Hi folks! Received a Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional as a present to mark a milestone birthday. (My previous watch, which has served for almost 15 years on various nylon bands, is a Citizen Eco-Drive Chandler.) Have been unable to get to a shop to adjust the bracelet to my wrist so I've been wearing the Nato strap, which I find very comfortable. Although I'm taking reasonable care of the watch, I'm not intending to keep it in a drawer or treat it like a museum piece. I'm going to use it, wear it, and enjoy it. This is my first manual watch, so (of course) I was surfing around and reading various bits of info. (The HODINKEE Reference Points article was great!) One bit of guidance I read seems like bunk to me, but I wanted to ask the group. Here's what some articles are claiming: While winding a watch is a simple process, there are a couple things to be aware of. First of all, wind the watch off of your wrist. While it may be tempting to give the crown a few twirls while you’re surfing the Web at work, the angle can be awkward and put lateral stress on the delicate winding stem. There are a number of other articles and watch dealer sites that repeat similar admonishments. It seems to me that (1) it'd be difficult to put more stress on the winding mechanism with it on your wrist vs off, (2) the winding mechanism is well seated within and supported by the watch case, (3) the tips of my fleshy fingers can't be torquing the crown in any meaningful way in one position vs the other, (4) the winding stem can't be all that delicate, and (5) did astronauts really need to take their Speedys off their wrists to wind them like delicate jewelry during spaceflight and risk them floating out the airlock? (OK, the last one is a little goofy, but still.) What's your call: solid advice or complete bunk?
I find it difficult enough to wind off my wrist, so winding with it on is near impossible for me. I also take the watch off at night, so when I pick it up in the morning to put it on, it makes sense to wind it then, it gets wound to full daily. Given I’ve seen this info in numerous places, I’m not willing to risk damage unnecessarily. I’m sure one of the more experienced members will be long shortly to confirm/deny the theory of why.
If your wrist is the diameter of a pencil, you won’t put much stress on the crown if you wind it on your wrist. Otherwise, yes, why put unnecessary torque on it when taking it off and winding it is such a simple task?
It’s like checking to make sure another car is stopping at a 4 way stop before you go through it. The majority of the time your ok... but your running the chance of something bad happening that is easily avoided.
It's not good watch hygiene to wind on your wrist and no need to have to do it. Puts stress on the crown, tube and bracelet that isn't necessary.
I don’t find it possible to do even if I wanted to. I always need to wrap the crown with my shirt or something to get a good grip
The article might be more applicable to those with screw down crowns like Rolex. When the stem is out and exposed, it's cantilevered out and the angle of your fingers going down and out would put undue stress on it.
Just wind it, had one for 7 years and wind it on wrist, off wrist. It’s easy so don’t over think it. Wind it to you can’t wind it anymore.
Surely the crown and assembly should be engineered strong enough so one could wind on wrist if they wanted to?
Just grab the dial in the middle and wind. Are we really doing this a thread about winding a watch And Hodinkee While winding a watch is a simple process, there are a couple things to be aware of. First of all, wind the watch off of your wrist. While it may be tempting to give the crown a few twirls while you’re surfing the Web at work, the angle can be awkward and put lateral stress on the delicate winding stem. How about I just bend my flexible manly wrist and negate the lateral stress on the tool watch I bought. Surprised they don’t have us wearing them like a nurses watch on a fucking broach........
I take it out before getting into shower, so after getting out of shower, before putting it back, I wind it, those who does not take shower everyday or does take with the watch may wind it one the wrist taking necessary precaution to not to break the wrist or the watch .
I wind my manual watches on my wrist. Have been doing so for many years. I have never broken a stem, or exerted undue force leading to metal fatigue that would cause a stem to fracture. This is how to do it. Put your left hand on your chest, just below your right clavicle (collar bone). Take your right hand and find your watch on your chest, with the forefinger and thumb, turn the little knob that falls naturally to your grip. It's not rocket surgery, and there's no huge "twisting force" or "lateral stress". I agree with @STANDY, the Hodinkee article is bullshit.
I sadly don’t own a Speedy, but I used to sometimes give my manual winders a tweak now and then on the wrist. What stopped me was the pain of catching hairs in my fingers as I did so, giving them an unintended tweak at the same time. Winding a watch is just one of life's little old-fashioned rituals and a little joy for me. Pick up the watch, wind it, put it on. Job done.
I haven’t had a Speedy very long but I do have a Zodiac Seachron (Val. 72) that I bought in 1972 and I never had any problems with it and I don’t recall paying much attention to when I wound it. Just got it back from service and there were no issues. Morning or evening when you take it off seems the logical time but unless I heard from a watchmaker, as opposed to Hodinkee, that it’s a problem, I wouldn’t worry.
“You can wind whilst on your wrist, And enjoy your quiet tryst If you do we must insist That you please enjoy Frank Liszt”
Depends how long you plan to keep the watch. You will put unnecessary stress into the keyless works, stress is proportional to strain. If you don't wear a watch day in, day out, that's probably OK, but if you plan to keep it on your wrist daily for the next 30 yrs, just take it off your wrist. These two crowns used to look the same - the worn one was a wrist-winder, the pristine one was off-the-wrist winding only. I am joking, but if your fingers can do that, then metal on metal can do much worse. Don't rely on your lubrication. All friction produces particles you don't want in your watch. I build sterile clean rooms, what I know about particle shedding leads me to take my watches off - unless it doesn't have a crown. Ultimately it's up you. p.s. good question, thoughtfully raised, and you did some research first - your Speedy is in excellent hands.