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Self-winding, via a shake rather than manual wind

  1. john_coburg Jul 31, 2020

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    Afternoon all,
    Having just received a Datejust back from a service, with the thread on the crown replaced, i'm wondering to what extent it's possible to fully wind the watch by just giving it a side-to-side shake, rather than unscrewing the crown each time. I know the crown thread will take some use, but i have had threads become damaged fairly quickly in the past.... maybe they take a couple of hundred screws-and-unscrews until you risk the thread becoming worn/damaged and some cross-threading ensuing ? I know simply wearing the thing is an obvious solution, but given i have a few watches in rotation (who doesn't?) that doesn't always work.
    Bottom line: can i save wear and pro-long the crown thread by shaking-to-wind? Or do i risk movement damage by shaking, making it a false economy? I find 50 (or so) shakes generally only gets me 6-8hrs of power... perhaps putting on the wrist after 50 shakes, and moving around a bit would be enough to keep it going throughout the day and night? or does one shake ≠ one crown turn, and i'd need (say) 150-or-so shakes to fully wind? That starts becoming a bit of a pain.
    Your thoughts are very mich welcome.
    thank you.
     
  2. SkunkPrince Jul 31, 2020

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    Don't shake it!

    If it's on a strap, buckle it. If it's on a bracelet, buckle it.

    Stick each forefinger through each side of the band and hold taut. Gently and not too rapidly spin watch by rotating fingers around each other. Reverse direction every so often. If the watch only winds one way, you'll need to determine which way it winds.

    Needless to say, do this over a soft surface, like your bed, in case you fumble and drop the watch.

    Alternately, windmill arm 100 rotations. Reverse direction every so often.
     
  3. janice&fred Jul 31, 2020

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    Re-screw down crown I follow what I was taught by my wife's Rolex trained Godfather about the manual wind precisions but it holds true for any watch with a screw down crown. Pay attention to the clock position of the crown when you are unscrewing it, and see where it pops free from the threads. Make a mental note of the clock position so every time you screw it back in you can start off by aligning the crown a bit before the position so it catches the threads right away and prevents pushing and turning too much to "find" the spot. Let's say the crown pops free at the 2:00 position, then you want to align the crown at about the 1:45 position and then depress and turn to catch the thread right away. This will preserve the threads on the crown and tube, along with a bit of lube once in a while.
     
  4. Professor Aug 1, 2020

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    I generally try to mimic the movement of the wrist . I hold the watch firmly and rock it side to side with a half circular motion. I do that slowly for 30-45 seconds.
    I've done this at night before putting the watch on a shelf till morning, since the slight extra drag of the calendar changing dates can cause a watch to stop if its nearly run down.
    A few manual moves at morning or night is all it needs if the mechanism is free of debris. The rest of the day your natural movements are enough.
    I seldom wear my self winders these days, my favorite manual wind watches are deadly accurate, very thin,weigh next to nothing and ride the wrist better. The exception is my Midland 25 jewel self winder, no calendar, which is also scary accurate, thin, light, and the most comfortable automatic I've run across yet. Only reason I seldom wear it is because I'd like to have it properly serviced before using it as a daily wear. it runs great and self winds easily but I have no idea when it was last serviced if ever.
     
  5. Canuck Aug 1, 2020

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    Why worry about unscrewing the crown to wind it after it runs down, when you have to unscrew the crown to set the time? There are so many bigger things to have to worry about!
     
    Dan S likes this.
  6. Dan S Aug 1, 2020

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    Thank you, I was thinking exactly the same thing. Good to know I'm not alone.