Tuesdays Watch Tip of the day... Never shake an automatic watch to get it to run. Instead, wind the watch. Automatic watches (AKA Perpetual or Self-Winding watches) get their power from a small oscillating weight (or Rotor) which spins inside the watch, using gravity to wind the mainspring (a tiny high-tension spring used to store power in lieu of a battery). However, this Mainspring, when fully charged, only has around 36-42 hours of power reserve. If a watch is not worn continuously, or a day is skipped, you may have a case of diminishing returns, as the self-winding Rotor will not be able to restore the power you have lost, and the watch can slow down and/or stop working altogether. If this happens, you should NEVER shake the watch to get it running again. This will only add some slight residual power and the watch will stop again in only a few minutes. Instead, you should unscrew the crown (usually located at the 3 oclock position) and manually wind the watch some 30-40 times. Most watches cannot be overwound and damage will not occur. After winding the watch simply screw the crown back down tight. (You should refer to the watchs owners manual for instruction on how to wind your watch.) Now, heres why do dont want to shake it... As you can see in the attached pic, the Rotor is a round oscillating weight which spins around inside the watch in a flat plane of motion. By shaking the watch in the wrong motion (against the grain) you are not winding the watch, but instead you may actually be doing damage to the watch by loosening the axle, which connects the rotor to the watchs movement. When the Rotor gets loose it becomes inefficient and the excessive play can allow the Rotor wobble rubbing metal to metal and causing damage to the outer edge of the Rotor, the inside of the caseback and even the bridge of the movement. Furthermore, this metal to metal contact can create what we like to call break dust. This is when the Rotor actually scrapes tiny, microscopic particles from the inside of the watch, which mixes with the oils inside the movement, causing them to coagulate and harden, thus damaging the movements gears. Its worth mentioning that if the Rotor gets stuck, or you absolutely must create some movement in order to kick start the watch, you should do so by holding the watch in the palm of your hand and swirl it like a glass of wine. This way the Rotor is moving in the proper plane of motion and will wind the gears and thus wind the mainspring. This is also why a watch should be serviced regularly (usually every 3-4 years). So, the lesson for today is... Just like they say to never shake a baby... Well, that also holds true for your watch. Oh yeah, and having a glass of wine while doing so isnt a bad idea either.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 14:21:54 +0000
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