Good analogy. I've also heard that watches "prefer" to be wound by the rotor and "not so much" via the crown. I imagine both scenarios are fine as long as you don't do either in the extreme (constantly over-wind, or leave it unwound for extended periods).
Exactly right! The wear and tear on the crown, stem, stem seals, and manual winding mechanism is huge on a watch that gets constantly re-set every fortnight. Leave it running if you like, either way something is going to wear.
Totally disagree with you on watch winders and your car analogy. You said it yourself, as long as you keep your car serviced it is made to run 24/7. You would need far more service intervals if you ran your car 24/7 ( much more expense). You stated Rolex watches are made to run 24/7. Where did you get this information? Placing a watch on a watch winder would require more service intervals and depending on the watch , at a greater expense. Servicig a car and a watch will keep your watch running. But why wear your mechanism down just to keep them running and in time when you can set your watch and wind it when you are going ro use it? I can only see using a watch winder with a watch that has major complications like a perpetual calander watch.
You are 100% correct. Oddly enough I was just discussing this very subject with a friend last week. He is a retired mechanical engineer and watchmaker of 35+ years. His answer, life is too short. If you absolutely want a watch winder then get a watch winder, just know that you are causing more wear and tear on the movement and it will require servicing more often than if you put it away and let it stop. The only caveat is if were talking about timepieces with perpetual calendars or other grand complications.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Watches are designed to run 24/7 because they are designed to always tell you the time accurately no matter where or when - surely that's obvious, they are designed and expected to run 24/7? It's only us watch enthusiasts who think they are designed to be wound, worn for a day, then left to run down. Do that 100 times per year for 3 years and you'll have stripped the threads in your crown tube, and knackered the hand winding gears, and the watch will need repair.... ask a watchmaker which gears are the most knackered when they open a watch that's been worn like that. I do appreciate your opinion though - very divisive subject and nobody has empirical evidence for either side of the argument.
Yeah, but NOT driving your car, leaving it parked for 3 months, will dry up the oil piston seals. I've experienced this first hand and when starting it after an extended interval you can hear the piston rings squealing. I think keeping a watch wound is fine (not over wound), and leaving it unwound for a bit is fine too, but remember also that pulling out the crown and manually winding it is also giving it some wear.
As a Breitling A23322 owner a watch winder is a must. The watch does not have a quick date function. Having a winder allows me to just grab and go as opposed to manually setting the date by winding the day change over every 24 hours for each click of the date wheel. Also if you have a perpetual calendar, or moon phase it is wise to use a winder. My ideal watch rotation is keep the watches that interest me, and sell the ones no longer worn by lack of interest unless it has special meaning or was a gift. 1-3 watches per day depending on where and what I am doing, I love variety so generally if I choose I don't have to wear the same watch more than once per month. Everyone is different, you should change the title to "MY" perfect watch rotation.
I wear one watch 24/7 and it’s the 2018 Omega Seamaster 300. I imagine this would be like keeping the watch on a winder. No issues in the 3 years of almost constant use. I never really put too much thought into it.
Great video. I have had winders for years and my watches are all fine ,and no stripped crowns. Mine are set to 650 turns per day both directions ,then resting for 12 hrs. Sorry but the use of the word Guys is really frustrating. 🙈🙈🙈
Good video. For me, I love the interaction with my watches as part of the joy of ownership of setting and adjusting as I pick one for the day. I don't want a winder for that reason. Even my collection of old Seiko's with the 7S26 movement that doesn't have hand winding or hacking. Part of the joy of having a mechanical watch is the interaction of setting and adjusting for the day. I typically wear one watch per day depending on what I am doing that day.
It's a nice morning ritual to choose a watch from my humble collection of 8 and set it. I'm against watch winders for this reason and the completely unnecessary wear and tear they cause.
Easy answer and base on my usage experience: If you decide to use a winder, make sure you set to correct setting(each watch has their own TPD setting) and do not use cheap ones. If you decide not to use a winder, make use you store them nicely and fully wind your watch from time to time
But they're designed to run 24/7 for years, so are we simply saying that the service interval is 5 years instead of 20 years? Or are we saying you'll never need to service the watch if you hardly wear it? either way has its pros and cons?
I use 5 watches that runs all the time. They are on a watchwinder 3 - 4 days a week and I wear them the other days 4 - 7 hours a day. If you walk a lot and swing your arms back and forth then after 400 - 600 swings the watch will go from 24 hours left of charge to fully charge if it runs 42 - 48 hours on a full charge. I have 2 watches with a powerreserve indicator, so it does not take many swings to make it fully charge. It does not wear your watch, as you say, too much that it runs 24/7.If you let a watch run 1 week a mounths then after 10 - 12 years the oil is bad. Just because if the age of the oil. Wear it all the time and the oil is worn out after 7 - 10 years. Now the parts get less worn when not wearing the watch ofcourse, but if you get your watch service at an AD, the servive price includes woth parts in the movement, and you therefor pay the same regardless of have the parts are in your watch. Beside. To wind you watch often manuly is hard on the chrown and on the steam and the, we say klinkehjul" i danish. (the wheel that makes the rotor turn around). So I also say just them them run all the time. However if you service the watch at an un autorized dealer it is best the fewer parts is needed to be replaced in the movement. I often see that getiitng the prober seals for a watch is sometimes hard. Especcaly on watches under the Swatchgroup because the don´t say what gaskets to install. Perhaås you ca mesure them, but I have seen many watches where the gaskets were not fitted in proberly causing the watch to be exposted to water too easely.
Thank you for your very considered response. I wholeheartedly concur that the watch should serviced after 10 years whether it is worn 24/7 or only 1 day per week. The oils get depleted either way, as well as the seals.
I also usually keep two at a time out of the safe. My daily - 116710LN - is always out and worn exclusively when working. Other pieces come out for a week or two at a time and travel with me for layovers - 126618LB today in Japan where it’s actually safe to walk around flashing a chunk of yellow gold.
The great watch winder pros and cons debate has been running ( no pun intended ) for donkeys years , doubt it will ever end. Ok I can see the benefit if your collection is lets say 5 or 6 watches and you like to wear them all regularly , whether through guilt of having a load of money sitting idle or thats your total collection of watches and you want to grab and go, well thats just fine by me. But if you have a stupid amount of watches ( that will be me then ) and no particular rotation , then winders are pointless as I dont plan ahead thinking " hmm I will wear my yacht master " in three days time so better chuck it on the winder. Some days I will wear a piece all day , sometimes for 2 or 3 days. Some days I will wear 2 or 3 different pieces a day , although which particular watch change isn't planned I just have a rummage though to see what tickles my fancy and crank it up a few turns. So after that ramble I will say that I have nothing aginst winders but I will say don't buy cheap ! do your homework.
@keithburford8589 I hear you Keith. I don't use a winder myself, but I have also yet to see or hear of a single watchmaker provide physical evidence of a watch ruined by a winder. Although there are plenty of movements being damaged by over use of the manual wind mechanism, and worn crown threads
@@TheRandomWatchDude This is the bit I can't get my head around. Quite a few respected watchmakers are against watch winders so ultimately they are throwing work ( money ) down the drain. Always baffled me has that one, unless of course they are stacked out with repairs.
@keithburford8589 yes agreed, they are against winders with no evidence that winders damage watches. Maybe the watchmaker's union is protecting them from having to work overtime servicing all these watches that need a service because they've been on a winder!!!
@@TheRandomWatchDude Yeah but we will never know. I suppose the only true test , assuming all the movements materials etc are of exactly the same grade is to have , lets say a couple of brand new Datejusts , stick one on a winder for 10 years and wear the other for 10 years , then come service time do a full strip down and macro comparison, bit long winded that ha ha.
The car analogy is bad, in that cars are not made to idle for extended periods and watches only run at one speed. It would be more akin to running your standby generator 24/7 when you only need it a few days each month. As a serious hobbyist watchmaker of several years, I don’t see watch winders as a huge threat to a watch’s health, just an unnecessary one. You can usually tell a heavily used watch when servicing one, due to all the dirt inside them. Where does the dirt come from in a sealed watch? From the slow wear of the moving components grinding away inside. This dirt is then attracted and sticks to the oils, which accelerates the wear. It doesn’t matter if the watch is a literal daily wear or lived its life mostly on a winder. So in conclusion, a winder is no worse for a watch than wearing it every day. But if you are not wearing it every day, why opt for the wear? The crown tube concern is just unfounded fear on so many levels. 1) A watch enthusiast should know how to screw a crown in without destroying it, being as your average non-enthusiast can. 2) You are still going to need to adjust the time on occasion. 3) I’ve replaced one crown tube in the last… maybe 5 years. But a well worn watch will almost always need to the barrel arbor bearing addressed or the rotor bearing replaced, if not both. In extreme cases, you’ll see a lot of pivot wear as well. I can tell you that modern pivots are not hardened and as robust as vintage pivots. In defense of winder users I will say this. If you have a semi-modern watch and have it serviced by the factory, they are going to replace anything that is worn for a flat service fee.
@austin73 thanks for your very considered response. Nice to see a pragmatic, real-world view rather than an emotive one. I rarely use a winder myself but have never seen a reason why others should not if they intend wearing the watch after 2 or 3 days. It makes sense to leave it running.
False. Your watch is designed for the crown to be used a few times a week without any problems. However, the constant movement of the watch winder is not natural and causes completely unnecessary wear. Any competent watchmaker will confirm this.
Good analogy. I've also heard that watches "prefer" to be wound by the rotor and "not so much" via the crown. I imagine both scenarios are fine as long as you don't do either in the extreme (constantly over-wind, or leave it unwound for extended periods).
Exactly right! The wear and tear on the crown, stem, stem seals, and manual winding mechanism is huge on a watch that gets constantly re-set every fortnight. Leave it running if you like, either way something is going to wear.
Totally disagree with you on watch winders and your car analogy. You said it yourself, as long as you keep your car serviced it is made to run 24/7. You would need far more service intervals if you ran your car 24/7 ( much more expense). You stated Rolex watches are made to run 24/7. Where did you get this information? Placing a watch on a watch winder would require more service intervals and depending on the watch , at a greater expense. Servicig a car and a watch will keep your watch running. But why wear your mechanism down just to keep them running and in time when you can set your watch and wind it when you are going ro use it? I can only see using a watch winder with a watch that has major complications like a perpetual calander watch.
You are 100% correct. Oddly enough I was just discussing this very subject with a friend last week. He is a retired mechanical engineer and watchmaker of 35+ years. His answer, life is too short. If you absolutely want a watch winder then get a watch winder, just know that you are causing more wear and tear on the movement and it will require servicing more often than if you put it away and let it stop. The only caveat is if were talking about timepieces with perpetual calendars or other grand complications.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Watches are designed to run 24/7 because they are designed to always tell you the time accurately no matter where or when - surely that's obvious, they are designed and expected to run 24/7? It's only us watch enthusiasts who think they are designed to be wound, worn for a day, then left to run down. Do that 100 times per year for 3 years and you'll have stripped the threads in your crown tube, and knackered the hand winding gears, and the watch will need repair.... ask a watchmaker which gears are the most knackered when they open a watch that's been worn like that. I do appreciate your opinion though - very divisive subject and nobody has empirical evidence for either side of the argument.
@@TheRandomWatchDude By the way, you do shut off your car when you bring it home? So I guess they do not run 24/7 either.
Yeah, but NOT driving your car, leaving it parked for 3 months, will dry up the oil piston seals. I've experienced this first hand and when starting it after an extended interval you can hear the piston rings squealing. I think keeping a watch wound is fine (not over wound), and leaving it unwound for a bit is fine too, but remember also that pulling out the crown and manually winding it is also giving it some wear.
As a Breitling A23322 owner a watch winder is a must. The watch does not have a quick date function. Having a winder allows me to just grab and go as opposed to manually setting the date by winding the day change over every 24 hours for each click of the date wheel. Also if you have a perpetual calendar, or moon phase it is wise to use a winder. My ideal watch rotation is keep the watches that interest me, and sell the ones no longer worn by lack of interest unless it has special meaning or was a gift. 1-3 watches per day depending on where and what I am doing, I love variety so generally if I choose I don't have to wear the same watch more than once per month. Everyone is different, you should change the title to "MY" perfect watch rotation.
I wear one watch 24/7 and it’s the 2018 Omega Seamaster 300. I imagine this would be like keeping the watch on a winder. No issues in the 3 years of almost constant use. I never really put too much thought into it.
Rated to go for 10 years between service! Those movements are proving to be extremely reliable
Great video.
I have had winders for years and my watches are all fine ,and no stripped crowns.
Mine are set to 650 turns per day both directions ,then resting for 12 hrs.
Sorry but the use of the word Guys is really frustrating. 🙈🙈🙈
Good video. For me, I love the interaction with my watches as part of the joy of ownership of setting and adjusting as I pick one for the day. I don't want a winder for that reason. Even my collection of old Seiko's with the 7S26 movement that doesn't have hand winding or hacking. Part of the joy of having a mechanical watch is the interaction of setting and adjusting for the day. I typically wear one watch per day depending on what I am doing that day.
I couldn't agree with you more.
Love the Tuis’ in the background!
It's a nice morning ritual to choose a watch from my humble collection of 8 and set it. I'm against watch winders for this reason and the completely unnecessary wear and tear they cause.
Easy answer and base on my usage experience:
If you decide to use a winder, make sure you set to correct setting(each watch has their own TPD setting) and do not use cheap ones.
If you decide not to use a winder, make use you store them nicely and fully wind your watch from time to time
Very sound advice, thank you
Wrong take; placing it on winders will cause uneccesary wear and tear on the watch, if it does die out during a rotation that is perfectly fine.
But they're designed to run 24/7 for years, so are we simply saying that the service interval is 5 years instead of 20 years? Or are we saying you'll never need to service the watch if you hardly wear it? either way has its pros and cons?
I use 5 watches that runs all the time. They are on a watchwinder 3 - 4 days a week and I wear them the other days 4 - 7 hours a day. If you walk a lot and swing your arms back and forth then after 400 - 600 swings the watch will go from 24 hours left of charge to fully charge if it runs 42 - 48 hours on a full charge. I have 2 watches with a powerreserve indicator, so it does not take many swings to make it fully charge. It does not wear your watch, as you say, too much that it runs 24/7.If you let a watch run 1 week a mounths then after 10 - 12 years the oil is bad. Just because if the age of the oil. Wear it all the time and the oil is worn out after 7 - 10 years. Now the parts get less worn when not wearing the watch ofcourse, but if you get your watch service at an AD, the servive price includes woth parts in the movement, and you therefor pay the same regardless of have the parts are in your watch. Beside. To wind you watch often manuly is hard on the chrown and on the steam and the, we say klinkehjul" i danish. (the wheel that makes the rotor turn around). So I also say just them them run all the time. However if you service the watch at an un autorized dealer it is best the fewer parts is needed to be replaced in the movement. I often see that getiitng the prober seals for a watch is sometimes hard. Especcaly on watches under the Swatchgroup because the don´t say what gaskets to install. Perhaås you ca mesure them, but I have seen many watches where the gaskets were not fitted in proberly causing the watch to be exposted to water too easely.
Thank you for your very considered response. I wholeheartedly concur that the watch should serviced after 10 years whether it is worn 24/7 or only 1 day per week. The oils get depleted either way, as well as the seals.
really enjoying your videos, great work
I also usually keep two at a time out of the safe.
My daily - 116710LN - is always out and worn exclusively when working.
Other pieces come out for a week or two at a time and travel with me for layovers - 126618LB today in Japan where it’s actually safe to walk around flashing a chunk of yellow gold.
@chriselley2261 thanks very much!
The great watch winder pros and cons debate has been running ( no pun intended ) for donkeys years , doubt it will ever end. Ok I can see the benefit if your collection is lets say 5 or 6 watches and you like to wear them all regularly , whether through guilt of having a load of money sitting idle or thats your total collection of watches and you want to grab and go, well thats just fine by me. But if you have a stupid amount of watches ( that will be me then ) and no particular rotation , then winders are pointless as I dont plan ahead thinking " hmm I will wear my yacht master " in three days time so better chuck it on the winder. Some days I will wear a piece all day , sometimes for 2 or 3 days. Some days I will wear 2 or 3 different pieces a day , although which particular watch change isn't planned I just have a rummage though to see what tickles my fancy and crank it up a few turns. So after that ramble I will say that I have nothing aginst winders but I will say don't buy cheap ! do your homework.
@keithburford8589 I hear you Keith. I don't use a winder myself, but I have also yet to see or hear of a single watchmaker provide physical evidence of a watch ruined by a winder. Although there are plenty of movements being damaged by over use of the manual wind mechanism, and worn crown threads
@@TheRandomWatchDude This is the bit I can't get my head around. Quite a few respected watchmakers are against watch winders so ultimately they are throwing work ( money ) down the drain. Always baffled me has that one, unless of course they are stacked out with repairs.
@keithburford8589 yes agreed, they are against winders with no evidence that winders damage watches. Maybe the watchmaker's union is protecting them from having to work overtime servicing all these watches that need a service because they've been on a winder!!!
@@TheRandomWatchDude Yeah but we will never know. I suppose the only true test , assuming all the movements materials etc are of exactly the same grade is to have , lets say a couple of brand new Datejusts , stick one on a winder for 10 years and wear the other for 10 years , then come service time do a full strip down and macro comparison, bit long winded that ha ha.
The car analogy is bad, in that cars are not made to idle for extended periods and watches only run at one speed. It would be more akin to running your standby generator 24/7 when you only need it a few days each month. As a serious hobbyist watchmaker of several years, I don’t see watch winders as a huge threat to a watch’s health, just an unnecessary one. You can usually tell a heavily used watch when servicing one, due to all the dirt inside them. Where does the dirt come from in a sealed watch? From the slow wear of the moving components grinding away inside. This dirt is then attracted and sticks to the oils, which accelerates the wear. It doesn’t matter if the watch is a literal daily wear or lived its life mostly on a winder.
So in conclusion, a winder is no worse for a watch than wearing it every day. But if you are not wearing it every day, why opt for the wear?
The crown tube concern is just unfounded fear on so many levels. 1) A watch enthusiast should know how to screw a crown in without destroying it, being as your average non-enthusiast can. 2) You are still going to need to adjust the time on occasion. 3) I’ve replaced one crown tube in the last… maybe 5 years. But a well worn watch will almost always need to the barrel arbor bearing addressed or the rotor bearing replaced, if not both. In extreme cases, you’ll see a lot of pivot wear as well. I can tell you that modern pivots are not hardened and as robust as vintage pivots.
In defense of winder users I will say this. If you have a semi-modern watch and have it serviced by the factory, they are going to replace anything that is worn for a flat service fee.
@austin73 thanks for your very considered response. Nice to see a pragmatic, real-world view rather than an emotive one. I rarely use a winder myself but have never seen a reason why others should not if they intend wearing the watch after 2 or 3 days. It makes sense to leave it running.
Mark, I miss the woman in the intro with the crazy eyes
Just for you, I will bring her back!
I can tell you’re in love with the Riddler. It’s indeed a very beautiful watch
Thank you - yes it's a watch I have bonded with very strongly
I think you’re better off using a winder then screwing with the crown.
I totally agree. Watches sustain more damage from constant screwing and un-screwng of the crown and manual winding.
False. Your watch is designed for the crown to be used a few times a week without any problems. However, the constant movement of the watch winder is not natural and causes completely unnecessary wear. Any competent watchmaker will confirm this.