Winding an Oyster Perpetual

[Jiva]

I know the Oyster Perpetual is supposed to be self winding. But this article

http://www.ehow.com/how_4857145_wind-rolex-watch.html

Seems to imply that if a Rolex hasn't been watched for a long period of time, it does in fact need to be initially wound.

I just recently started wearing a 1968 GMT Master which had been in storage for quite a while. Wondering, do I need to wind it? It's running fine.

Also, is it possible to overwind a Rolex?

[chiko323]

Originally Posted by Jiva

I know the Oyster Perpetual is supposed to be self winding. But this article

http://www.ehow.com/how_4857145_wind-rolex-watch.html

Seems to imply that if a Rolex hasn't been watched for a long period of time, it does in fact need to be initially wound.

I just recently started wearing a 1968 GMT Master which had been in storage for quite a while. Wondering, do I need to wind it? It's running fine.

Also, is it possible to overwind a Rolex?

Hey. I took a look at the article. It's just saying that if the watch has not been worn for a while, it will have NO charge and it is good to wind it to make sure it has a good charge before you start wearing it.

[Colnago]

You cannot overwind an automatic Rolex, there is a "slipping" mechanism to prevent that happening....30 or so winds of the crown will give the watch it's full power reserve.....wearing it for 15 or so hours per day (for a normally active person) is enough to retain a decent/full power reserve....personally, if I take a stopped watch from my box to wear I give it 30 or so winds and then set it....then wear it 24/7.....

[padi56]

All Rolex oyster automatics should be fully wound from stopped 40 crown turns clockwise for all models.The Daytona with the in-house movement will need 60 full turns,myself even if worn would still recommend a full wind say once a week.This keeps the crown mechanism oiled and stops quite a few stiff crown and setting problems from lack of use.And know you will do know damaged whatsoever to your watch by winding unscrewing the crown etc.Just think of all the manual wind Rolex watches with screw down crowns they get would daily for years without any problems.

[Tools]

A self-winding watch does not wind itself... that would be impossible..

What it does do is that it "maintains" it's wind when actively worn. This means that if you wind it fully, it will likely stay fully wound, or close to it, if worn daily..

The likelyhood that it will wind-up from a dead stop to fully wound by the simple act of wearing it (or putting it on a "winder") is very slim indeed..

So, the answer is, if it stopped - wind it; then wear it to maintain that wind..

(The reality is that some folks are not active enough and the watch will eventually bleed off almost all of it's power-reserve until there is only a few hours of power in it and it will lose accuracy. These folks may need to wind their watch each week for optimum performance)