Hey Guys, I am a little newer to owning expensive watches and was curious if you veterans out there have any advice concerning the care of a watch. Especially concerning winding, as in when to wind a watch whether it be automatic or manual and how a watch should be treated when not worn for a period of time. I have a good idea but I really want to make sure I am doing it right. Thanks all!
If you are wearing a manual-wind watch every day, then it is best to always wind it at the same time. If you are only going to wear the watch occasionally, then it really doesn't matter. On an automatic, if you wear it every day, then you probably won't need to wind it after the irst day. There should be enough power reserve to keep you going beyond the overnight hours. If that is not the case, then the watch probably requires service. IMO automatic winders and vintage watches don't get along. Only exception would be for very complicated day-date or moonphase functions that would be a real PITA to set on a regular basis When you are not going to wear a watch for a while, keep it in a box stored in a dry environment. If you live in the tropics like I do, then go buy some silica gel packets for your watch box. Cheap and renewable. Hope this helps, gatorcpa
Why always at the same time? To keep always the same level of power reserve or any other technical reason?
Of 50-ish watches, 30 or so are automatics. Of those, only 3 are modern automatics. I have a 4 head winder, so all 3 modern watches (Omega AT, Breitling CC, and Seiko 009) are on it with one slot for the vintage watch I've set for the next day. All the rest of the vintage automatics are left sitting when not in use. No harm in leaving them idle in the box; just take them out once every 2 or 3 months if they've been serviced to keep the oils moving.
Until it stops (manual wind). I grip the crown as loosely as I can while still being able to wind it. When it reaches the end, the crown simply slips between my fingers. Also, when you wind it the same time every day, you know how many turns it will take. My Speedy takes 10 a day. I zip through 8 spins, and go loose and slow the last 1 or 2. Automatics that are still or have unknown reserve, I spin about 20 times.