Bi-Directional or Uni-Directional Winder?

[coddger]

I have read articles and have friends tell me that they prefer bi-directional winders for Rolex. Others says Rolex, depending on the model, are better wound by counter clockwise winding. My watchmaker says it does not really matter as long as the weight goes around 360 degrees. I have both type of winders, but what does Rolex say is best for their watches? I have always left my Sub 16610 on my uni-directional winder, switching directions every now & then. What do you Rolex experts say? Thanks.

[Andad]

IMO, in normal use on the wrist, a Rolex rotor won't go around 360 degees so why would it need to go 360 degrees on a winder. A rolex will wind up in both directions with very little angular wrist movement - as long as the movement is enough to catch the next tooth it will wind up. I only wear my 14060m for a maximum of 8 hours a day and even less at the weekend - it has never stopped from lack of winding. I am sure you will find a mechanical problem.

[padi56]

Most watches wind both ways Rolex including some Valjoux movements only wind one way only.But IMHO watch-winders are not necessary with watches with just a date complication.Will do no harm to rest watch and let it stop then rewind it, a Rolex needs around 700 to 900 turns a day depending on model to keep fully wound.

[coddger]

Thanks Directioneng and Padi56 for you opinions. I used to wear my Sub daily when it was new and just left it on the night stand every night or over the weekend but it never really stopped. I didn't have the chance to rewind/re-adjust as I can remember. It was only when I bought a new watch in 2007 when I started using a winder for it. Now the DJ & the Sub are both in a winder with my wife's watches until I noticed a problem with the DJ. I started with a Quad, then bought another cheaper Dual uni-directional to have all the watches wound.

[mixedccr]

Originally Posted by padi56

Most watches wind both ways Rolex including some Valjoux movements only wind one way only.But IMHO watch-winders are not necessary with watches with just a date complication.Will do no harm to rest watch and let it stop then rewind it, a Rolex needs around 700 to 900 turns a day depending on model to keep fully wound.

Apologies coddger, if i could hijack the thread. Padi, i'm ambivalent about whether the watch should remain ticking or if letting it run down is ok. What gets me is the disengaging/reengaging of the movement for resetting a wound down watch. What is the [expert] opinion on that aspect? There have been times when i push back the crown, but the hands fail to re-engage. But after a couple of tries, it works fine and it does not occur all the time that i've reset the watch.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by mixedccr

Apologies coddger, if i could hijack the thread. Padi, i'm ambivalent about whether the watch should remain ticking or if letting it run down is ok. What gets me is the disengaging/reengaging of the movement for resetting a wound down watch. What is the [expert] opinion on that aspect? There have been times when i push back the crown, but the hands fail to re-engage. But after a couple of tries, it works fine and it does not occur all the time that i've reset the watch.

Well just think of it this way a automatic watch is only a manual wind watch with a automatic mechanism fitted.Look at all the manual wound Rolex in this world they get wound almost daily for decades and beyond.Used to have two from late 1960s early 70s they were worn almost daily by myself and my Father.Now my sons wear them still both going strong still both have original winding crowns but have had a couple of stem tubes in there life but thats normal service.And in many ways winding a automatic watch say once or twice a week will do good,keep the stem winding mechanism free and keep the very tiny amount of oil around the manual winding mechanism.

[BigHat]

From the Orbita database: (http://www.orbita.net/pages/17118.htm)


ROLEX

Most Rolex Automatics (Submariner included) Both 650 turns

As I see this is hijacking into a utility of winders thread I'll just leave it at this.

[mixedccr]

Originally Posted by padi56

Well just think of it this way a automatic watch is only a manual wind watch with a automatic mechanism fitted.Look at all the manual wound Rolex in this world they get wound almost daily for decades and beyond.Used to have two from late 1960s early 70s they were worn almost daily by myself and my Father.Now my sons wear them still both going strong still both have original winding crowns but have had a couple of stem tubes in there life but thats normal service.And in many ways winding a automatic watch say once or twice a week will do good,keep the stem winding mechanism free and keep the very tiny amount of oil around the manual winding mechanism.

Ok Padi. Thanks for your reply. I guess i just feel abit hamfisted about pulling the entire crown assembly out of the case !!!
Cheers!