Opinion on 7-10 Day Manual vs Automatic movements & Power Reserve meters

[Tommysol]

I have seen for years on watch forums, people stating they did not understand why you would want a 7 or 10 day AUTOMATIC movement or why include a power reserve on an AUTOMATIC movement watch. They imply that these features only make sense on MANUAL wind movement watches.

My opinion is the exact opposite. I am only interested in those features on AUTOMATIC movement watches. My reasons are as follows:


7-10 Day movements:

Manual Wind:
Why is this necessary? If you have to wind the watch anyway...why does it matter if you have to wind it every 42 hours or 200 hours? Either way---you have to wind the watch just as many total winds...just less occurrences. Isn't that the reason people buy these movements...for the enjoyment of winding the watch. Why lessen the times you are required to wind the watch?

Automatic Movements:
Why not have a longer power reserve? Since the watch is self-winding....why not have a longer reserve than 42 hours? This is the reason why buyers buy an automatic...so they do not have to manually wind the watch! The other benefit is that if you do not wear the watch for 7 days...when you go to wear the watch...it will still be running and therefore not necessary to reset the watch to the current time.







Power Reserve Indicators:

Manual wind:
Why is this necessary? All you have to do is wind the watch until the movement stops! Excluding some of the new Panerai in-house manual wind movements....most manual wind movements have a clutch that stops the winding motion when the watch is fully powered. Again, the main appeal of a manual wind movement is to actually wind the watch. Therefore why not just wind the movement until it stops on a daily basis...why do you need to know where the power reserve is currently at?

Automatic Movement:
Most of these movements do NOT have a clutch that stops the winding motion when fully wound. Therefore without a power reserve indicator...how would you know how fully would the watch would be at any time? With the manual wind movement watch...you simply wind the watch fully until the winding motion stops.


These are just my opinions...what are yours?

[Psmith]

I agree with most of your points, but I think that a PR meter is useful on a manual wind watch. Then you can catch it before it actually stops thus saving you from resetting the time. I enjoy manually winding, but not especially setting the time and date!

I can understand why Panerai feel it necessary that a multi-day movement and a PR meter go together. I would lose track after a couple of days...




Cheers

[Zed Homme]

I own both variants, a 7 day automatic and an 8 day manual. Both watches have a power reserve indicator. My conclusions are exactly the opposite of yours.

Generally, I only worry about the remaining running time as I put the watch on. A quick glance at the time will tell me if a watch is still running (saving me the trouble of setting it). Therefore, if I put on the automatic, I dont care how many hours are left simply because I know that by wearing that piece, I'll be "winding" it over the course of my day.

With the manual wind, its a little different. The watch may still be running but I want to know for how much longer. Will it stop during the course of my day? A quick glance at the PR indicator will let me know.

FWIW I dont really care to set my watches or wind them. That being said, manual wind watches tend to be a little more accurate than their automatic peers, hence (IMHO) their appeal. Having an 8 day manual movement means I dont have to wind the watch as often as a manual wind with a 40 or 50 hour power reserve.