stopping an auto

Midget

Midget

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Jun 1, 2002
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Say I let my auto wind down, like if I take my gshock or stunt camping or something. Will this hurt my watch?

How about if I let it set for a prolonged period of time? Other than lubricants getting shifted to one side, can I just manually shake my 5 and then put it back on and it keep good time, etc.?
 
I´m not an expert but have had some experience, this may serve as guidance, and hopefully some one more knowledgable will pitch in.

I´ve heard many times that stopping a mechanical watch will affect it´s precision and long time performance, though I have let it happen to several watches, just how much it has affected them I don´t know.

Some automatic watches can be wound-up by turning the crown, about a dozen turns should do it, the spring mechanism is not exactly like in a regular wind-up watch, you won´t feel resistant telling you it´s fully wound.

You can buy a winder for your automatic watch, it´ll keep it moving so it won´t stop, this gadgets are expensive though.

Edited to add:

Midget, I did a search on watches because I remembered seen something along this lines, and found you did some look-up on winders and such, so you probably know more than I do, hope I could still help.
 
Originally posted by Midget
Say I let my auto wind down, like if I take my gshock or stunt camping or something. Will this hurt my watch?

How about if I let it set for a prolonged period of time? Other than lubricants getting shifted to one side, can I just manually shake my 5 and then put it back on and it keep good time, etc.?
Click to expand...

I don't think so, as my auto was shipped to me unwound. I think if it would be a extended period ther might be lubrication issues, that probably would go sway with some use.

Paul
 
I have only two autos; one marathon SAR and one omega seamaster. It is not uncommon for my omega to go a week or two without being worn, simply because I usually wear the SAR to work (military). I've never had a problem (that I know of) with either watch not being worn for a period of time. I don't shake either, just ensure it's fully wound, then set the correct date and time, and put it on the wrist.
Of course, most autos don't keep perfect time anyways. As stated by Don, a watch winder would be the way to go.

stinky
 
I wear a Bulova automatic. I wear it daily so I dont have a problem with it winding down. When I was buying the watch though a lady that works in the jewelry store was listening as I was talking to the salesman about the automatic feature. She stepped over and mentioned that if you make a habbit of letting the watch wind down such as a watch you only wear occasiionally that it is hard on the capacitor which stores the power inside the watch. She said they have to send in automatics from time to time to have them repaired for just that reason. It is too bad someone does not make an reasonable priced winder. They would not have to be pretty and all wrapped in leatehr just a utilitarian one to keep a few automatics wound while the owner wears a different watch.

Oops I guess I spoke too soon. Here is a pretty inexpensive winder and it was not very difficult to find.

http://www.affordablewatchwinders.com/1-watch-winder-e.html
 
Having an automatic watch wind down (or a manual one) will not hurt anything. The oil inside the watch isn't going anywhere, since there's so little of it. It's much more affected by the forces of surface tension, cohesion and adhesion than the force of gravity. Modern lubricants are pretty good, and won't gum up or anything, especially not over the span of a few days or weeks.

As far as getting a winder, I wouldn't bother with that if I were you. They're good if you have an expensive watch collection with perpetual calendar watches that are a pain to reset if they don't run for a while. For anything short of that, they are unnecessary.

Also, the lady in Chris' store doesn't seem to know a whole lot about what she's selling. There is no such thing as a capacitor inside an automatic watch. Certain self-powered quartz watches such Seiko Kinetics have a capacitor, but this type of watch is not properly referred to as an automatic. There IS a mainspring inside an auto watch, but it isn't damaged by winding down at all.

Anyway, don't sweat it about the oil. Just get it serviced every once in a while and you'll be fine.
 
Mike,

Interesting point. It was a seiko kinetic that she was referring to. I guess I did not stop and consider the difference in the automatic and the motion quartz movements. Thanks for clearing that up.
 
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