Jaeger-LeCoultre

I do not know if I am the only one guilty of what appears at first to be a most useless habit.  A habit wherein I dutifully wind my hand winds and then, lo and behold, stick the poor souls on a winder along with my few automatic watches.  I can almost hear the poor watch say, stop , stop you numbskull, I am not to be confused with a self winding, commonplace contraption that requires no attention from you for days at end; nor can I benefit from whirling on and off constantly.

But I think there is some logic in this but do correct me if I am wrong.  I understand that hand wound movements are adjusted for accuracy in various positions and that hand wound watches, just like their self winding bretheren, gain or lose a few seconds more or less per day depending on their position.  The daily wearing of a watch exposes the watch to various different positions and so during the average day an average mechanical watch is more or less quite accurate.  In the resting state, unless you know the position in which your watch is most likely to gain or lose the least time, you are most likely to see a greater variation in accuracy.  An automatic watch, if placed on a winder, instead of for example, on the bedside table, therefore benefits not only from being wound but also by being exposed to the various positions as it turns and comes to rest at a different position after the winder starts and stops every few minutes.  This movement and then the coming to rest of the winder at different positions is something that a manual wound watch can  benefit from as well.  Of course it will need to be wound every day by hand.

Do any of you good people do this, for this reason?  I am certain that some must.  For what it is worth, I have seen that my hand winds are more accurate when they are placed on the winder than when they are left in a single position when not being worn.

I wear all my watches, not at the same time, as I'm already not VISHNU, but regularly, I change the watch I will wear, and I wind let's say at least once per month each of my watches, and it's ok like this.

I'm not very confident with the idea of having all the time a watch completely wound, due to a Watch Winder...

I'm not sure this is a good thing for the watch.

Therefore, I also think that accuracy has nothing ot see. with a Watch Winder..

Theorically, yes, the watches are set in several positions, but also in several heats...

Will you put your watch in the fridge, and after in the horn to be sure that it will be accurate? LOLOL.

Seriously, I have several JLC watches, and I have no problem of accuracy with them, wearing or not wearing them.

Best.

Nicolas

 

 

 

winder was invented.  But  your statement about not necessarily winding a watch but every few weeks when you are ready to wear it  is a reasonable one and probably cuts down on the wear and tear substantially.   I am going to try and suppress my OCD compulsion to have all the watches running all the time.  And truly, what is the big deal about having a watch tell time a few seconds more or less accurately.......it is a mechanical watch anyway, and knowing the time to the exact second is of no practical importance.

Best Regards.

You perfectly summed what I wanted to say in my very poor english.

best.

Nicolas

if you are able to moderate a watch forum, in English, as well as you do, then clearly  your ability  in the English language is certainly NOT  lacking in the least

Regards,

Too kind from you, but I know my limits in English, and I have more to trun around an iodea than be able to express it directly...
But well, when you get the passion...LOL
Best
nicolas

at how people in different countries can communicate in several languages.  We, here in the US are unfortunately not very good linguists.  My good wife however, who's father is from Spain and mother from Puerto Rico, can converse in Spanish and English.

Best,

Fouad

Hi Fouad,

 

Interesting idea.

 

Some say that A.-L. Breguet’s concept for the original tourbillon was to evenly distribute lubricants within the escapement, rather than cancelling out the effects of gravity which is the usual ‘primary benefit’ discussed. Although modern lubricants are vastly different to what Breguet had available to him, your use of a watch winder for manual wind watches has some merit.

 

Some of my watches are more prone to positional effects on accuracy. After a while you work out which direction to leave them overnight to speed them up or slow them down as required. Now Nicolas has planted another idea in my head regarding temperature…

 

So my habits are: I wind the 8-day movements religiously on Sunday (pun intended). The other manual wind watches have a little spring put in their step every 2 weeks (I can’t yet let them go for 4 weeks like Nicolas).

 

The last few months I tend to wear an individual watch for periods of weeks rather than changing them frequently. There is a different emotional connection and going back to a watch you haven’t worn in weeks is like discovering an old friend. Then again, this all depends on how many watches are in your collection.  

 

I will have to remember to keep my arm in different positions during the day as well!

 

Regards

 

Andrew

Andrew,  thanks for the interesting insights.  I never thought about it this way but now that you mention  it  using an auto winder for a manual wind watch or for that matter using a winder for  an automatic watch that is lacking a tourbillon is indeed in some ways very much like using an "external" toubillon [ET]!  If the purpose of the tourbillon was to negate the effects of gravity and/or to lubricate the parts better, then indeed the winder can accomplish that much more easily and cheaply although clearly not quite as elegantly.

As you know far better than myself, a tourbillon in a wrist watch that is being worn,  is really of little practical value and is more than anything else a way for the watchmakers to showcase their technical prowess.

So using the  input from  you and Nicolas,  I shall heretofore make the following change in the way I have been treating my watches at rest, ie, not on my wrist.  The automatics will stay on the ET.  The manual wind watches will, when not being worn, will be wound every 2 to 4 weeks and they will stay on the ET at all times.

Thanks and Best Regards to all !