If your Wrist Watch stops frequently, you might not be wearing it enough active hours of the day to keep it properly wound. Without enough power stored in the spring, the mechanism of the watch runs slightly slower then needed to keep accurate time. In fact, it may even briefly be stopping without you noticing.
An automatic watch uses its stored power constantly by running continuously. But it only gains more power if you manually wind it or from the automatic winding that occurs from your motion while you are active while wearing it. The net effect is that if you are not wearing it enough, it uses more power during a day than it gains from the number of hours of active motion it receives.
Since almost all automatic watches lack an indicator of how 'full' their power reserves are, here are some usage guidelines to help you keep your reserves up:
1. If your automatic watch stops, manually wind it about 20-30 turns when you put it on. Don't depend on the automatic winding to get your watch back up to power--that can take too long and still leave your watch low on reserves by the end of the day.
2. In general, an average watch wearer's motion is enough to power an automatic watch for 2-3 times as many hours as it is actively worn.
3. If you wear your automatic watch at least 10-12 active hours 7 days a week, you should maintain 50% (about 20 hours) of power reserve by the end of the day when you take it off.
4. It does not hurt an automatic watch to manually wind it every once in a while to make sure its power reserve is 'topped off.'
To test to see if your watch is really getting its full power reserve, try this: manually wind your watch at least 40 turns and make sure the time is correct. Then leave it on the dresser for two to three days and see what time it stops. If it runs for close to the stated power reserve (usually 40-44 hours for many modern mechanical watches), then your watch is perfectly fine. If it runs significantly less than that, it may need cleaning or an adjustment.
Answers & Comments
Hi i_consolado,
If your Wrist Watch stops frequently, you might not be wearing it enough active hours of the day to keep it properly wound. Without enough power stored in the spring, the mechanism of the watch runs slightly slower then needed to keep accurate time. In fact, it may even briefly be stopping without you noticing.
An automatic watch uses its stored power constantly by running continuously. But it only gains more power if you manually wind it or from the automatic winding that occurs from your motion while you are active while wearing it. The net effect is that if you are not wearing it enough, it uses more power during a day than it gains from the number of hours of active motion it receives.
Since almost all automatic watches lack an indicator of how 'full' their power reserves are, here are some usage guidelines to help you keep your reserves up:
1. If your automatic watch stops, manually wind it about 20-30 turns when you put it on. Don't depend on the automatic winding to get your watch back up to power--that can take too long and still leave your watch low on reserves by the end of the day.
2. In general, an average watch wearer's motion is enough to power an automatic watch for 2-3 times as many hours as it is actively worn.
3. If you wear your automatic watch at least 10-12 active hours 7 days a week, you should maintain 50% (about 20 hours) of power reserve by the end of the day when you take it off.
4. It does not hurt an automatic watch to manually wind it every once in a while to make sure its power reserve is 'topped off.'
To test to see if your watch is really getting its full power reserve, try this: manually wind your watch at least 40 turns and make sure the time is correct. Then leave it on the dresser for two to three days and see what time it stops. If it runs for close to the stated power reserve (usually 40-44 hours for many modern mechanical watches), then your watch is perfectly fine. If it runs significantly less than that, it may need cleaning or an adjustment.
Hope it helps.
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