question on power reserve

[Tools]

When you reach full wind and start turning the spring in the barrel, you can feel the extra drag on the crown.

90 turns is likely overkill, but it probably won't do much harm unless you do this routinely.

[jatco]

Ran on a 'test' on my DJ to see what Reserve it had after being serviced.
Wound it up as required, wore it everyday when I came home from work for the week, then let it rest face after the date changed to the 19th. It stopped at 2236 on the 21st. So that comes to 46 1/2 hrs reserve.
I think that's good...

[schoolboy]

Originally Posted by ratty

I've heard this said a few times but I don't understand it.



Imagine watch fully wound = 100%



Watch is then left on bedside cabinet for 10 hours. Let's just say for a figure that this reduces the stored energy by 10%. So watch is now 90% fully wound up.



Watch then worn all day so no more energy loss then again left on cabinet at night and losses another 10% of original full wind up. So now, after two lots of sitting on cabinet for 10 hours, it's at 80% or original full wind.



If this carries on, after about 10 to 12 nights of watch lying on cabinet the watch would stop if it did not recover some of it's lost 'wind' wouldn't it? Well mine hasn't! Surely this shows that movement while wearing the watch does actually restore some energy back into the spring and winds the watch up?



Even when being worn but not moving, such as at night, a watch will loose energy and if this is not replaced by movement the watch will stop in a relatively short time. I wore my first Rolex for about a year before I heard that it 'should' be wound every so often so surely it should have stopped long before this if movement does not restore energy?

I like your logic



Very well put!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[padi56]

Originally Posted by jatco

Ran on a 'test' on my DJ to see what Reserve it had after being serviced.
Wound it up as required, wore it everyday when I came home from work for the week, then let it rest face after the date changed to the 19th. It stopped at 2236 on the 21st. So that comes to 46 1/2 hrs reserve.
I think that's good...

As long as it runs between 39-48 hours after a full wind off wrist give or take a hour or so all fine.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by ratty

. . .
Watch then worn all day so no more energy loss then again left on cabinet at night and losses another 10% of original full wind up. So now, after two lots of sitting on cabinet for 10 hours, it's at 80% or original full wind.

If this carries on, after about 10 to 12 nights of watch lying on cabinet the watch would stop if it did not recover some of it's lost 'wind' wouldn't it? Well mine hasn't! Surely this shows that movement while wearing the watch does actually restore some energy back into the spring and winds the watch up?

. . .

The flaw, if you can call it that, in this reasoning assumes that "Watch then worn all day so no more energy loss...".

Wearing it does not do any thing, activity does. So, if you wear it all day with little to no real activity, the watch will continue to lose power reserve, only putting into it what you physically do. This may not be more energy than it uses to power itself.

So, yes, movement while wearing it may put what it is using, plus some additional power into it. It might not, however, "top-it-off".

The watch will eventually wind-down to only what you put into it each day - this might be only a few hours above your lying-on-the-counter time.

While wearing it, just like when it is on a winder, the rotor needs to turn over 600 times a day just to stay at the same level. Anything less, it runs down, any more it winds up.

[lenfried29]

just did experiment. wind crown 60 times. left watch face up over weekend. watch stopped moving after 47:52. rolex said it's power reserve approximately 48 hours

[RJRJRJ]

Of course it can wind up the watch to full power. That's why the watch has a slip clutch to prevent overwinding.