Having not owned a hand wound watch before, is it acceptable to wind it a little each day keeping it close to/or fully wound? Perhaps it’s better to let the mainspring fully discharge before winding again? For ref the movement in question is a Sellita SW510M. I’ve noticed that the movement is less accurate as the spring nears being fully unwound.

Des

On my manual wind watches with up to 3 days of PR I tend to wind when I pick the watch up in the morning and then again before I go to bed.

On watches with a much longer PR I wind fully and then leave them until they reach the red zone on the PR, or just let them run down fully.

Neil

@strapline What’s the stated PR, Des?

The old vintages generally run about 30 hours, so I wind them fully in the morning if I’m wearing them. The Speedmaster can run for a couple of days, but again I tend to wind it each morning. I will probably wind the SH 21 every two days or so. Not an exact science.

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:09 pm @strapline What’s the stated PR, Des?

I think it’s 58-60hrs max, Steve. When wearing I’d like to keep it more full than empty; I think that’s where the best accuracy will be.

Des

@strapline I’m sure I remember reading somewhere that watches perform best in the 30% to 70% band, but I have absolutely no hard evidence to corroborate that.

I can't explain why I read the title of this thread as "hand wound" - woond - as injury rather than hand wound - found - as in non-automatic watch.

I was ready to offer first aid!

^^^* Same here, in fact I’ve just put it in the misread thread title, probably about the same time you would have been posting.

On topic, I’ve only owned two uninjured hand wound watches, both speedmasters. I used to just fully wind them every day and never had any issues.

I also have a desk clock which is an old pocket watch on a stand. It’s part of my morning routine, put the tea on to brew, switch on the computer and wind my clock up. Again, I’ve not had any issues.

tikkathree wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:39 pm I was ready to offer first aid!

El Greco would have painted it.

I think winding every morning is a good safe habit to get. You get to know roughly when to expect the "bite" so you don't over wind. For me, it's just over 17 generous winds from completely run down on a C65 vintage. Between 16 and 20. So after a day, it's going to be about 10 to fully reload. There's never a gritty feeling either with a C65 handwound.

A Speedy is difficult, as it's such a hard watch to wind, and you don't want to over wind it. A bigger crown would NOT spoil a Speedmaster.

Carriage and other mechanical clocks get a full wind as well. You feel the bite on a carriage clock.

strapline wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:24 pm

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:09 pm @strapline What’s the stated PR, Des?

I think it’s 58-60hrs max, Steve. When wearing I’d like to keep it more full than empty; I think that’s where the best accuracy will be.

Des

SW510 datasheet says 48. Min 34 turns when no rotor is present. Average rate +-5 sec (Elabore), 20s max deviation all positions, +- 15s/d isochronism.

tikkathree wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:39 pm I can't explain why I read the title of this thread as "hand wound" - woond - as injury rather than hand wound - found - as in non-automatic watch.

I was ready to offer first aid!

Yes, I thought he’d grazed his palm or something…

I'm in general agreement with the majority: winding every morning has worked well on all my manuals.

rkovars wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 9:52 pm

strapline wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:24 pm

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:09 pm @strapline What’s the stated PR, Des?

I think it’s 58-60hrs max, Steve. When wearing I’d like to keep it more full than empty; I think that’s where the best accuracy will be.

Des

SW510 datasheet says 48. Min 34 turns when no rotor is present. Average rate +-5 sec (Elabore), 20s max deviation all positions, +- 15s/d isochronism.

Interesting, Rich! The Hanhart website lists 58, which I'm pretty sure my watch is returning. The latest Farer chronographs which use the same movement are listing 63hrs. I was just hoping for in excess of two days before having to wind again.

Des

Thanks for all the replies, guys. Think I'll probably elect to let it fully run down before rewinding. I know it'll run a little faster towards coming to a stop, but that really is of little issue where this charming watch is concerned. And as to the word play and misread thread title? well, I expected no less.

Des

I had a JLC 6B/159 that I hand wound every morning. Nothing broke until I sold it 50 years later.