[DakotaONeill]

Seeing as all three of my watches are Chinese and Mechanical, I decided to post this here. Basically I am still new to the watch scene and don't know everything like some of you! Someday!

Basically I own a Rodina, KC with a Sea-Gull ST17, and soon to be Parnis Power Reserve Open Heart. My question is, I use my hand frequently throughout the day, much more then most people. Lot's of hand movements, tossing, turning, pulling, grabbing, picking up, and so forth. I am worried that what I am doing might be too much? I know Mechanical watches are delicate, however these are "cheaper" watches for me, so if they break it isn't a huge loss for me. Also do these watches gather energy bi-directional or only clockwise or counterclockwise?

tl;dl - Can I over spin the rotor, and will the main spring stop storing energy after it is "full." Are my watches bi-directional?


Secondly, before bed I will usually manually wind my ST17 because I don't wear it that much, three or four full turns. Is this bad, is it even worse if I was wearing it that day?

 

[balzebub]

Don't think u can over wind automatic watch?

 

[Pawl_Buster]

Seeing as all three of my watches are Chinese and Mechanical, I decided to post this here. Basically I am still new to the watch scene and don't know everything like some of you! Someday!

Basically I own a Rodina, KC with a Sea-Gull ST17, and soon to be Parnis Power Reserve Open Heart. My question is, I use my hand frequently throughout the day, much more then most people. Lot's of hand movements, tossing, turning, pulling, grabbing, picking up, and so forth. I am worried that what I am doing might be too much? I know Mechanical watches are delicate, however these are "cheaper" watches for me, so if they break it isn't a huge loss for me. Also do these watches gather energy bi-directional or only clockwise or counterclockwise?

tl;dl - Can I over spin the rotor, and will the main spring stop storing energy after it is "full." Are my watches bi-directional?


Secondly, before bed I will usually manually wind my ST17 because I don't wear it that much, three or four full turns. Is this bad, is it even worse if I was wearing it that day?

The short answer is that you cannot over wind your watches. The automatic ones have a slip mechanism on the mainspring which prevents it from being damaged. Just wear them and enjoy them. Hand winding does not harm the watches because all the ones you mentioned are essentially manual winders with an automatic system added on to them. Some wind unidirectional and some bidirectionally but it doesn't matter since both systems are almost as efficient as one another.
Some of the really cheap($10 to $20) autos can be useless as auto winders though, because the system is made so inexpensively that it barely functions.

Enjoy your watches and don't worry about them; they are not as delicate as you think ;-)

 

[DakotaONeill]

The short answer is that you cannot over wind your watches. The automatic ones have a slip mechanism on the mainspring which prevents it from being damaged. Just wear them and enjoy them. Hand winding does not harm the watches because all the ones you mentioned are essentially manual winders with an automatic system added on to them. Some wind unidirectional and some bidirectionally but it doesn't matter since both systems are almost as efficient as one another.
Some of the really cheap($10 to $20) autos can be useless as auto winders though, because the system is made so inexpensively that it barely functions.

Enjoy your watches and don't worry about them; they are not as delicate as you think ;-)

Thank you and I originally meant to say unidirectional. I couldn't think of the word!

Awesome information and nice to hear they are all basically manual wind systems with autos installed because I am going to venture into the Parnis when it comes and remove the auto mech so it's just manual wind!