How to Wind a Mechanical Watch and How to Change the Battery in a Quartz Watch

Cuckoo Nest, we pride ourselves in offering a nice selection of watches to go with our custom leather watchbands. There are a variety of analog and digital watches to choose from. However, the most important thing you need to know about your watch is whether it’s mechanically powered or a Quartz watch. We have both kinds, and here we explain how to wind your mechanical watch or change the battery in your Quartz watch.

How to Determine Which Type of Watch You Have

Most people specifically buy either a manual or a Quartz watch. But if you have paid more attention to the custom leather watchband than the watch face, you may not be entirely sure what you got. In addition to checking your order, you can also check for the text that’s imprinted on the back of the watch or on its dial. There are also other clues that give away the identity of the interior mechanism. If you have a Quartz watch, the movements are jumpier and the dial moves once every second. On the other hand, a mechanical watch moves its dials with a smooth, sweeping motion. Many mechanical watches also feature an open face, allowing you to have a peek at what’s happening on the inside.

How a Mechanical Watch Works

Mechanical watches differ from Quartz watches, because they don’t use a battery to keep going. Instead, the gears are turned by using a spiral spring, which is called the mainspring. The energy is stored in the mainspring by turning a knob on the side of the watch – the knob is also called the crown. Many mechanical watches are automatics. An automatic mechanical watch is self-winding.

A self-winding watch takes advantage of the wearer’s natural motions to rewind the mechanism. It uses an eccentric weight that turns on a pivot. When the arm that is wearing the watch moves, it causes the rotor to pivot on its staff, which is attached to a winding mechanism. There are many different designs for these self-winding mechanisms; some are more advanced than others. They may even use two ratchets and wind the mainspring during clockwise and counter-clockwise motions.

If you wear your automatic mechanical watch all day long, it should store enough energy to keep it running through the night. If that’s not the case, you must wind it manually. It’s best to wind it at the same time every day. When you wind your watch in the morning, it ensures that the watch will keep time throughout the rest of the day.

How to Wind Your Watch

To wind your watch, you must turn the crown clockwise. When the watch is in your hand face-up, you can use your right forefinger and thumb to pinch the crown (knob on the side) and rotate it in a direction away from your body. You should wind it slowly and consistently as far as you can. Then release it and start again. If your watch is completely unwound, you may require 20 or even 40 or 50 revolutions until the watch is wound completely. You should stop winding when you feel resistance.

Generally, mechanical watches keep time accurately. However, magnetic fields or magnetized objects can affect your watch, because its mechanisms use metal. Your watch may also be affected by severe temperature changes.

How to Change the Battery in a Quartz Watch

When a Quartz watch no longer tells time, chances are that it needs a new battery. Your Quartz watch will either have a snap-back or a screw-off type back. A snap-back watch must be opened with a flat blade. You can use a penknife to unclip the back from the watchcase. You should be careful to avoid scratching the watch. A screw-off type watch just requires a small screwdriver to open the watch compartment. There also swatch watches, which require a coin to open the battery compartment.

No matter what type of Quartz watch you’re dealing with, it’s important to handle the battery with care to avoid damaging it. The battery should be labeled to help you determine what kind of replacement you need to purchase. It might be easiest to leave the back of the watch open until you can put a new battery in – just be careful to keep it in a secure place where it won’t be disturbed or get lost.