Proper method to wind a Rolex?

[DoxaDavid]

I was at an AD the other day and the sales associate took out a watch to show a customer and proceeded to wind it. She unlocked the crown and spun the sucker as fast as possible. I was thinking to myself that can't be the best for the spring but in truth, I didn't know the answer?

I tend to err on the side of conservative winding. Not too fast, not too slow and I only wind about 40-50 turns. I know many newer watches have safety features built in so you can't over wind the spring but out of old habit, I still stop.

So any opinions as to what is the proper means/methods to wind a Rolex?

Does anyone think the sales clerk was damaging the watch by winding it at such as pace?

[rajurama]

I surely think she was torturing the watch , since it was sold and also it didnt belong to her nor did she own the store. Proper method or not all i would say god damit be 'gentle'! with the movement...I hate this attitude of people being careless specially coming from a watch saleslady! Dont think I would tolerate it!!!

[DoxaDavid]

Where's all the master watch repair guys when you need them!!

Jocke? Oh Jocke!!!

[onkyo]

David,

I don't know the answer to your question but I can't imagine that would be good for the mov't.

I have seen many sales associates act harshly with Rolex's. Once, I asked to see a watch towards the front of the case and as she was haphazardly removing it, it banged into other watches and the actual case itself. I was thinking 'there is no way I am going to buy that'..... and after I inspected it closely there were a bunch of small scratches on it probably from going in and out of the case over and over again. I pointed that out to the sales associate and she said "oh, we can buff those out for you". There was no way I would purchase a buffed watch (even lightly) and pay full price.

Its unbelievable to me that sales associates would do this even if not harmful to the watch, especially in front of potential customers.

[cody p]

even though something may be over-engineered, i still try and treat it with courtesy.

[Felly Jr.]

Originally Posted by cody p

even though something may be over-engineered, i still try and treat it with courtesy.

[MrCowboy99]

Originally Posted by cody p

even though something may be over-engineered, i still try and treat it with courtesy.

and don't wind underwater.

[SubKing]

the sales guy did that with my DDII when I bought it... He is a nice guy but he is always ruff on watches.. I have said something to him before but he just doesnt know any better and he has been there for 20 years.

[DoxaDavid]

Originally Posted by MrCowboy99

and don't wind underwater.

Ahhh Yeah! or you'll be

[Felly Jr.]

Originally Posted by MrCowboy99

and don't wind underwater.

and don't BREAK wind underwater either.......

[Flaxmoore]

Since they're kinetic winders, wouldn't best simply be to wear it?

[DoxaDavid]

Originally Posted by onkyo

David,

I don't know the answer to your question but I can't imagine that would be good for the mov't.

I have seen many sales associates act harshly with Rolex's. Once, I asked to see a watch towards the front of the case and as she was haphazardly removing it, it banged into other watches and the actual case itself. I was thinking 'there is no way I am going to buy that'..... and after I inspected it closely there were a bunch of small scratches on it probably from going in and out of the case over and over again. I pointed that out to the sales associate and she said "oh, we can buff those out for you". There was no way I would purchase a buffed watch (even lightly) and pay full price.

Its unbelievable to me that sales associates would do this even if not harmful to the watch, especially in front of potential customers.

Agree. If it had been my watch, I would have said something and been pissed!

[watchnut]

Originally Posted by rajurama

I surely think she was torturing the watch , since it was sold and also it didnt belong to her nor did she own the store. Proper method or not all i would say god damit be 'gentle'! with the movement...I hate this attitude of people being careless specially coming from a watch saleslady! Dont think I would tolerate it!!!

I agree! I know it probably would be overkill, but would'nt it be cool to have a salesperson treat the watch like it was something special. I mean, white gloves, wiping off the small fingerprints, etc when handling the watch. Would probably add to the experience and make you want it even more. If I ever was to get a sales job, it would be nice to sell something you loved and had a real interest in. How the he** can you expect to sell golf clubs if you've never set foot on a course and know zilch about the game?

[Blimms]

Originally Posted by onkyo

David,

I don't know the answer to your question but I can't imagine that would be good for the mov't.

I have seen many sales associates act harshly with Rolex's. Once, I asked to see a watch towards the front of the case and as she was haphazardly removing it, it banged into other watches and the actual case itself. I was thinking 'there is no way I am going to buy that'..... and after I inspected it closely there were a bunch of small scratches on it probably from going in and out of the case over and over again. I pointed that out to the sales associate and she said "oh, we can buff those out for you". There was no way I would purchase a buffed watch (even lightly) and pay full price.

Its unbelievable to me that sales associates would do this even if not harmful to the watch, especially in front of potential customers.

After reading these posts, I'm glad I'm not crazy !! I feel the same way - I've seen some salespersons drop the watches when moving to fast !! they show the watch and place it back in the case.

[MrCowboy99]

Let your mother wind your watches.

[buz-lh]

Are you sure the sales associate wasn't setting the time, I mean how much faster can one person wind a watch than someone else unless you're doing the old Lily Tomlin routine, one windy windy...................two windy windy............. I hate to see anything nice get mishandled, but it's just product to most people working in AD's. I have had experience with both kinds but it seems for the most part the associates I've dealt with are fairly careful.

[BigHat]

Originally Posted by Flaxmoore

Since they're kinetic winders, wouldn't best simply be to wear it?

Not unless you plan to spend the first few hours in an aerobics class. The auto-winding systems is designed to "maintain" much better than "generate" power reserve. If you're active, you can certainly wear it all day and rest it at night for long periods, but TRF is full of threads where after two or three days the sedentary wearer has diminished the power reserve and the watch has stopped. I think the mot common thing to do with a stopped watch is to reset it, wind it 40 turns and enjoy until it needs resetting for one reason or another. I have had fully wound watches lose lots of time in a winder after a few weeks when the tpm setting was wrong.

[JJ Irani]

Simple rule of thumb I've been following for over 30 years as far as automatic watches are concerned:

I NEVER shake a STOPPED watch!!

The whole idea is to FIRST get it going....and the BEST way to do that is a gentle "brandy like swirl" in a plane parallel to the floor - so you get the auto rotor moving round and round, thus starting up the watch.

THEN.....you give it around 40 turns of the crown and you're all ready to go!!

Can it get easier than that?

[eric23]

Originally Posted by MrCowboy99

Let your mother wind your watches.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by DoxaDavid

I was at an AD the other day and the sales associate took out a watch to show a customer and proceeded to wind it. She unlocked the crown and spun the sucker as fast as possible. I was thinking to myself that can't be the best for the spring but in truth, I didn't know the answer?

I tend to err on the side of conservative winding. Not too fast, not too slow and I only wind about 40-50 turns. I know many newer watches have safety features built in so you can't over wind the spring but out of old habit, I still stop.

So any opinions as to what is the proper means/methods to wind a Rolex?

Does anyone think the sales clerk was damaging the watch by winding it at such as pace?

Well when Rolex sends there bare movements for COSC testing the
winding rotor is removed.Simply because the machine that turns the special for the test winding crown,it winds that fast it would damage the highly geared auto winding mechanism.So I am 100% sure a human being could not harm a watch or spring in any way by winding it fast.

Rolex has a special machine at the COSC to test its extremely vast quantities of movements that are tested annually. These are just bare movements they are loaded into magazines like bullets in a machine gun. The programed machine extracts the movement, reads the time, winds it very fast and returns it to the magazine.This goes on for the full 15 days test.And some of you guys worry about winding your watches,because they are automatic.

Remember a automatic watch is only a manual wind watch with a automatic mechanism fitted.And reading the many posts on this forum Rolex watches today sure do get a very pampered life.Rolex watches are made to take quite a lot of punishment. And to work in many very harsh environments a lot harder that the average Rolex wearer today ever will.

Originally Posted by rajurama

I surely think she was torturing the watch , since it was sold and also it didnt belong to her nor did she own the store. Proper method or not all i would say god damit be 'gentle'! with the movement...I hate this attitude of people being careless specially coming from a watch saleslady! Dont think I would tolerate it!!!

Its a good job you cannot see how the movements are tested you would have a shock.

[buz-lh]

Originally Posted by padi56

Well when Rolex sends there bare movements for COSC testing the
winding rotor is removed.Simply because the machine that turns the special for the test winding crown,it winds that fast it would damage the highly geared auto winding mechanism.So I am 100% sure a human being could not harm a watch or spring in any way by winding it fast.

Rolex has a special machine at the COSC to test its extremely vast quantities of movements that are tested annually. These are just bare movements they are loaded into magazines like bullets in a machine gun. The programed machine extracts the movement, reads the time, winds it very fast and returns it to the magazine.This goes on for the full 15 days test.And some of you guys worry about winding your watches,because they are automatic.

Remember a automatic watch is only a manual wind watch with a automatic mechanism fitted.And reading the many posts on this forum Rolex watches today sure do get a very pampered life.Rolex watches are made to take quite a lot of punishment. And to work in many very harsh environments a lot harder that the average Rolex wearer today ever will.

As usual Padi56 brings some sanity to a thread that badly needs it. These watches have a history of being tough and rugged and able to take most anything man and nature can throw at it. I cannot imagine anyone's winding style hurting them.

[Singslinger]

Originally Posted by Felly Jr.

and don't BREAK wind underwater either.......

[Wooddog44]

Originally Posted by SubKing

the sales guy did that with my DDII when I bought it... He is a nice guy but he is always ruff on watches.. I have said something to him before but he just doesnt know any better and he has been there for 20 years.

The same phenomenon occurs, for some, when driving a rental car. You do things to them that you would not to your own car even though you know they can take it because there is no sense of consequence.

[DoxaDavid]

So it would seem the general consensus is a person can't possibly wind the watch fast enough to cause damage. Good to know however I will still take my time. Better safe than sorry.

Thanks for all the responses.