Winding an automatic with a screw down crown

[Wildfire]

So I have a flavour of Hamilton Khaki with a screw down crown. It's an ETA movement.

I try to keep my watches regularly worn and going and I have a winder, but I have 2 spaces and 3 watches.

Anyhow, so how do I wind up the screw down crown? Whilst I am screwing the crown in I can hear it winding, but inevitably it doesn't really screw down fully.

What am I doing something wrong? Or am I just being thick?

[blueg33]

Unscrew crown, wind watch. After you have done the winding, screw crown back down.

That how mine work, but they are not Hamiltons

[NDA]

Wildfire said:

Anyhow, so how do I wind up the screw down crown? Whilst I am screwing the crown in I can hear it winding, but inevitably it doesn't really screw down fully.

What am I doing something wrong? Or am I just being thick?

I'm not entirely sure what you're doing.... but the process should be:

1. Unscrew the wind down crown
2. It should pop out very slightly
3. Wind the crown clockwise without pushing down on it
4. Push down on the crown gently and wind clockwise and this should then screw down the crown

[Wildfire]

Cool. I guess I must be putting pressure on the crown.

[Doofus]

Wildfire said:

Cool. I guess I must be putting pressure on the crown.

Either that or you haven't unscrewed it fully before winding.

[TiggerBits]

On the other hand, if it is an auto, I wouldn't bother winding it all. Give a shake for a few seconds, adjust it, and then wear it.

[catso]

Or it's an auto that you can't wind manually?

I don't know about the OP's watch but whilst I can manually wind my Omega, my Seikos can't be manually wound, if left to stop you have to move them around to wake them up.

[TiggerBits]

catso said:

Or it's an auto that you can't wind manually?

I don't know about the OP's watch but whilst I can manually wind my Omega, my Seikos can't be manually wound, if left to stop you have to move them around to wake them up.

This is very true, I have autos that can and can't be wound manually. I once inadvertently damaged an auto watch when winding it manually, and since then I just don't do it all

[Paul Drawmer]

NDA said:

I'm not entirely sure what you're doing.... but the process should be:

1. Unscrew the wind down crown
2. It should pop out very slightly
3. Wind the crown clockwise without pushing down on it
4. Push down on the crown gently and wind clockwise and this should then screw down the crown

Exactly.

Automatics can not be overwound, and many of them, it is difficult to tell if you have fully wound them. There is a clutch mechanism that prevents over winding.

NEVER attempt to manually wind any watch whilst still wearing it. The action of lifting the watch by the crown whilst turning it, places undue strain on the bearings, and puts a rotational shear on the stem leading to early breakage. Some may say that they have done it for years with no problem, but it isn't they way a stem is designed to be used. Just don't do it.

Some auto movements do not manually wind, and these will usually start with a few sideways shakes of the watch. The popular ETA automatic movements that can be manually wound seem to need far more shaking to get them going. So a quick wind is probably better.

If you shake to wind an auto, it's gently, side to side; don't treat it like a cocktail shaker.