What qualify as overwinding?

[Tommer]

if i am wearing my sub 24/7, does this this mean my watch is overworked? before my watch gain about +10 sec per day when the sub is on my wrist 24/7, now i used it around 15 hours per day and it gains less second per day, is this normal?

[OysterDavid]

A watch cannot be 'overworked', and an automatic Rolex cannot be overwound. There is a component in the movement that works in conjunction with the rotor and mainspring that prevents forcing the spring when fully wound.

What you experience when you wear a watch 24/7 is the different positioning of the watch with the timepiece spending different amounts of time in different positions. Certainly 10 seconds per day indicates a bit of a problem with regulation that can probably be cured quick and easy if your watch has been serviced within the prescribed timeframes. However, if your watch has gone for a long time without a service, then a 10 second variation is a cry for help.

Wearing the watch 24/7 means that for whatever your sleep cycle, the wrist position is accelerating the time gain, while when it spends time off your wrist, the static position, in conjunction with gravity and the mechanics specific to your watch movement allow it to keep more regular time.

There are those who will point out that a watch that is consistant in its time variation is a very accurate time piece, needing only slight tweeking to slightly adjust its movement. Consistancy is very highly valued in the world of watch adjustments.

[Alcan]

Originally Posted by OysterDavid

A watch cannot be 'overworked', and an automatic Rolex cannot be overwound. There is a component in the movement that works in conjunction with the rotor and mainspring that prevents forcing the spring when fully wound.

The mainspring has a slip clutch in the barrel which will "slip" when the mainspring is fully wound. This guarantees that the watch can not be over-wound and you can not break the mainspring. The only dowwnside is that extended overwindding (and we're talking years and years) "might" cause some wear on the end of the spring and the inner diametr of the barrel.

[Andad]

My sub keeps the best time of most of my autos. If I wear it 14 hrs/day it runs a few seconds fast. If I put it on the winder it runs a few seconds slow so I can regulate it a bit by balancing the wearing/winder %.
Could it be temperature that changes the fast/slow?

[TARDIS]

Originally Posted by Alcan

The mainspring has a slip clutch in the barrel which will "slip" when the mainspring is fully wound. This guarantees that the watch can not be over-wound and you can not break the mainspring. The only dowwnside is that extended overwindding (and we're talking years and years) "might" cause some wear on the end of the spring and the inner diametr of the barrel.

That's very useful to know....thanks

So if my Sub has been dormant in it's box for a couple of months, how many winds do you recommend to get it going again?

[Alcan]

Originally Posted by TARDIS

That's very useful to know....thanks

So if my Sub has been dormant in it's box for a couple of months, how many winds do you recommend to get it going again?

Well, it takes about 40 turns to fully wind a run down Rolex. If I already had the crown unscrewed to get some power back into the mainspring, I'd just keep going the full 40 turns.

[TARDIS]

Hey Al, I never thought it was so many.

I live and learn

[^fai^]

Originally Posted by Alcan

Well, it takes about 40 turns to fully wind a run down Rolex. If I already had the crown unscrewed to get some power back into the mainspring, I'd just keep going the full 40 turns.

wow...thanks for the info.

btw, which winding methods is a right way of keeping the watch running?
watch winder, manual winding or hold the watch and shake it?

am i right to say that its not good to keep the auto watch for long without running?

[Prince]

Originally Posted by ^fai^

...btw, which winding methods is a right way of keeping the watch running?
watch winder, manual winding or hold the watch and shake it?

am i right to say that its not good to keep the auto watch for long without running?

Wearing the watch is the best method (or use Peter's method of riding your bike on a bumpy road!). Manual winding if it has wound down - watch winder if you have several automatic watches and you want them to be wound all the time and ready to go.

As for allowing them to stay wound down for extended periods - all modern Rolex watches will be fine. The older vintage models used lubricants that could solidify over extended time, but not any more.

Cheers..

[^fai^]

oic...thank you very much for the info

[Prince]

Originally Posted by ^fai^

oic...thank you very much for the info