Automatic watch query

[tonyg58]

All, just bought my first automatic watch and a winder for it.
Only question - is it an idea to let the mechanism run down a bit occasionally or do owners just keep them wound permanently?

[Ninjin]

If you only wear the watch say, once a month, then the winder is not recommended.

If you wear it regularly (every few days) and it has stopped, then it maybe more convenient to keep it on a winder.

But in my opinion a winder creates un-necessary wear on the movement for sake of convenience.

There is no advantage to keep the watch running other than convenience.

[Weslake-Monza]

I thought the recommendation for an automatic was to never let it run down. However, I suppose whether you leave it run down for a couple of days is quite different from leaving it run down for a couple of months. What does the manufacturer of your watch recommend?

[eccles]

Weslake-Monza said:

I thought the recommendation for an automatic was to never let it run down. However, I suppose whether you leave it run down for a couple of days is quite different from leaving it run down for a couple of months. What does the manufacturer of your watch recommend?

I've been into watches for forty years and I've not heard that before.

I have a couple of hundred watches, mostly automatic, many vintage, some modern.
Some don't get worn for years at a time, but just fire up and run nicely when I choose to wear them . Never had any issues at all.

Obviously if a quartz watch has the battery go flat you run the risk of the battery leaking and ruining the watch. Kinetic and solar watches don't like being flat for a long time, sometimes the capacitor doesn't 'come back' from being flat and you have to change it.

[Debaser]

Weslake-Monza said:

I thought the recommendation for an automatic was to never let it run down. However, I suppose whether you leave it run down for a couple of days is quite different from leaving it run down for a couple of months. What does the manufacturer of your watch recommend?

I ve never heard of that. Some of mine go untouched for a year or so with no issues.

[L1OFF]

Debaser said:

Weslake-Monza said:

I thought the recommendation for an automatic was to never let it run down. However, I suppose whether you leave it run down for a couple of days is quite different from leaving it run down for a couple of months. What does the manufacturer of your watch recommend?

I ve never heard of that. Some of mine go untouched for a year or so with no issues.

Me too, my Rolex GMT2 in now 25 years old and just had its 1st service (lube had dried up apparently). Never had a problem with leaving it unwound in a watch box for months between wearing (worked in London so stopped wearing it to the office)

[troc]

Only reason to use a winder, IMHO is if you have a perpetual calendar complication.

[DB15]

troc said:

Only reason to use a winder, IMHO is if you have a perpetual calendar complication.

Indeed. With some Pateks the watch box it comes in is actually a winder

[g4ry13]

Do the oils not dry up and things start to seize if the movement doesn't run for a while?

[manmaths]

I don’t think that’s the case. The oils degrade and dry up over time regardless. Oil in cap jewels etc isn’t going to migrate anywhere through lack of use.

The important thing is storing correctly (cool and dry), and keeping serviced at recommended intervals.

I agree with above - I think winders are pointless except for perpetual calendars, and as was mentioned, this makes sense for convenience only.

Setting an auto with day/date etc when you put it on after a few weeks of not wearing, is an enjoyable process for me and not an inconvenience. It reminds me that this is a mechanical object, which in a digital world is refreshing.

N