Mechanical watch maintenence??

Midget

Midget

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I read that oils and fluids in an automatic watch will settle or become off place if you leave it sitting too long in a single position.

Is this phenomenon true for mechanical watches as well? I wouldn't think that lubrication would be as important b/c of less moving parts, but I don't really know.

Thanks.
 
Anything with moving parts needs to move those parts once in a while. A mechanical watch SHOULD be more tolerant of being parked for an extended period, but it still needs a little exercise every now and then.
 
Um, an automatic is a mechanical watch. I'm going to assume that you mean hand-wound watches as opposed to self-winding (automatic).

Anyway, what you heard is B.S. That oil's not going anywhere, even if the watch isn't running. Why? In a film of oil that thin, the force of gravity is negligible compared to the cohesive force between the metal and the oil. The amount of oil used in a watch movement is tiny, and it's not like a car engine which circulates its oil.

Having said that, it doesn't hurt to run a watch once in a while, but it doesn't help much either. I've never heard of modern oils used in movements "gumming up" from lack of motion; they are extremely good for their application.

Also, a handwound watch doesn't necessarily have fewer moving parts. Depending on which complications it has, it can have way more parts than an auto. Check out Patek Philippe's Caliber 89 (ok, that's a pocket watch) or anything with a minute repeater, tourbillon, rattrappante, or in some cases all 3 in the same watch.

The rotor and winding mechanism of an auto aren't very sensitive to lubrication. The escapement is, and this is found in all mechanical watches. So anything that applies to autos as far as lube is concerned also goes for handwounds.

Anyway, don't sweat it if you leave a watch sitting around for a long time. Even if the oil was unevenly distributed on the bearing surface due to creep from sitting around for a year, it's still confined within the proper place. It's not like it's going to end up on the bottom of the case or something. So as soon as it starts moving again, it will be evenly distributed.

Of course, nobody who owns a mechanical watch is going to let it sit around that long anyway, they're just way too cool to play with...
 
As stated previously, an automatic watch *is* a mechanical watch.

Claims of oils congealing used to be true when fish oils were used. Todays watch oils are mostly synthetic and don't have the same problems. That is not to say that watchwinders are obsolete. Far from it. They come into their own when you have many mechanical watches in your rotation. It's nice to be able to just put one on and wear it without worrying about setting it. Some mechanical watches with complications can be darn difficult to set each time they stop. This is especially true of perpetual calendar watches.
 
Very informative.

Thanks guys. Cleared up some clouds.


Take care.

;)
 
I should add that while don't know a whole lot about watch "maintenence", I do know a little about watch maintenance. Man, and it was right in the title of the thread, too! I can't believe that one eluded me at first...

Just kiddin', I may have a made a typo myself at some point in my life.
 
Several years ago my father found my late grandfathers Omega DeVille in a cupboard. The watch looks like it was never worn and, being from the sixties, it must have spent decades doing nothing. Yet after winding it, it worked just fine, and I wear it frequently.
 
I have left wind-ups and automatics alone for years without any problems, My good ones I take for service every once in a while (about 5 to 10 years intervals), full sevice includes dissambling, cleaning, lubricating and putting back together, anything worn is replaced (usually just seals, maybe also glass and band), service for my Mido automatic goes for about $90 U.S. with the Swatch distributor. Service for one of my simple wind-ups at a local shop goes for about $25 U.S. I´m in Mexico, U.S. may be diferent.
 
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