Proud to say in all my years owning and mostly wearing dive watches, I never mistakenly left the crown unscrewed. Prior to cleaning, or getting into water, I always make sure the crown is screwed down, though; make it a ritual to check often.
Man Tim…you are truly a wizard!! You’re the first person that I’ve seen leave a video about watch maintenance this detailed. Amazing work, extremely informative! I’ve been conveying to first time watch enthusiasts about “wrist awareness” I scratched my sapphire on another fellow’s sapphire on the walk by 😵💫. Costly lesson, lesson learned tho. I did…so you don’t have to 😂.
I consider Tim Mosso watch royalty, so when I make my comment I don't do so to try and discount his opinion, instead I'm simply offering my own for example. That is in regards to manually wound watch movements, outside of some very exotic scenarios, the danger of overwinding a manual movement is little to none. With 99.99999% of manual movements there's a piece of steel that winds around a post in a barrel, when you turn the crown you wind that piece of steel tight, when it runs out of slack it is fully wrapped around the post. That's it. Outside of taking a pair of pliers to it and exerting unnatural amounts of torque, you're never going to overwind a manual movement. Just turn the crown with natural strength until it stops, then you're done. No fear. (source: decades of watch repair experience)
That's all fine and generally valid - nothing wrong with the observation. But I speak from experience, and I've seen mechanical failures. Sometimes the mainspring is the casualty, sometimes a person rams past the stopworks - which is a finger follower, not the spring around the arbor - of a fusee Lange, and sometimes the downstream train gets affected. And on vintage watches, well, I've seen a busted 6239 Paul Newman from aggressive winding. If in doubt, extra care and slower winding is a can't-lose precaution. Best, Tim
@@the1916companywatchreviews Well, like I said, outside of some "very exotic"... ie, a fusee Lange or a PN Daytona... just wind your watch. I'm sure you've serviced thousands of 17j Elgin or Bulova watches from the 30/40s with their original mainspring still in place. Surviving full winds daily for decades, tens of thousands of times. Nothing to worry about is my motto. But when you're wearing a 100K timepiece, then sure, be careful, not a bad idea there. The more opinions and points the better I think! Thanks for sharing Tim!
@@GRAFHC We've got a lot of those $100K timepieces, so I warn our clients first and foremost. De Bethune and certain high-flying Patek models (e.g., 5207) use an automatic-like slipping mainsprings to eliminate the low-probability winding accident on manuals. Best, Tim
@@the1916companywatchreviews Hello again Tim, I think it's really impressive you taking time to respond to comments such as mine, I should have mentioned that before, I really appreciate it. And, you know, you make a really good point here. I'm typing from the perspective of an "old timer" that's been in the watch business for decades and typically worked with pieces that might have $200 or $300 in value. The approach an owner should take when wearing a 1955 gold filled Lord Elgin is going to be a lot different than one wearing a limited run MB&F for instance, as it should be. From the perspective of a someone like you who often deals with the most prestigious brands and models ever made, it actually makes a great deal of sense to apply a foundation of awareness and precaution across the board. Not because all watches can't take abuse, but instead because some watches can't take abuse. Why muddy the waters trying to differentiate between those cases when you can just apply extra care towards every watch. So to that, I would say you've changed my mind on this. While I think from a technical perspective there's little concern, there's also no real reason to not be careful, and there's no reason to overcomplicate the process and risk losing your new timepiece for a year and a half while it's off for service. Again, I appreciate you and your time, it means a lot. Take care of yourself and be well!
Screw-down crown action is usually linked to the winding, so on a mechanical wind, don't wind until resistance, or you have nowhere to go when doing a screw-down; Automatics should be okay for the reason that you generally can't overwind them.
From what I read and heard from watchmakers. It does more harm than good and doesn't make the watch any more water resistance by over tightening. I Personally just tighten it a little bit so it's snug and that's it
The Mido Cal. 80 Big Date movement (ETA C07.651/ETA C07.651+) is curious in that the quick-set date function is safe outside of 22:00 to 02:00. That's only 4 hours (one-sixth of a day) where you can possibly break it. More common automatic movements will have a larger window, sometimes as much as 18:00 to 06:00, for example.
I'm a big fan of Andreas Strehler's approach to perpetual calendars of making the mechanism as close to indestructible as possible. Being able to set in both directions, no danger zone, etc. Ideally all new watch complications being designed should have a reasonable amount of idiot-proofing.
I understand this is general advice, not a technical deep dive. Having said that, for chronographs, I see no issue to run a chronograph for 12, 48, 72+ hours at a time. I imagine it is the overall cycles of the meshing lateral clutch wheel that causes wear, rather than a limited, continuous period. i.e. If you run the chronograph all year, there is unnecessary wear, if you run it for 120 hours a time (5 days), but it is stopped for the other 360 days of the year, I don't see an issue. And having said THAT, just enjoy your watch. Run the chrono if you wish. Service it when the time comes. Replace the gears that need replacing, and enjoy it for another 5-10 years. Put a third way, I don't think the overall duty cycle duration matters. I don't believe heat soak is an issue in mechanical watch gears. Though I'd love to see a movement with so much torque that could be a risk.
“people love to break chronographs”
😂 - So true.
Tim is a gem.
Proud to say in all my years owning and mostly wearing dive watches, I never mistakenly left the crown unscrewed. Prior to cleaning, or getting into water, I always make sure the crown is screwed down, though; make it a ritual to check often.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge so we can avoid breaking our expensive watches. Great idea for a series and look forward to the next one!
Tim is a wealth of knowledge! Awesome content my man
Looking forward to this series. Off to a good start!
Man Tim…you are truly a wizard!! You’re the first person that I’ve seen leave a video about watch maintenance this detailed. Amazing work, extremely informative! I’ve been conveying to first time watch enthusiasts about “wrist awareness” I scratched my sapphire on another fellow’s sapphire on the walk by 😵💫. Costly lesson, lesson learned tho. I did…so you don’t have to 😂.
Great content Tim. I just bought my first manual wide movement and learned something helpful today
One trick to prevent overwinding is to let your fingers slip when you're winding it. Don't have a locked grip, just enough to let it click.
This is great, its like a What Not to Do and Tim's SOTC all in one.
Short but long enough for a listen…. Like it
Great video Tim! Keep em comming!
As I have watches in my herd across all covered categories here, I found this video very helpful. Its now in my Favorites list. Thanks Tim!
My pleasure. Thanks for supporting the videos across both channels.
Best,
Tim
I consider Tim Mosso watch royalty, so when I make my comment I don't do so to try and discount his opinion, instead I'm simply offering my own for example. That is in regards to manually wound watch movements, outside of some very exotic scenarios, the danger of overwinding a manual movement is little to none. With 99.99999% of manual movements there's a piece of steel that winds around a post in a barrel, when you turn the crown you wind that piece of steel tight, when it runs out of slack it is fully wrapped around the post. That's it. Outside of taking a pair of pliers to it and exerting unnatural amounts of torque, you're never going to overwind a manual movement. Just turn the crown with natural strength until it stops, then you're done. No fear. (source: decades of watch repair experience)
That's all fine and generally valid - nothing wrong with the observation. But I speak from experience, and I've seen mechanical failures. Sometimes the mainspring is the casualty, sometimes a person rams past the stopworks - which is a finger follower, not the spring around the arbor - of a fusee Lange, and sometimes the downstream train gets affected. And on vintage watches, well, I've seen a busted 6239 Paul Newman from aggressive winding. If in doubt, extra care and slower winding is a can't-lose precaution.
Best,
Tim
@@the1916companywatchreviews Well, like I said, outside of some "very exotic"... ie, a fusee Lange or a PN Daytona... just wind your watch. I'm sure you've serviced thousands of 17j Elgin or Bulova watches from the 30/40s with their original mainspring still in place. Surviving full winds daily for decades, tens of thousands of times. Nothing to worry about is my motto. But when you're wearing a 100K timepiece, then sure, be careful, not a bad idea there.
The more opinions and points the better I think!
Thanks for sharing Tim!
@@GRAFHC We've got a lot of those $100K timepieces, so I warn our clients first and foremost. De Bethune and certain high-flying Patek models (e.g., 5207) use an automatic-like slipping mainsprings to eliminate the low-probability winding accident on manuals.
Best,
Tim
@@the1916companywatchreviews Hello again Tim, I think it's really impressive you taking time to respond to comments such as mine, I should have mentioned that before, I really appreciate it. And, you know, you make a really good point here. I'm typing from the perspective of an "old timer" that's been in the watch business for decades and typically worked with pieces that might have $200 or $300 in value. The approach an owner should take when wearing a 1955 gold filled Lord Elgin is going to be a lot different than one wearing a limited run MB&F for instance, as it should be.
From the perspective of a someone like you who often deals with the most prestigious brands and models ever made, it actually makes a great deal of sense to apply a foundation of awareness and precaution across the board. Not because all watches can't take abuse, but instead because some watches can't take abuse. Why muddy the waters trying to differentiate between those cases when you can just apply extra care towards every watch.
So to that, I would say you've changed my mind on this. While I think from a technical perspective there's little concern, there's also no real reason to not be careful, and there's no reason to overcomplicate the process and risk losing your new timepiece for a year and a half while it's off for service.
Again, I appreciate you and your time, it means a lot. Take care of yourself and be well!
i hope he got watchbox equity
Wonderful video Tim, I look forward to your in depth pt 2 review of my Ball engineer II magneto S
We love you
Great video!
Beautiful script, very humorous video, great work 👍👍
Thanks for all the lessons. I love this series❤
Great tips Tim! Love it!! Best, Amintas
Noted. Will stick to Garmin, Casio, & Quartz 😅
Legit
What about running a chronograph with a column wheel vs cam mechanism.
Makes no difference. It's the clutch type that bears on sustained-run durability.
Best,
Tim
I sense the 1916 transition in the background music, same as Jacks vid.
Maybe, but sometimes we just update the style.
Best,
Tim
Screw-down crown action is usually linked to the winding, so on a mechanical wind, don't wind until resistance, or you have nowhere to go when doing a screw-down; Automatics should be okay for the reason that you generally can't overwind them.
Ok, so if my dive watch starts letting in water -> dive deeper and deeper until it stops leaking!
Note to self: don’t buy a minute-repeater.
So you're saying that a minute repeater watch can work like a Bond-watch, helping you escape from the bad guys by setting it up to explode?
I don't understand why someone would use that chronograph under water. Only a few chronographs can operate under water. Like the Tag Heuer Aquagraph
Thanks Tim, if one day I can afford all these watches - I'll make sure not to break them.
Could we get a How-To for keeping your watch safe from enemy soldiers as a POW so as to be able to hand it down to your son as an heirloom?
You think TM would do a better job than Christopher Walken??
The voice of horology.
Who else came for the nttd? 😢
Several serious inaccuracies. Take it from a watchmaker.
please explain
@@mark_n_r Crickets...
Best,
Tim
I was the 69th thumbs up.
Is there ever a risk of over-tightening the screw-down crown?
From what I read and heard from watchmakers. It does more harm than good and doesn't make the watch any more water resistance by over tightening. I Personally just tighten it a little bit so it's snug and that's it
you can strip the threads
It whispers, but it doesn’t scream. Beautiful ❤️
The watch doesn’t scream, but the owner surely will if the whisper is not heard.🤣
First time seeing Tim's face! Cool
"You took away 6 minutes of my life and I want them back." -- Hans Moleman
The Mido Cal. 80 Big Date movement (ETA C07.651/ETA C07.651+) is curious in that the quick-set date function is safe outside of 22:00 to 02:00. That's only 4 hours (one-sixth of a day) where you can possibly break it. More common automatic movements will have a larger window, sometimes as much as 18:00 to 06:00, for example.
Brilliant Tim! Always great to have some of the basic do's and dont's with various complications. Continuing to enjoy this series!
I'm a big fan of Andreas Strehler's approach to perpetual calendars of making the mechanism as close to indestructible as possible. Being able to set in both directions, no danger zone, etc. Ideally all new watch complications being designed should have a reasonable amount of idiot-proofing.
I understand this is general advice, not a technical deep dive. Having said that, for chronographs, I see no issue to run a chronograph for 12, 48, 72+ hours at a time. I imagine it is the overall cycles of the meshing lateral clutch wheel that causes wear, rather than a limited, continuous period. i.e. If you run the chronograph all year, there is unnecessary wear, if you run it for 120 hours a time (5 days), but it is stopped for the other 360 days of the year, I don't see an issue. And having said THAT, just enjoy your watch. Run the chrono if you wish. Service it when the time comes. Replace the gears that need replacing, and enjoy it for another 5-10 years.
Put a third way, I don't think the overall duty cycle duration matters. I don't believe heat soak is an issue in mechanical watch gears. Though I'd love to see a movement with so much torque that could be a risk.
Great information, thank you for sharing. 🤘🤠
Love this series. Can’t wait to see what is next.
Great stuff! Can you over wind a spring drive watch?
As far as I know, you can if it's a manual wind example, but those are rare. Automatics cannot be overwound.
Best,
Tim
Great feature, keep em coming.
So how do you tun the watch back one hour every autumn on a perpetual calendar?
Hacking seconds if you have it.
Best,
Tim
Hi Tim
Mine is the Omega Louis Brandt perpetual, second series from 1994 ish
and don't drop it