped. Is this normal?

 

Wind it every day until it can’t be wound any longer. You will feel a definite stop. The crown backing up slightly is not a problem.

Cheers, Al

 

Thanks Al. Does the second hand keep going for a wee while usually after the hour and minute hands stop. Cheers, John

 

Not really sure what is happening there. Of course the hour and minute hands turn more slowly, so maybe you just aren’t noticing that they are still moving.

 

Lol......I know they travel more slowly but the time had fully stopped for about an hour. Actual time tonight was 20:15 hrs and the watch showed 19:25 hrs.....but the second hand was still moving.....has totally confused me

 

So a “wee while” is pushing an hour...well that clarifies things significantly.

Loose cannon pinion is likely in that scenario, so something it needs to go back for.

 

I thought I was the only one with quirky issues... Nice to meet you brother...

 

Hi,

I’m going through the same learning curve with my new (pre-owned) Speedy. How many turns would you say you “landed at” (see what I did there?) to get it fully wound?

 

Just wind it until the crown hits the point where it won't go anymore. You'll feel that point. Counting turns is an imprecise way to wind a watch.

 

Hmm…. Could it be that you are pulling the crown out before winding? The old Speedmaster didn’t have hacking seconds so the second hand would still keep moving after pulling the crown out (not certain of this). The hands shouldn’t move when winding.

 

You should stop winding when you feel the slight difference in tension. You should not wind it all the way until it stops. If you have a habit of doing so, you will eventually break it.

Winding it until you feel the difference in tension is plenty to get you through the day, overnight, and then some.

 

I wind my 3861 everyday at 7pm till I can't wind it anymore, can't imagine anyone would continue winding it as it is very clear you arrive at the point you would have to force to go further.

 

You are not going to break anything by winding it fully. Winding it until you perceive some sort of change in tension is no way to wind a watch. Winding it until the crown can't be turned anymore is the proper way, and will give the best performance. They are designed to be operated that way.

 

It is extremely noticeable when it is fully wound. I wouldn’t even call it resistance, more of a hard stop.