How much to wind a manual watch?

[JaseB]

Hi all,
Recently got my Grandfather's old watch back from service, it's a late 60's / early 70's Excalibur with a 782-1 (Tissot?) manual wind movement, no monetary value but obvs lots of sentimental meaning, question is how much should I wind it up without risking damage to the spring?!
Thanks in advance
jB

[Hrimfaxi]

Lovely watch!

Start it with a couple small winds and listen/watch for movement. I usually go for about 8 or so winds on my mechanicals - if you feel slight resistance, stop there.

[JaseB]

Hrimfaxi said:

Lovely watch!

Start it with a couple small winds and listen/watch for movement. I usually go for about 8 or so winds on my mechanicals - if you feel slight resistance, stop there.

Thank you, I love it! amongst a small collection of what might be considered posher watches I find myself wearing this almost all of the time
Thanks for the advice, should that last 24 hours?

[Hrimfaxi]

JaseB said:

Thank you, I love it! amongst a small collection of what might be considered posher watches I find myself wearing this almost all of the time
Thanks for the advice, should that last 24 hours?

It's like that with sentimental watches, so much more connection to it - recently restored my Grandad's 1930's Rotary Junior and it's back in action and gets worn regularly!

How much power that initial wind will last you will always vary on the watch - but a full day and most of the evening/early hours is usually normal, if I give it wind in the mornings

[Smoggy XJR]

From a quick Google it's impossible to overwind a watch/clock.

https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=1076931507...

[gregs656]

If you wind it you should be able to hear the clutch engage after how ever many turns.

[Ramona]

You could always go back to the person who serviced it and ask for their advice.

But, as has been said, just wind it until you feel resistance. It may take up to 40 turns. You can't "overwind" a watch.

[clockworks]

gregs656 said:

If you wind it you should be able to hear the clutch engage after how ever many turns.

You are probably thinking of a hand-windable automatic.
Automatic watches use a slipping bridle between the outer end of the mainspring and the barrel wall. As the spring approaches fully wound, the bridle slips around the inside of the barrel, acting like a clutch.
Its main purpose is to stop the autowinding mechanism breaking by trying to wind a fully-wound spring.

Manual-wind watches and spring-powered clocks have the outer end of the mainspring fixed to the barrel. Watches (and a few really small clocks) generally have the end of the spring folded over, and the end catches in a notch in the barrel. Most clock mainsprings have a keyhole slot cut in the end, which catches on a hook or rivet formed inside the barrel wall. Open-spring clocks have the outer end fixed to one of the movement posts - American clocks, and most cheaper 30 hour alarm clocks.

As posted above, it's impossible to overwind a watch or clock, assuming all the parts are in good condition, or you wind them with something much bigger than the normal key or crown. Obviously springs can break, and they are most likely to do that when they are being wound up. It's also possible for an already broken spring to slip if it'd wound up more than a couple of turns.
The normal problem is simply that it needs a service.

[JaseB]

Thanks all, good to know, it's just been serviced so I guess I don't need to treat it with the baby gloves I had in mind

[robbiekhan]

gregs656 said:

If you wind it you should be able to hear the clutch engage after how ever many turns.

Not with all manuals. All automatic watches that you can manually wind will have a clutch-like system whereas manual wind will almost always have resistance. My Coniston with Miyota 8N33 had resistance after about 45 turns and my Hamilton with H-50 movement is the same but closer to 60 turns from empty.

Edit* Already mentioned I see!

Edited by robbiekhan on Monday 15th February 21:14

[TarquinMX5]

When I saw the thread title I was half-expecting the thread to be a rant about how a Rolex AD had charged the customer for winding up the watch after a service

[ZesPak]

TarquinMX5 said:

When I saw the thread title I was half-expecting the thread to be a rant about how a Rolex AD had charged the customer for winding up the watch after a service

[gregs656]

clockworks said:

You are probably thinking of a hand-windable automatic.
Automatic watches use a slipping bridle between the outer end of the mainspring and the barrel wall. As the spring approaches fully wound, the bridle slips around the inside of the barrel, acting like a clutch.
Its main purpose is to stop the autowinding mechanism breaking by trying to wind a fully-wound spring.

Manual-wind watches and spring-powered clocks have the outer end of the mainspring fixed to the barrel. Watches (and a few really small clocks) generally have the end of the spring folded over, and the end catches in a notch in the barrel. Most clock mainsprings have a keyhole slot cut in the end, which catches on a hook or rivet formed inside the barrel wall. Open-spring clocks have the outer end fixed to one of the movement posts - American clocks, and most cheaper 30 hour alarm clocks.

As posted above, it's impossible to overwind a watch or clock, assuming all the parts are in good condition, or you wind them with something much bigger than the normal key or crown. Obviously springs can break, and they are most likely to do that when they are being wound up. It's also possible for an already broken spring to slip if it'd wound up more than a couple of turns.
The normal problem is simply that it needs a service.

Indeed I was - thx for a much more thorough reply.