Dear Forum, Just wondering what the consensus is on using vintage pieces daily? Do you wind them daily so they are ready for use whenever? Or do you just wind them specifically for use? I have a vintage Chronostop and Speedmaster and worry about both being wound daily. At the same time, I worry that if I stop winding them and use them intermittently they won't run as smoothly ever again. Currently, I can't afford to have the watches serviced, and the last services were partial and 10 yrs ago. More specifically, this question pertains to caliber 861 and 865 watches. They are keeping excellent time, minus 3 sec/week. Any suggestions? Thank you.
With approximately 70 manual wind watches, I can say that I do not wind them every day. More likely, twice a year for some of them.
I’ll usually have a group of three that I keep wound up as a mini rotation that can be readily swapped out and worn. The remainder stay in the safe until I pick a different group of three for wearing.
Only when I wear them. I wear my 5 manual wind vintages in rotation so not worried about the gears getting sticky. More concerned that by winding them excessively, I am just wearing the parts unnecessarily. Chye
Thanks everyone... I'm going to stop winding them daily probably.....i just love that they keep good time....makes me want to wind them regularly. If something stops working it will certainly mean it's time for service, I'm going to start saving up right now...hah.
I misread your post before I posted. I thought you asked do you wear vintage everyday, not wind. Out of my collection of 13 vintage Omegas, only one is a 601 manual wind. I rarely wear it but do give it a full wind once a month.
More winding = more wear-and-tear Common sense will tell you that there are bearing surfaces and moving parts in watches that gradually experience wear from use. There's no need to accelerate that process.
I Personally love winding my watch daily, just the feel of it. However, if you are not wearing it is additional strain for no reason I think. For your daily I do not see an issue with additional wear and tear, as winding it fully once a day or every two days still puts the same stress on the movement I think
Only when I wear them. No point in adding wear to the movement when a watch isn’t being worn. That being said, not wearing a watch doesn’t really lengthen the interval between services as the lubricant applied to the movement tends to dry up over time.
I wind mine sporadically as it keeps the oils moving around inside - a tip passed onto me by the person who sold me my first vintage watch. But, like others, I only tend to wind as I need to wear them, in order to prolong their useful lives. I will admit to occasionally just winding them for fun, though... so tactile!
its just that I have to wind and set the time again if winding only to wear a watch, so I fear that wears down the winding stem or movement parts on the above mentioned Chronostop. I guess I'm just suffering because I can't afford the service right now. I just noticed after a long break that at first winding they were slow a few minutes a week, now they are slow a few seconds a week only so something certainly got lubricated.