How To Keep An Automatic Watch When You're Not Wearing It

Automatic watches don’t require a battery or solar energy to operate. They are human-powered, so they are good for the environment. Want to know how to keep automatic watch when not wearing, stay with me to learn the nitty-gritty.

Automatic or rather mechanical watches use mechanics and gears to run. The popularity of these watches in recent years has surged, with the quartz or self-winding watches being the most popular. Automatic watches use internal moving weights designed to rotate or wind with the movement of the wearer’s arm. As the watches wind and show time, some energy is stored in a power reserve, ensuring they can operate even when not exposed to movements.

Want to know how to keep automatic watch when not wearing, either manually or using a winder? Read on to know more

Wind the Watch—Either Manually or Using a Winder

Automatic watches can only store energy for a maximum of 48 years. So for people confined to their beds or the elderly, they must get their watches wound so they can maintain their activeness and accurate time updates.

How to wind your watch manually

Winding automatic watches manually is easy and fun. Automatic watches store their energy through the action of rotor winding when you move your arm. You don’t need to periodically wind automatic watches manually to keep their dynamo tight.

In winding an automatic watch, you first need to locate and set the crown. The crown is a small dial knob found on the watch’s right side. It’s designed such that it can be taken out to allow for easy adjustment of the watch’s time and date. The crown is made up of 3 primary settings or rather positions that function differently.

Its first position entails pushing the crown inside to allow the watch to operate normally. In the second position, the crown is pulled outwards but halfway. It’s the setting for adjusting the date or time. In the third setting, the crown is pulled out wholly. This is the setting for adjusting the time or date. The functions and adjustability of these settings depend on the type of watch you have.

In winding automatic watches, you’ve to adjust the crown clockwise. Grab the crown with your thumb and forefinger and then adjust it clockwise, moving it from top to bottom.  Try adjusting it up to 40 times or until when the second hand is fully wound.

In case you accidentally move the watch hands when pulling them out, you’ve to reset the watch time by moving them forward. Try pushing the crown inwards. Make sure it’s fully pushed way back inwards. In case your watch is waterproof, you’ve to double-check it, ensuring the crown is properly screwed in place. Once done, try comparing your watch’s time with that of another watch.

Wind the watch automatically

The automatic way to wind watches involves the use of winders. Winders are machines designed with the capability to wound mechanical watches when not in use. They use the same mechanism employed by the human arm’s movement. Watch winders come in multiple brands and models with the cheapest costing as low as $50 and the most extravagant models costing up to $8000. There are three main types of winders which are functional, elegant, and extravagant.

1. Functional watch winders are display-friendly, have impressive designs, and are highly functional. These winders are budget-friendly but not very reliable.
2. Elegant winders have finely designed leather or wood exteriors. They are display-friendly and can comfortably sit on a dresser or shelf. Elegant winders are designed to be small enough to fit well in a safety deposit box or drawer.
3. Extravagant winders are made of superfine materials and can comfortably hold a range of watches. These watch winders are pricier. That’s linked to the additional high-end features they come with, including temperature control, USB connections, storage drawers, and synchronized time displays.

With so many watch winders available, you’ve to find ones that match your needs. You can choose multiple-watch or single-watch winders based on your budget. In case you’ve several watches, you often wear, consider, watch winders that wind several watches at once. These are the ultimate best solutions to make your automatic watch collection a breeze. Find out with your watch manufacturer to know if your watch uses the di-directional, clockwise, or counter-clockwise movement for you to buy the right watch winder.

Keep Them Away From Magnets

Watches have hairsprings inside, which work in keeping time. Exposing the hairspring coils to magnets can make them stick together, making the watch run faster than usual. It’s effortless to protect your watches from traditional magnets, but it can prove quite a challenge to protect them from consumer electronic magnetics such as iPads, televisions, and speakers.

So, if your automatic watch’s time is ahead of other watches, you should have it checked by a professional since it’s likely its hairspring was affected by magnetics.

Don’t Keep the Watches Close to Water or Extreme Temperatures

Environmental elements can have extreme effects on the quality and function of your watch. Some automatic watches can endure water depths of up to 30 meters, but that doesn’t mean that all watches can stand water exposure.

Also, check the temperature of the places you’re storing the watches. Don’t store the watches in extremely hot or cold temperatures as that could affect their performance. While most modern watches are designed to stand temperature changes, they cannot stand extra high or low temperatures.

In Conclusion

Regardless of the watch brand or model, its age, or the climate in the place you live, you will often need to have it serviced by a professional. You don’t want to leave your precious timepiece to a fake watch repairer, as they may end up replacing some of the parts with fake ones, rendering it valueless.

Having your watch serviced by the original manufacturer guarantees that you’ll always maintain its value. The article above has addressed the basics of how to keep automatic watch when not wearing. Watch out not to expose your automatic watch to elements that could damage it when not wearing. Watch out for things such as magnetics, extreme temperatures, and always ensure you wind the watches.