You wear your Omega all day, take it off before bed, and set it on the nightstand. The next morning, you find that it stopped at 3:15 AM.
Your first thought may be that something is broken and you’re looking at a repair bill. Before you get to that point, I’d check something simpler: was the watch properly wound in the first place?
A lot of people don’t realize that you can—and should—wind an automatic watch by hand when it has stopped. They expect to put it on their wrist and have it keep running, almost like a battery-powered quartz watch. But that isn’t how a mechanical watch works. If it had very little power when you took it off, it may stop during the night without anything being broken.
Here’s how to wind it properly and test whether it’s holding a normal power reserve.
1. Wearing an automatic may not be enough
Automatic Omegas such as the Seamaster Diver 300M, Planet Ocean, and Speedmaster Reduced have a weighted rotor inside. As your arm moves, the rotor helps keep the mainspring wound.
That doesn’t mean putting on a stopped watch will necessarily give it a full charge. If you spend the day typing at a desk, driving, and sitting at home, the watch may get enough movement to run while you’re wearing it but very little reserve for the night.
So if your automatic Omega has stopped, wind it with the crown before you put it on. Then you can judge how it performs.
2. Don’t shake it to get it started
I know the temptation: the seconds hand has stopped, so you shake the watch until it starts moving again. Don’t give it a hard shake.
A mechanical movement has delicate pivots, bearings, and other small parts. Violently shaking the watch puts unnecessary shock on them, and it does very little to wind the mainspring. The hand may start moving, only for the watch to stop again a short time later.
Use the crown instead.
3. How to wind your Omega
The finger-roll count can be confusing. When you turn a crown between your thumb and index finger, one roll usually isn’t a complete 360-degree turn. If you count 35 short finger rolls as 35 full crown rotations, you may leave the watch with much less power than you intended.
Automatic Omegas
If your watch has a screw-down crown, as many Seamaster dive models do, unscrew it counterclockwise until it releases into the winding position. If it has a push-pull crown, leave it in its normal position against the case.
Turn the crown forward, clockwise, for about 50 to 60 distinct finger rolls. An automatic movement has a slipping clutch that allows the mainspring to slip once it reaches full tension, so you won’t feel the firm stopping point you get with a manual-wind Moonwatch.
If the crown screws down, press it gently toward the case and turn it clockwise until the threads catch. Then screw it down snugly. Don’t force it. If it’s a push-pull crown, leave it in its normal position.
Manual-wind Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch
The Moonwatch has a push-pull crown, so there is nothing to unscrew. Leave the crown in its normal position and wind it forward smoothly.
Keep winding until you feel a firm mechanical stop. Stop as soon as you feel it. The manual-wind Moonwatch does not have the automatic’s slipping clutch, and you should never try to wind past that stop. From completely stopped, it may take roughly 35 to 45 short finger rolls, but pay attention to the crown rather than relying only on the count. Its power reserve is roughly 48 hours.
If you want more detail on the difference between winding a manual Moonwatch and an automatic Speedmaster, see my guide to winding an Omega Speedmaster.
4. Test the power reserve on your nightstand
If the watch still keeps stopping, this simple test will tell you more than wearing it for another day and hoping for the best:
- Wind it fully: about 50 to 60 good finger rolls for an automatic, or until you feel the firm stop on a manual-wind Moonwatch.
- Set the time and secure the crown.
- Place the watch flat, dial facing up, and leave it alone.
- Note when you set it down and when it eventually stops. You may need to check it over the next two days or longer.
Compare the result with the rated power reserve for your particular movement. If a watch rated for roughly 42 to 48 hours runs in that range, or a longer-reserve model runs for its expected 55 to 60 hours, the watch may be fine. It may simply not have been getting wound enough during your normal day.
If it repeatedly stops after only 10 to 18 hours following a full hand wind, I’d have it checked.
5. What if it doesn’t pass the test?
A watchmaker needs to examine the movement to tell you exactly why it’s stopping early. Old or sticky lubricants can create friction. On an automatic, a worn slipping clutch in the barrel may keep the mainspring from holding enough tension.
There’s another useful distinction: if the watch runs for its expected time after you wind it by hand and leave it on the desk, but keeps stopping during normal wear, the automatic winding system may need attention. Dirty or worn reversing wheels are one possible reason the rotor’s movement isn’t winding the watch effectively.
The test won’t diagnose the part for you. It will give you—and the watchmaker—a much clearer starting point.
Need your Omega checked?
If you’ve wound it properly and it still stops well short of its expected reserve, don’t keep shaking it or forcing the crown. We can check how the movement is running, measure its amplitude, and determine whether it needs service.
Give me a call and tell me what happened during the test.
