How to Maintain Your Watch

How Mechanical Watches Work

Mechanical watches are watches powered by kinetic energy, meaning that movement is what keeps it running. There are two types of mechanical watches, manual and automatic.

Automatic watches are more common in the watchmaking industry today. They are powered by an oscillating weight, typically located at the back of the movement. While wearing the timepiece, this weight spins and provides the energy for the watch to keep time. That being said, the watch should keep running for as long as you’re wearing it and typically it will continue to keep time after not wearing it for around 40 hours, depending on the watch’s power reserve. Over this time period, the power supply of the movement will run out and you will need to wind the watch using the crown to refill this supply completely before wearing it again. If you find yourself setting your watch aside frequently, a winding box can be used to prevent the watch’s power reserve from depleting, thus keeping it from stopping and having to reset it at each use.

Manual wind watches must typically be wound daily as their movements do not include oscillating weights. The winding of the crown powers the watch and fills up its power reserve completely. In order to do so for both automatic and manual watches, turn the crown clockwise, about 30 to 40 times.