would it give more wear and tear if the rolex is manually winded every 2 days?

[gameson]

i have few panerai (manual wind) that i rotate with my 216570.

i don't wear the rolex daily, but since i m winding my panerai once every 2 days, so i m curious to know if i wind my rolex every 2 days (so i don't use watch winder), i wonder if that would actually give more wear and tear to the rolex crown since rolex is not made to be winded by crown.

thanks.

[Floorguy]

If you don't wear it daily, why bother winding it? Not that it will hurt it, but just let it sleep, and wind and set it when your going to wear it!

[Tools]

Your Rolex is made to be wound by hand as well as to be wound by the internal self-winder.

Yes, you will incur a bit more wear if you choose to wind it every other day, however, any extra wear is unlikely to damage the watch in any way.. If you don't plan to wear it for more than a few days why not simply let it run down and wind and set it when you need it..

[T. Ferguson]

Originally Posted by gameson

i have few panerai (manual wind) that i rotate with my 216570.

i don't wear the rolex daily, but since i m winding my panerai once every 2 days, so i m curious to know if i wind my rolex every 2 days (so i don't use watch winder), i wonder if that would actually give more wear and tear to the rolex crown since rolex is not made to be winded by crown.

thanks.

The idea that a Rolex is not made to be wound by the crown is not true. Of course it is. That, and setting it, are what the crown is there for. Excepting perhaps the DD and SkyDweller, there is really no Rolex that is so inconvenient to set that letting it run down between wearings would be bothersome. This is especially true if you are considering winding it every couple of days anyway. The only thing extra you'd be doing is setting it and that takes less than a minute, date included.

I personally see no need for a watch to be running when it's not being used. The only exception to that is I don't hack my watches when I put them away, so they wind down naturally. But they don't get wound again until I put them back on.

But to answer your question, there should be no noticeable wear associated with winding your watch. It is my experience that problems are just as likely to pop up from non-use of the crown.

[Armyguy03]

My work watch goes unworn from Thursday or a Friday till Monday. After I'm dressed Monday mornings I grab it, drive to work, them set it. The motion from driving etc gets a nice wind so I just set it when I'm at my desk.

[lapince]

Originally Posted by Tools

Your Rolex is made to be wound by hand as well as to be wound by the internal self-winder.

Yes, you will incur a bit more wear if you choose to wind it every other day, however, any extra wear is unlikely to damage the watch in any way.. If you don't plan to wear it for more than a few days why not simply let it run down and wind and set it when you need it..

exactly what i do

[landroverking]

Wind it dine it.

[badass09]

Why would it create more wear and tear while winding the watch by hand than letting the rotor wind the watch....?? Isn't there a mechanism that stops the movement from overwinding...?? Just curious.. all gurus please enlighten me...!!

[Racerdj]

You should be good to go.

[Alcan]

Originally Posted by badass09

Why would it create more wear and tear while winding the watch by hand than letting the rotor wind the watch....?? Isn't there a mechanism that stops the movement from overwinding...?? Just curious.. all gurus please enlighten me...!!

Every Rolex automatic wind watch ever made has a slip clutch built into the mainspring winding mechanism, as has just about every automatic wind watch. Think about it. A very active person could easily have enough wrist movement to wind the mainspring to full tension and then some. So what happens then? Continued movement overwinds the watch and breaks the mainspring? Nope, the mainspring is not physically attached to the inside of the barrel, rather it rides in indents in the barrel's inner diameter so it can slip once fully wound.

Here's a pretty good explanation:

"Why it doesn't over-wind itself

On June 16, 1863, Adrien Philippe (of Patek Philippe) is credited with Patent No.58941, for the "slipping mainspring". This particular invention allowed the simultaneous winding of two or more mainspring barrels, certainly a different invention with a different purpose. However, the technology of his invention is said to be the foundation for the development of self-winding wristwatches.

The Slipping Spring

This "slipping" spring allows the mainspring to slide or slip a few degrees relative to the inside of the barrel while still staying fully wound. The end of the slipping spring moves from one groove to another on the inside the barrel, stopping each time, and thus keeping the spring under constant tension.

This attachment of spring steel is sometimes referred to as a bridle. This bridle slips along the barrel wall before excess pressure is passed to the going train. The bridle must also grip the barrel wall sufficiently to not slip down either too rapidly, or too slowly, a defect known as “mainspring creep” which results in a shortened reserve power time.

The slipping bridle on the outer end of the mainspring is illustrated here. (1). the bridle (in the barrel), (2) maintains outward pressure on the outermost coil of the mainspring (3). At less than full wind, the bridle pressure causes the outer tip of the spring to catch in a notch in the barrel wall (4) and maintain its position. As the mainspring reaches full wind, the outer end of the spring slips out of the notch and releases tension by slipping across the smooth section of the barrel wall (5) until it catches in the next notch."

The lower image below is a Rolex caliber 3135 mainspring and barrel.


Images from TimeZone

[SALTY]

The only possible "extra wear" that I could think of is perhaps the o=ring in the crown that is slightly compressed and then rubbed by the torsion of the crown be srcewed down that last fraction of a turn. I an very far from a expert and suspect that while I may be on to something in theory - it is probably akin to picking the fly poop out of the black pepper.

For what it's worth, I have been told that moving the hands (or date wheel) too rapidly while setting a watch is not recommended.

[badass09]

Originally Posted by Alcan

Every Rolex automatic wind watch ever made has a slip clutch built into the mainspring winding mechanism, as has just about every automatic wind watch. Think about it. A very active person could easily have enough wrist movement to wind the mainspring to full tension and then some. So what happens then? Continued movement overwinds the watch and breaks the mainspring? Nope, the mainspring is not physically attached to the inside of the barrel, rather it rides in indents in the barrel's inner diameter so it can slip once fully wound.

Here's a pretty good explanation:

"Why it doesn't over-wind itself

On June 16, 1863, Adrien Philippe (of Patek Philippe) is credited with Patent No.58941, for the "slipping mainspring". This particular invention allowed the simultaneous winding of two or more mainspring barrels, certainly a different invention with a different purpose. However, the technology of his invention is said to be the foundation for the development of self-winding wristwatches.

The Slipping Spring

This "slipping" spring allows the mainspring to slide or slip a few degrees relative to the inside of the barrel while still staying fully wound. The end of the slipping spring moves from one groove to another on the inside the barrel, stopping each time, and thus keeping the spring under constant tension.

This attachment of spring steel is sometimes referred to as a bridle. This bridle slips along the barrel wall before excess pressure is passed to the going train. The bridle must also grip the barrel wall sufficiently to not slip down either too rapidly, or too slowly, a defect known as “mainspring creep” which results in a shortened reserve power time.

The slipping bridle on the outer end of the mainspring is illustrated here. (1). the bridle (in the barrel), (2) maintains outward pressure on the outermost coil of the mainspring (3). At less than full wind, the bridle pressure causes the outer tip of the spring to catch in a notch in the barrel wall (4) and maintain its position. As the mainspring reaches full wind, the outer end of the spring slips out of the notch and releases tension by slipping across the smooth section of the barrel wall (5) until it catches in the next notch."

The lower image below is a Rolex caliber 3135 mainspring and barrel.


Images from TimeZone

Very well explained.. thanks for posting and enlightening me.. but i still don't understand how by manually winding the watch can create more wear and tear...

[badass09]

Originally Posted by SALTY

The only possible "extra wear" that I could think of is perhaps the o=ring in the crown that is slightly compressed and then rubbed by the torsion of the crown be srcewed down that last fraction of a turn. I an very far from a expert and suspect that while I may be on to something in theory - it is probably akin to picking the fly poop out of the black pepper.

For what it's worth, I have been told that moving the hands (or date wheel) too rapidly while setting a watch is not recommended.

Ahhhh.. now this i understand... but other than the rubber o ring will other parts as in gears and barrels get worn out...??

[padi56]

Originally Posted by badass09

Ahhhh.. now this i understand... but other than the rubber o ring will other parts as in gears and barrels get worn out...??

Simple answer no.

[Im Lauf der Zeit]

Originally Posted by Floorguy

If you don't wear it daily, why bother winding it? Not that it will hurt it, but just let it sleep, and wind and set it when your going to wear it!

+1. And avoid the watch winder since you don't have any complications that are a hassle to reset.

[Castor]

Awesome explanation Alcan!

[tkerrmd]

Originally Posted by padi56

Simple answer no.

[HogwldFLTR]

Originally Posted by Im Lauf der Zeit

+1. And avoid the watch winder since you don't have any complications that are a hassle to reset.

I consider a GMT and Date two complications that are more work than I'd want to set each time I wear a watch. I'd keep it wound or on a winder. How much time can that really take of the life of the watch between services. The only thing not using the watch is doing is preventing enjoyment and delaying servicing. Neither of these seem all that desirable to me. And of course there is always more wear when a machine is used more. The question is the balance of disuse and convenience/enjoyment. Use the watch and don't worry about it.

[A.Sharp]

A lot of times theyll replace the crown on service anyways.. dont worry, and enjoy.

[T. Ferguson]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

The question is the balance of disuse and convenience/enjoyment. Use the watch and don't worry about it.

Not necessarily. To me it is simply a trade-off between convenience and wear - enjoyment has little to do with it. Certainly the decision to use a winder is one of convenience. But I don't agree with the trade-off between disuse and enjoyment. Most people that don't use a winder are not storing their watch because they want to avoid the wear and tear on the movement that would occur if they were wearing the watch. Rather, they are storing the watch for other reasons - mostly because they have multiple watches and are wearing/enjoying a different one.

Now, if you only have one watch and you wear it every day then it's not going to incur additional wear on a winder since it will always be running anyway. But in that case you probably don't need a winder to keep it going. To my way of thinking, a winder is most appropriate (perpetuals etc. aside) for the guy who has 2 to 3 watches and rotates every day. Whether they are on a winder or not because of the power reserve there will be very little if any downtime so a winder won't be causing any significant increase in wear, and there is the convenience of a having full power reserve when you grab 'n go.

Having said all that, convenience is a perfectly legitimate reason to use a winder, if convenience is that important to you. It's not to me, nor do my wearing habits fit the profile I mentioned for choosing to use a winder.

Truth be told, a winder would reduce the enjoyment I get from my watches because I enjoy the interaction of setting them. I realize however, that not everyone shares this feeling and to some it is nothing but a royal PITA when they're trying to get out the door to work.

To each his own.