WHY TO WIND AN AUTOMATIC WATCH BY HAND?
Even with the most expensive watches on the market, you will need to do some work and maintenance. This is what we call "a relationship", because the wearer does built a personal routine with their watch as time goes by. Do not scare away, this is an enjoyable time passing habit that most watch lovers truly look forward to. Remember that your watch is an accessory, but with a lot of fashion flair. People that do purchase mechanical watches truly relish the engineering behind them. The complications of the mechanics it's something that makes them want to own a timepiece like this in the first place.
Why should you hand wind?
A lot of new customers read the word "automatic" and presume that they will never need to wind their mechanical automatic timepiece. In theory it can be true, but it is wrong in practice. An automatic watch runs on power reserve, for that it will need either ongoing movement of your wrist or a continuous winding box. This is true, keep it on the winding box or on your wrist, granted you will have power reserve, but because this is still a mechanical timepiece, we do recommend hand winding it for more accurate timekeeping. Understand that there are hundreds of tiny parts inside your watch working on this force of kinetic energy, which sometimes needs some correction. And that correction does come if once in a while during a month, you do hand wind your automatic watch, even if you wear it daily. Hand winding will give you more time accuracy and longevity on your mechanism.
When do you hand wind an automatic watch?
There are different instances when you must hand wind an automatic watch.
1. When you just get it. It is brand new from the box, please only hand wind it to get it going. Lots of people as soon as it is out of the box shake it harshly, which can lead to issues in the future.
2. If the watch has not been worn for awhile. It has been seating idle on your drawer or nightstand. In order to "kick start", it we will always recommend hand winding it rather than shaking.
3. If you bump it somewhere while wearing it. Depending on the caliber of the watch, you should always hand wind your watch after a strong shock to it. It helps correct the gears inside and assures for better timekeeping.
4. You have one of those jobs where your wrist does not move a lot, or you do not wear it enough hours to give it enough power reserve. It is always recommended to hand wind it so your watch does not run behind.
How do you hand wind?
No matter the reason why you are hand winding your watch always and never forget to only wind your watch while you are not wearing it. Do not wind your watch when on your wrist. The stem of the crown/knob over a period of time will bend and this damage will shorten the longevity of your timepiece. A wind should last at least 30 rotations of the crown, or about 30 seconds. Gently grab the crown in your thumb and index finger and carefully start rotating the crown in clockwise position. If you must shake an automatic watch, it should always be gentle and in an 180 degree rotation of your wrist right to left. Even though this is less recommended the self sustained gears inside the mechanism will take over.
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