The Breitling Watch Source Forums

How long would I need to wear an automatic each day to keep it going? Say I wanted to keep my Breitling and Sumariner from running down and do not want to use a winder, how many hours a day of wrist time needed for each? Thanks for insights!

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Breitling Windrider Chronomat
Rolex Submariner
Rolex Cellini
Maurice Lacroix Grand Guichet Masterpiece
Omega Seamaster Professional
Tissot T-Lord Chronograph
"Not to mention many others"

I remember reading that it's 8 hours.

Wind them if you want them running.

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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

That's really a 'how long is a piece of string' question.

Watches require a certain numbers of turns per day (tpd) to keep them wound. If you are very active then you may move your wrist sufficiently to impart that within 4 - 6 hours, if you are sedentary then 16 hours of wear may not transmit enough tpd. Easiest thing as RXPete suggests is to manually wind. to supplement wear.

I recently bought a Crosswind and wore it approx 12 hours per day for about 2 weeks. I then left it off for about 2 weeks before wearing it again. I merely 'shook' it for about 10 seconds and its been going well since then.
Question - How do I manually wind it if I leave it off again for a few weeks? (I bought it pre-owned from an AD, but no papers to tell me how to wind it).
PS - i'm still looking for a (UK based seller) Navitimer to give the Crosswind a bit of a rest!

You shouldn't really 'shake' the watch. If you must use motion to restart it then rotate it around the dial rather than shake it.

In terms of winding, the Crosswind has a screwdown crown so unscrew it and then wind by rotating the crown forwards in the position that the crown is in after unscrewing the crown. 40 winds will be a full reserve, 30 for a days worth.

Job done! - for the 1st time since I bought it.
Thanks Roff

Question: Does it damage an "automatic" watch to manually wind it?

Not in the slightest - and you can't overwind an automatic either.

I have several friends who have one nice automatic watch. Not watch guys in the slightest. Each time they are shocked when I tell them they not only can wind the watch, but can't possibly hurt it either. I still wind mine every now and then and they all have winder homes.

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SHARKMAN

I went through a phase where I had no winders - annoyed with cheap ones that lasted two weeks and refusing to pay a fortune for a bunch of Orbitas. I would spend some time each day winding the watches that I had in rotation or that needed to be run and it was a really pleasant way to interact with them.

Yep I wind my watches just before I go to bed. Admittedly I only have 6 manuals/ autos to wind but I really enjoy it.

i work around construction, so sadly i dont get to wear my "nice" watches that often. seems more like couple times a month.

so on that note, i let em die and wind em when i use em..

I take my dog and my Breitling for a walk every night... seems to do the trick, and I don't have to clean up after the watch.

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sco
Breitling Chrono Superocean
Omega Aqua Terra 8500
Rolex Submariner Date Ceramic

I have winders and end up having to wind my watches every so often. I am terrible about immediately putting my watches on their winders when I arrive home so sometimes a watch can sit on my counter while another watch is put into rotation. Sometimes it will sit for a couple days and have to be reset and sometimes I catch it after only a day, but even then I have to charge it up before putting it on the winder.

I dunno, some people might find it a pain in the arse, but I find it kinda therapeutic to spend some down calm time adjusting my timepieces