SHOULD A 7-DAY MODEL TIMEPIECE BE KEPT ON A WATCH WINDER?

Dear IWC fans,

A customer sent in his 7-day timepiece to our service center and we found worn winding parts with lots of dust particles borne from excessive wear caused by too much winding. After receiving our estimate for service, indicating a necessary overhaul and replacement of parts, he sent us the following note: The watch has been worn very sporadically. It is kept on a watch winder on prescribed settings for the IWC model. What in your estimation caused the winding parts to malfunction? Is it being wound too much? I have two other IWC perpetual and don’t want them to have the same issues.

MY REPLY: A preliminary inspection suggests that, for your 7-day power reserve watch, an automatic watch winder might be too much for the large oscilating weight with its efficient winding system. It may be doing more harm than good since the constant movement might result in premature wear on the whole winding system. Many winding parts seem to be badly worn and the movement is loaded with microscopic dust particles as well. We won't know the extent of the labor and necessary parts until we strip the movement down completely and inspect each of the affected wheels and gears.

We, therefore, do not recommend using an automatic watch winder for 7-day models.

Regards,
Jack Freedman (watchmaker)

P.S. I have also consulted with the technical department at the IWC factory and received confirmation of the above.

Very interesting. The only watch I keep on a winder is my PPC. I will have to rethink my strategy.

Ugh. This is the first I've heard of this. Need to have a rethink myself since this is officially coming from IWC now...

Thanks for posting,
Thang

To be clear, my initial post was technically meant for "7-DAY MODELS" with the C5XXXX movements which have very large oscillating weights. For all other models, such as normal perpetual calendars, an automatic winder is a convenience but not a necessity.

Jack Freedman

Thanks for the information and update Jack.

Regards,
Kevin

Jack - Could some of the variables make a difference? For example, number of turns per day on the winder? Or the pattern of winding to resting?

Wonder if the components of the movement were of the correct hardness for the job (that is not the same as what was specified) or was the winder revolving in such a manner that caused the problem? Don't suppose we will know the honest answer to either question as neither company will be keen to openly admit that their products were at fault.
As for my 5001 it's my weekend or evening watch of choice and I have no winders.

thanks for the informative post.

i guess it's not too much trouble to wear the 5001 once a week to keep it going instead of relying on a winder.

Thank you for this important information. But, it is strange to learn that a watch winder will damage a movement.

I do not own any watch winder as I change my watch choices on a daily basis, if not, I would wind it manually for all the 7 days PR pieces if it is running low. Moreover, I enjoy doing that.

I guess when your collection grow larger, this will be a problem especially if you do not have time to wind all your watches or to set the time before you wear it.

Very informative, thanks Jack.
I personally never had a winder and never will have because I love setting the watch when I start to wear it. It's really no big deal and accomplished in a minute.
And moving the watch is using the watch, which in turn means there is wear. The parameters of the winder make a difference, no doubt about that, but a winder causes wear, just because of its reason for being.
The 7 day movement is made and predestined for just wearing it once a week. Any good watch should get some wear at least once a week - is my opinion.

Thanks, Jack, for this informative post!

But how do you suppose all that dust entered the watch's interior if it was on a watch winder most of the time?

Cheers!

Donald

That's really useful. I have a Portuguese Auto, and have been wondering about putting it on a winder on periods such as holidays when it is not worn. I won't now. Although I do agree that e settings are variable so the setting, rather than the winder, could be at fault.

The constant motion and stress of the large mass oscillating weight grinding on the gears and levers cause dust particles to flake off from the affected parts into the movement. With an exhibitionist case back you could visually see the aforementioned residue.

Regards,
Jack Freedman

Would it better to hand wind the watch to full PR every 7 days?

Why would the weight be grinding on other parts during movement? This does not sound mechanically sound?

A 7-day power reserve watch has an extra large barrel with a very long and strong mainspring. This is to ensure that there's enough power transmitted once fully wound to last seven days.

When the watch is in its fully wound stage then the constant additional automatic winding, from a large mass oscillating weight, generated on a winder puts enormous stress and premature wear on the pawl levers engaged with the automatic windup wheel. This in turn causes these parts to rub stubbornly against each other producing dust particles.

It might be comparable to accelerating the gas pedal on a car when it's blocked from moving. Needless to say the tires could wear out rapidly if done long enough in such a manner.

Therefore, I would suggest that it's better to hand wind these model watches to full power reserve every seven days unless it's worn on a regular basis at least every few days.

Hope this answers all of your concerns and questions.

Regards,
Jack Freedman

Jack
Re the 5000 calibre series. For those in love with them and wearing them 365 days a year, is this condition of dust going to be prevalent under normal wearing?

Great info. In your opinion, if you are happy to "set" the watch every time you put it on, are you better to just let it run down? Or do you think you should wind it every 6 - 7 days to keep it going? Which is better for the watch?