Dan S
·Maybe turning the crown occasionally might keep the seal from hardening around the stem and sticking.
Knowing that lubricants will dry out over time, my thought was that moving the parts through the lubricant would 'stir' them or prolong their life, as opposed to allowing them to sit and 'coagulate'.
Given two jars of watch lubricant, would the being used/stirred last longer than one that is allowed to sit for five years?
Since watches generally require service every 5 years, is 5 years the theoretical limit of the life of a lubricant? Or is there any hope for the future development of 'super' lubricants that might extend the service life of a vintage watch?
I don't recall, in the case of those that were repaired. I appreciate your insights into the lubricants, and agree that the car analogy is likely influencing the perception that mechanical watches should be treated similarly. But it seems more than counter-intuitive to me that occasionally winding a watch that would otherwise sit dormant for years (or decades) wouldn't confer at least some advantages.
Might the gears not benefit from an occasional re-positioning? The hands? The crown?
You mentioned grease, and I defer to your knowledge of such details, but doesn't it (like other oils) congeal when cooled to a certain degree? And if so, might watches kept in relatively cool storage not benefit from occasional winding?
Maybe turning the crown occasionally might keep the seal from hardening around the stem and sticking.