Question about winding / letting movement stop

Greetings everyone! I hope everyone is coping well with this mess of a pandemic. Granted watches are probably the last thing I should be concerned about at a time like this.. but, on the other hand is a perfect distraction 😀

Anyway.. 10 years ago I got my Omega Sea-master Automatic as my wedding gift.



This has been my most favorite thing that I own and so far I have kept in in great condition. I am still on the fence about sending in for service (scared to have someone tear it apart when its working perfect as is) and I posted this very question on another forum and got 50/50 responses on that one. (some would send it in.. and some way to wait till there is an issue). At any rate, I wanted to ask a new question and get some thoughts.

I have worn this watch daily for the first several years. Tho, the past year or maybe a little more has had less time on the wrist. So, it sits in an "official Omega winder" I remember when I bought this.. I thought "$700! my god" The reason is has sat in the winder for a bit is because last year I totally revamped my fitness.. and have been wearing the Garmin watch for that. Tho, now I have a better handle on what I am doing I dont feel I need to wear it everyday (unless in activity) so this is great as I can wear my Omega now for the bulk of the day.

I wanted to "test" the reserve on the watch. So, after a full day of wearing around the house (and sitting around) I let it sit in my draw un-touched. It stopped after apx. 22hrs. At first I was disappointed, as I thought this had a 48hr reserve.. but, then I realized I am sure it was not at full to start with. I did some reading, and saw that I should fully manually wind the watch first for this test. At the same time, I read that a lot of people DON'T recommend using the winder at all. That letting the watch come to a stop is fine and that when they want to wear it, open the crown, wind, set time and go about the day.

So, this then brings up my question.. Let's say I want to wear my Omega in rotation with a few other watches that I own.. maybe one week with the Omega.. one week with another, another week with another etc. So, maybe all in all wearing the Omega about a week a month. The remaining time.. either on the winder, or sitting still? The other point I wanted to bring up, which I dont see anywhere else on the internet.. is that each time I un-screw the crown, and wind it manually, and set the time etc.. and screw back in.. this alone would (I would think) add to wear and tear, and increases the chance for something to break (cross thread, or just general wear of the crown). vs. kept in constant motion?

So, I may not end up with a rock solid answer from anyone.. as everyone may think differently.. but I would love to hear some thoughts.

Thanks so much!

Travis

Hey thanks.. but, that only links to a thread, with a link to an artificial on why not to use winders. I appreciate that, and yes I saw this in my initial "googling" of this topic. I guess my hope was to hear from watch owners on here, and see what most of them would do, or currently do.

Thanks! (I guess I know your vote, lol).

I rotate a lot. I don't mind my watch stopping if it is left out for a while and stopped. Just rewind, set it and go. The maximum complication is day and date. I don't know about other complicated watches like a perpetual calendar etc.

I'm in the camp of no winder, but yes to routine maintenance (which I know you didn't exactly ask about). The topic of this has been beaten to death also.

Ask yourself: Are you prepared for higher cost service (which will likely include replacement of parts that otherwise wouldn't require replacement if you did routine services)? If yes, run it until it stops or slows down so bad yo have to get it serviced.

There is no guarantee you won't ever have to replace parts if you get it serviced as recommended; but the chances are far better.

That watch looks in great shape.

A sentiment many use to rationalize not having to service a watch. No matter how it looks on the outside, the oil on the inside of a 10 year old watch is probably bone dry. If you hunt around you'll see some good macro pictures of the jewels (condition) inside watches, having been run with dry oil. They wear out, as do other components. The particulate left behind when oil dries out acts like fine grit sandpaper.

I agree with your post. I was just saying the watch is in good shape aesthetically.

Forget the winder.
For a one week on, three weeks off scenario I would simply wind as much as required initially and quickly set and forget for the duration.

Don't overthink it.
Yes in some extreme cases people can get carried away with the manual wind component of their automatic watch.
But in your case I would deem it to be of no consequence what so ever.

Enjoy😀

I keep ten modern automatics in rotation and wear one for at least two weeks, more likely a month. The rest of the time they sit. I also keep track of their performance with a timegrapher. I have a TAG Aquaracer Chrono that was made in the early teens and the amplitude in DU/DD is about 245 degrees. It's time for a service. The rest are fine (and one is nearly as old).

I do use a winder, as I switch to my beater on the weekends. But as Archer says, it's just a convenience to save the trouble of hacking when I switch.

Oh, and it's time for a service, despite how well your watch is performing.