Welcome to episode 4 of our series helping you safeguard your vintage fob watches, pocket watches and wrist watches alike.
In this instalment we will be discussing the matter of winding and setting ones movement. This can be used as advice for any watch but if you notice that your watch is behaving differently in any way at all then you should come and visit our experienced watch specialists to ensure there is nothing wrong.
Winding and setting the watch
For mechanical manual watches, wind it fully at the same time each day. Be careful not to force the crown. When it stops, or you feel resistance, stop winding. Forcing the crown can damage the setting mechanism. To keep mechanical automatic pieces performing optimally, the watch must be worn every day and ‘be active’.
To power up an automatic timepiece, give the crown about 20 to 40 turns and put the watch on your wrist. If the watch has a screw-down crown, be sure to secure it after the watch has been wound and set to ensure the water-tight integrity of the watch.
If the automatic watch is worn daily, wind it once every two weeks. Wind the watch twice a week if it is not worn daily.
For setting the date, it is strongly advised that the date should never be set between 9pm and 3am, as doing so can damage the movement’s gears and pinions. Be sure to adjust the date outside of this time period.
