The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Just as the title says, Can I overwind and damage my Super Avenger?

No...you will not damage the watch by overwinding it.

It's physically impossible to overwind an automatic watch, the spring will just slip in the barrel.

FAQ, number 7 -
http://www.breitlingsource.com/articles_faq.shtml

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Roff, I once posted "to fully wind my watch I do it near my ear until I hear a clicking sound." You said, mechanically there's no reason for a clicking sound. Do you think this slipping in the barrel is what can be causing the "clicking" sound?

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Regards,

Peter

BREITLING for Bentley Motors T & Mark VI, Aerospace
ROLEX Submariner Ceramic116610LN
OMEGA Plantet Ocean 8500 42mm Orange arabics
OCEAN7 LM-3

I think that it's more likely to be just the click which makes a clicking sound all the time that you wind it.

It's not the "winding" sound. It only makes that click after the 40 full winds.

_________________
Regards,

Peter

BREITLING for Bentley Motors T & Mark VI, Aerospace
ROLEX Submariner Ceramic116610LN
OMEGA Plantet Ocean 8500 42mm Orange arabics
OCEAN7 LM-3

It's not the "winding" sound. It only makes that click after the 40 full winds.[/quote]


So you said last time, and as I said then there is no logical reason why it would make that noise. I have heard other people say that they can hear when a watch is fully wound but I've never heard it (even with a caseback open) and I don't understand what could make that noise.

In most watches I've owned, you can hear and also sometimes feel the spring slipping in the barrel. If you start with a watch that is not running and wind until the spring slips it is evident if you are listening for it.

Why that is so, I have no idea. I first noticed it on a Breguet and it is equally evident on Rolex. The turn of the crown sounds and feels normal for about a half turn and then ... well .... slips. IDK

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SHARKMAN

That's the sound I listen for when I want to make sure the watch is fully wound-- incase I want to check the time of power reserve. I told a few people to listen for it when they complained they weren't getting the full reserve after 40 winds.

_________________
Regards,

Peter

BREITLING for Bentley Motors T & Mark VI, Aerospace
ROLEX Submariner Ceramic116610LN
OMEGA Plantet Ocean 8500 42mm Orange arabics
OCEAN7 LM-3

I bought a U-Boat Classico once.
After a few weeks, i found that the watch could only be wound about 15 times. At this point onwards, you could feel the spring slipping, and it just sent the rotor spinning instead.

This didnt seem right to me, so when I relayed this incident to Selfridges and U-Boat they basically came back with something along the lines of "it's a mechanism put in the watch to prevent over-winding and stop any damage to it".
Any truth in such a mechanism? Or was the watch just faulty??

Needless to say, I have since sold the said watch and have not bought another U-Boat because of the very poor aftersales, and frankly over-inflated prices for not a lot of watch.

The slipping mainspring prevents overwinding, but it shouldn't start spinning the rotor.

BB+ clicks when it is fully wound (sort of a double click).

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Al

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"

Well here's my 'theory' as to what might be happening, but no idea whether it's the situation.

The mainspring on an automatic watch has a couple of inches at the end that is bent backwards (think a tick mark) and has a curve that is opposite to the 'power' part of the mainspring.

As the mainspring is tightened in the barrel so this straightens out and applies pressure on the barrel and the mainspring - think of the tick becoming more like a backwards L. When the mainspring is fully wound (i.e. the main part of the mainspring cannot tightenthe spiral around itself and the arbor) any more the entire mainspring slips around the barrel with the end of the spring sliding across the inside wall.

If there is a clicking then all I can think of is that the spring is not slipping smoothly, but rather it's 'catching' and then releasing.