What happens if you overwind a watch

Through the abrupt movement of the wrist during daily wear as well as residing inside of a watch winder, this mechanism provides an efficient way to slip and prevent breakage. In most cases, no, you cannot overwind a modern automatic watch. The smart design on these winding mechanisms allow for any excess tension to be released as the spring slips inside of the barrel.

Despite that, some wearers choose to store their watches in a watch roll to prevent excess wear on the movement. Whatever solution you choose to protect your Swiss watch , take a moment to enjoy the years of design that created the final product you can enjoy on your wrist!

Shop the Collection. Vintage, Manual Wind Watches Before looking at the enhancements that prevent over-winding on a modern, automatic watch, it is helpful to first understand the basics. The simplified render below of a watch hairspring highlights the type of coiled spring that exists inside the barrel of any watch movement.

By Melvin Hollenberg. In Watch Basics , Watchmaking. There are two situations where the term over-winding might be used: 1. You force and break the watch most likely the mainspring while winding it. Break a watch by winding it too much Hand-wound The mainspring in a manual wound watch is secured on both ends. Some hand-wound watches have some protection against over-winding. Automatic The mainspring in an automatic or self-winding watch is only secured on one end, the barrel arbor.

So, can you break a watch by over-winding it? Common reasons for a watch to stop Broken balance staff Tangled balance spring Presence of dried and thickened oil Presence of dust or dirt or a hair Severely magnetized A damaged, bent or worn pinion A broken, bent or worn tooth on a wheel Loose, cracked or worn bearing jewel Etc. His favorite hobby is to pull watches to bits. He's also a big fan of science fiction, baseball, and comics.

A manual watch needs to be wound every morning or evening. Most manual watches will last for about 40 hours, so if you had to forget to wind it for a day or two, it will stop working.

Most watches will reach maximum power by winding the crown 30 to 40 times but this can vary. The minute you feel resistance, the watch is fully wound. Automatic vs. Manual Winding Watches Both manual and automatic watches have a complete mechanical mechanism that keeps the watch operational.