Comments:
Same customer, different watch — case screws rusted out from his sweat
Another watch that has been in all oceans and to every continent (owner an oceanographer works for NOAA).
Watch Winding and Setting
I was told years ago by a watch "expert" to always wind a watch
by moving the crown forwards only and never the back
and forth motion, and to always set a watch by advancing the hands
forward only. Anyone care to elaborate on this theory?
Image added for index
This message has been edited by cazalea on 2024-10-08 20:24:22
No damn idea, I must confess, but I would be interested to read some serious feedbacks on this theory.
Back To Basics: How To Treat A Mechanical Watch To Avoid Damage
not sure I completely agree with his advice - a "jarring" motion if you just wind forward and stop? What does he think happens when you wind forward and then go backwards? by defintion, you stop
also, it's not a clutch that allows winding automatics without end - the outer end of the mainspring "slips" once the spring is fully wound - it's not caught on a hook on the inside of the barrel.
I've read the same somewhere and only set watches going forward
No clue if it's even needed with modern watches lol
This is a good technical question. And my normal advice is this...
When winding the mainspring, keep the watch wound in the same continuous direction. The next question I get commonly; "does this apply for automatic watches and manual watches?" Yes! It does! If the watch winds in both directions (some watches wind in one direction for a separate mainspring for a minute repeater or a chronograph, wind that section continuously. No need to rotate CW and Counter Clock Wise back and forth as this creates inefficiencies, and additional wear.
It's important to set the time only going forwards. When you go backwards when setting the time, many watches, you will actually seize the escapement and thus jar the hairspring, shocking it, sometimes severely. You can sometimes even see this through the sapphire case back - you'll see the balance wheel oscillating normally, then go backwards, you see it seize and stop, then once you go forwards again, then it restarts normally. So go forwards if you can. On Tourbillons, going backwards can sometimes jar the mechanism quite severely! Especially when the Tourbillon doesn't have a hacking mechanism. Now, there are some watches, such as the Audemars Piguet 15202 which has a date mechanism where they recommend that you set the watch by going past midnight, then going backwards to before midnight and going forward again to set the date. In such a case, follow the manufacturer's instruction. Some AP watches also state in the instructions to go past the correct time by one minute and then to go backwards to that minute. So if you want to sent a watch to 10:22, go to 10:23, then go backwards a minute. So in such cases where the manufacturer specifically states this, follow manufacturer instructions.
I think a lot of modern watches have built in functionality so it’s technically okay.
Not sure how right this is. It’s what I heard from a watchmaker when I got my first watch many years ago.
Time setting is always forward because many of the instant day jumps are quite complex and start working way before and after midnight. If you go backwards. It could mess up the gears and springs as it’s only meant to advance. Of course a lot of movements apparently now have a safety for this. However, better to not use the airbag if you don’t have to.
Some movements are designed for this. Like some JLC dual times. You can move the time setting backwards for travel. But for example there is no quick set date function.
Apparently sometimes setting time backward puts a lot of stress on the movement too? Like you’ll see for a speedmaster if you go backwards the watch stops ticking even though there is no hacking seconds. Would it cause damage? Not sure.
As for the winding, I think some older movements can’t have the stem turned backwards during winding. Its just easier to say never do it than read about the movements construction then decide if its okay.
Again I’m not qualified to answer this but it’s what I’ve read or been told.
Time setting is always forward because many of the instant day jumps are quite complex and start working way before and after midnight. If you go backwards. It could mess up the gears and springs as it’s only meant to advance. Of course a lot of movements apparently now have a safety for this. However, better to not use the airbag if you don’t have to.
Some movements are designed for this. Like some JLC dual times. You can move the time setting backwards for travel. But for example there is no quick set date function.
Apparently sometimes setting time backward puts a lot of stress on the movement too? Like you’ll see for a speedmaster if you go backwards the watch stops ticking even though there is no hacking seconds. Would it cause damage? Not sure.
As for the winding, I think some older movements can’t have the stem turned backwards during winding. Its just easier to say never do it than read about the movements construction then decide if its okay.
Again I’m not qualified to answer this but it’s what I’ve read or been told.
I have a vintage Girard-Perregaux Gyromatic with
a date feature that is not quickset, so to advancde the date you need to move the hands forward 24 hours.
If I turn the hands backwards the date moves backwards. I have tried advancing the hands past 2 AM and back to
just before midnight but the date still moves backwards, so I seldom set the date unless it is very close to being
correct.
If I turn the hands backwards the date moves backwards. I have tried advancing the hands past 2 AM and back to
just before midnight but the date still moves backwards, so I seldom set the date unless it is very close to being
correct.
I think the only danger of turning the crown counterclockwise is that it might unscrew from the stem and fall off
But if that’s happens the crown might fall off anyway by itself. They are supposed to be on tight enough, or fixed with Loctite so they don’t do that.
I thought this as well, but I also thought that turning the crown back just a little every now and again would engage other gear teeth when winding ..
I think that is his personal opinion, nothing more; each watch has its own peculiarities
You can only wind a watch forwards, because the ratchet keeps the barrel from unwinding when you take tension off the crown. Turning the crown in the other direction just relieves tension on the stem (and possibly reduces wear on the stem where it goes through the plates.
As you can see by its other scars, this watch has been very badly handled by owners and repairmen alike!
Of course if you have a AS alarm, JLC alarm, IKEPOD, etc you might turn the crown in one direction to wind the movement, and in the other direction to wind the alarm spring. Same thing on some minute repeaters.
OR you will have two crowns on your alarm watch and always forget which one does which function and what’s the right way to turn it!
Many early Seiko automatics had NO manual winding function, and can only be wound by moving the watch around - I call this the Shake-O Seiko movement.
This advice is based on what I was taught when I learned about servicing watches. If you don’t have a date (NICO!) you can go forwards and back as you like for setting the time.
Setting the date is another issue.
If you have a “quick date” set by crown, then you can pull the crown to a different position to set the date, and it doesn’t affect anything else unless you are close to midnight while doing it *(not recommended)*
If you don’t have a quick date and your old watch is semi-quick date, then you can go backwards past midnight (normally to about 9 or 10 pm) and it will catch the date finger and move the date ahead when you move the time past 1 or 2 (when the finger releases).
Repeat by going back to 9 again and forward to 2 and the date will advance another day. If this doesn’t work then your watch DOESN’T have that semi-convenient feature, and you are stuck winding it forward (or back) whichever direction is quickest to get to the day of the month you need. Turn gently, take your time, don’t flip the hands around like crazy.
Or as stated, pick another watch to wear and come back to it in a couple weeks.
These are my personal opinions; I do service watches and I have over 100 watches of my own, and I have not had a date or time setting problem in 25 years of messing with them. Except for forgetting which watch has which function...
Cazalea
Here is a Seiko with the relevant parts shown. Many other watches are laid out similarly:
Same movement with the keyless works removed and laying to the side
Here is a Vacheron that is heavily worn in the winding area. But it’s also 50+ years old and owned by a “bull in the china shop” owner. It’s the only one I can remember with this sort of wear.
As you can see by its other scars, this watch has been very badly handled by owners and repairmen alike!
...I can tolerate scars and scratches on the case, but seeing them on a movement is cringe worthy (!)
Broken off screw heads inside are traumatic!
Different angle, same watch
Another watch that has been in all oceans and to every continent (owner an oceanographer works for NOAA).
Movement and inside parts are fine
Outside not so good!
The setting partsOutside not so good!
The second example you've included (the Seiko) has some real cred. given the owner's background
that wear to the case and crystal isn't damage, it's patina (!) ;-)
It's a common sentiment.
If you don’t turn the crown fast enough to overcome the static friction on the canon pinion you’ll be turning the center wheel. This can be done forward and backward, but people only talk about doing it backward, probably because “back hacking” is useful.
Instantaneous calendars are only charged by the forward motion of the hands, so if you set a watch back across midnight the date might not change. The same thing happens with chiming watches, the hour snail jumps forward instantly on the new hour but changes backward over ~2.5 minutes. If you set the time back to within ~2.5 minutes of the new hour it’ll chime the wrong hour. Naturally, this problem will solve itself in 2.5 minutes (or less).