Are manual wind pieces much more delicate?

[Young Connoisseur]

I've been saving for quite a while since I've been back in school and decided on a manual wind after seeing some of Jockes pictures of his Dornblüth and his GO PanoInverse XL but as a fellow WIS told me, I may be silly in this.

I used to have a Daytona but sold it and at the moment only have this Tag, which has a diamond bezel.

My friend thinks I should just get another Rolex before I buy another watch that would be easily damaged.


Are manual winds really THAT much more delicate, though? I know getting the new Explorer II vs a Dornblüth is no comparison but is it really possible through normal wear to do any big bit damage to a manual wind?


Maybe I should just get a SD and save the change to get a manual wind later on..

[KKB]

It probably depends on which manual wind.

I read on another forum recently that an automatic might be more sensitive to shocks because of the strain the relatively heavy winding rotor would put on the rest of the movement when a shock occurs. The poster had attended an experts' class on the JLC reverso and someone asked the instructor if the watch was delicate. The instructor slammed the watch down on the desk hard, and then showed the class that it was still running. (How well it kept time after that, I couldn't say. )

[Young Connoisseur]

Originally Posted by KKB

It probably depends on which manual wind.

I read on another forum recently that an automatic might be more sensitive to shocks because of the strain the relatively heavy winding rotor would put on the rest of the movement when a shock occurs. The poster had attended an experts' class on the JLC reverso and someone asked the instructor if the watch was delicate. The instructor slammed the watch down on the desk hard, and then showed the class that it was still running. (How well it kept time after that, I couldn't say. )

That would have been painful, yet awesome to see...


I know my Daytona took a beating and my buddies Submariner has been through hell on his wrist, so it would be smart to consider it...

But GO's are so beautiful...

Why can't I already be done with school and make enough to buy both!?

[B. Doggy]

In general, no. However, it really depends on what you're looking at. There are some manual winds from the big 3 that are certainly more delicate than a Rolex movement. Some more details are needed.

[Shade]

The simple ETA manual wind is a workhorse, nothing very easy to break about it. And there are numerous manual winding movement that is much better than an automatic for example. It really depends.

[kilyung]

It entirely depends on the movement. Ultra thin manual movements have less tolerance than thicker movements. All things being equal, a manual movement is more robust than a similarly sized automatic - less to go wrong.

[slcbbrown]

Originally Posted by kilyung

It entirely depends on the movement. Ultra thin manual movements have less tolerance than thicker movements. All things being equal, a manual movement is more robust than a similarly sized automatic - less to go wrong.

Technically, the auto just has the auto-winding mechanism added to the movement. Nothing about being auto makes a watch more robust.