The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Specs show power reserve of 42 hours for Navitimer.
It is not clear for how long I have to wear it daily in order to have power, or if not used can it be just rotated daily for specified number of times.
Instructions mention winding it manualy via crown by approx 40 times.

Any additional info would be of a great help.

40 turns of the crown (i.e. 40 finger movements) will give the watch a full wind. If you then wear the watch for a 'normal' day - say 12 - 16 hours with reasonable levels of activity then you should put as much energy in the mainspring as the watch takes out - in other words, worn daily it will never need to be wound. If you don't wear it every day then approximately 30 turns of the crown will give the watch the equivalent to a day's wearing so do that once a day if not wearing the watch and you should be fine. You can't overwind an automatic watch so you can't give it too many turns. Of course you can also keep the watch on a winder when not wearing it if you prefer.

Pretty much all automatics are similar in that 42 hours is about the norm for the power reserve. 40 winds is usually what it takes to get it fully wound.

If you wear it every day you will not have to worry about winding. Or even every 2nd day (take it off at night and then put on in the morning of 2nd day). One of my watches has a power reserve and I noticed that it takes most of the morning to get it up to full power or early afternoon if I am not doing a lot.

If you have it off for a few days then just give it a couple of winds to get it going and the movement of your wrist will do the rest. If you want the convenience of having it ready wound and at the right time then you will need to buy a watch winder for it.

one question, 1 turn of the crown is not necessarily a 360º turn of the crown? ...finger movements?

thanks

Correct.

~Brian

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Breitling Super Avenger
Fortis Flieger Chronograph
Rolex Submariner Date

A member here had problems reaching full reserve a few months ago with 40 crown rotations (it will vary from model to model). For me a 'finger movement' - i.e. the process of pushing my thumb across the top of the crown while simultaneously pulling my index finger across the bottom of the crown results in about 1 1/2 crown rotations, so 40 movements = 60 rotations, more than enough to ensure a full wind.

i tried and one movement for me is 1/2 a turn = 180º turn of the crown so in order to get a full wind for me i need 80 movements of the crown more or less, correct?

thanks

Or larger finger movements.

or new fingers lol , i guess it´s a matter of practice, my fingers get stuck in the bezel and i don´t want to force the crown...

thanks

-Is there any downside winding it via crown in daily basis, when not wearing it?
-Approx. how many full turns (360) of the watch itself will it take to be equivalent to 40 crown turns?

You can't overwind an automatic watch so no issue in winding it with the crown. If the crown is screwdown then you can cause wear on the threads by screwing / unscrewing it every day, but that's not an issue with your Navitimer.

Breitlings require either 650 or 800 turns per day to maintain a wind depending on movement (calibre 23 Navitimer is 800). In reality the winding usually comes from rotor swinging rather than full rotation because of the natural motion of your arm.

Now I got the clear picture...so the ratio is 1 crown turn = to about 20 watch turns (rotor turns).

The reason I asked all this is because at this time I am not wearing my Navitimer and did wind it via crown about 40 turns, every day after I only rotated the watch both sides at about 60-70 turns in daily basis and 4 days after it stopped.
I was worried why but now I understand why.