Maybe you should make a test with some affordable watches first.

I think that even if the watches don't break, the accuracy could be affected.

 

I tend to agree and have opted to take them off when I jump onto the drums. Seems like such a shame

 

I'm also a drummer and I've been wondering the same thing.

It depends a lot on the kind of music you're playing I guess, but for anything metal or punk rock, I would advise against it. Even if you don't break anything inside from the violent movements, the risk of hitting a part of the drumkit straight on the crystal is still rather high.

Play it safe. Pun totally intended

 

A gent I know is a pretty well physically engaging drummer (he enjoys the exercise/release of it), and his Rolex holds up great. We have discussed it more than once actually

 

I can see a Timex commercial happening

 

They will be fine - my vintage watches have been put through all sorts of adrenaline fuelled outdoor activities (think high G force, especially when you come to an immediate stop - ouch); they never had an issue. The worst thing that happened was a spring bar popped out.

 

I think it might be an effective way to wind your watch.

 

KISS's drummer is a WIS and has a video with hodinkee where he discussed about drumming and watches. I think he mentioned how the vibration transferred on his wrist could affect the accuracy and overall performance of the watch. I heard Ball made him a special watch to be able to withstand his drumming.

 

That watch is the Ball Skindiver II; they have a shock amortiser built in to the escapement, supposedly.

Regards,
Alysandir

 

I've thought the same about target shooting and automatics. I always err on the side of caution and take mine off

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Been shooting skeet and shooting 1911's in .45 for 40+ yrs while wearing Rolex, Omega and a handful of mechanicals from the 40's, 50's and 60's. Assuming you're a right handed shooter with your watch on your left wrist, your watch isn't seeing squat in terms of recoil while shotgunning. With a handgun, by the time the recoil impulse gets to the watch ...I believe it's been damped to the point of being negligible.

 

Accuracy might be altered(thats what i think). To be on the safe side it's you don't use it while play cause you have nothing to lose if you don't or you could simply try it with a much more affordable and see how it goes.

 

I would absolutely recomend to take them off when playing, even when i play guitar i playbthem off. I play tennis at a medium level and had two problems with the main spring in 2 watches so for sport or heavy movements i always take them off just in case, dont want to pay 75 usd if i can avoid it

 

I am a drummer and always remove my watch before playing unless I'm wearing my G-Shock. Since no one has said it yet I guess I will, when you're playing the drums you're the one keeping time so a watch is irrelevant.

 

I have never worn a watch while playing the drums because I baby mine too much...some interesting points about the accuracy though. I don't really ever think about it, but do other types of vigorous activity alter the accuracy of autos as well?


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It's strange that the general consensus is to take the watch off. There have been a few similar threads discussing the subject of, say, taking your automatic to the firing range. What most people agree on is that your body generally does a great job of taking and dispersing energy, thus causing no worry. I've worn my watch shooting, swimming, running, hell, even off roading, and it's been fine. My go-to beater, the O1VR, has been pretty consistent at +4-6 s per day.

Just my piece of anecdotal evidence

 

I play the drums once in a while and it has never come to my mind to try paying with my watch, I always take it off before I play just for the comfort.


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Unless I'm wearing my g shock, my watch never makes it to the drumset or firing range.


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I've shot standard rifles and sidearms on a weekly basis wearing mechanicals, if that helps. If your watch fails as a result seek repairs for free from the maker and be sure to absolutely trash them on all the fora because they will soundly deserve it. They should be ashamed.

 

I don't know exactly what happens, but when I've worn my seikos on occasion, even with just 30 mins of drumming, I've found that the watch has jumped ahead by a couple of minutes after the session, and as much as a couple of hours ahead the next day. There's no lasting damage as far as I can tell. Accuracy goes back to normal, it's just inconvenient.

With drumming, I think it's less about the shock (YMMV of course, depending on the type of music you play), but more about the continuous movement that moves the rotor extremely efficiently? E.g. the movement of your arm in an arc is quite similar to what the manual suggests you do to wind the rotor.

If we take the average tempo of a song to be 80 beats per minute, after 30 minutes of drumming, I would have swung the watch 144,000 times, as I wear it on my right, which plays the hi-hat.

Even though you're not supposed to be able to overwind the watch, clearly something is happening that causes it to run faster while drumming, and even in the hours after stopping the activity. I wish I knew what was going on.

 

It's a thing of mechanical intricacy. The shock protection on the balance wheel isn't that much. It's one thing to treat the watch with ridiculous abuse when you're a sponsored ambassador and can request another without issue, and another thing to wear it swinging golf clubs or a hammer.

 

It's not running faster due to winding. The mainspring can be fully wound, and the escapement would still let it escape at the same rate. Your drumming is causing it to escape faster, and maybe it isn't shock, but it's something that's keeping the escapement from engaging the wheel to temporarily stop the movement to keep it moving at a consistent rate, or allowing the balance wheel to spin faster as you move your arm.

 

I'm a working drummer and never wear my watches while playing. Mostly because I don't like the feel of them bouncing around. I'm in a variety band playing all sorts of music... Its just not comfortable to me. In terms of damage, theoretically you are putting a lot of force into the watch, but it also depends on what type of player you are, are your a wrist/finger guy or an arm guy. I'm a bit of both depending on the song. If a quartz/digital type of watch, I would think it would be fine. Analog/auto... Not worth it IMO.

 

Im with Geof3 on this one. I dont play wearing a watch because it just feels uncomfortable. I feel lighter/more fluid without anything on my wrists while i play. I have a few friends that play metal/pop punk with automatics. Havent noticed a difference in time keeping over the years. One of them has an NH35 movement. Which is a beast of a workhorse.

 

I just feel better taking it off... too afraid to hit something with it, or it with something. The Rolex I had was unfazed, I wouldn't trust many others I've had which didn't seem as rugged.

 

my understanding is that drumming isn't really great for watches especially automatics

 

This might just be an effective way to wind your watch but at the same time it could also have a negative effect on it, a simple experiment would say for sure.