zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: what's the difference between manual winding
: and automatic watches...

Thay are identical in both needing power stored in a spring to run the mechanical movement.

The difference is that on a manual wind, the ONLY way to put power in the spring is to manually turn the crown. Such watches need to be wound every day or two to keep running.

An automatic adds the feature of a weight that moves around inside the back when the watch is worn by a person who is moving around. This moving weight is also used to add power to the spring. So if you are reasonably active and wear an automatic watch pretty much daily, it gets enough power that way that you usually do not have to wind it by hand. But you can, and hand winding is a good way to get an automatic going if it has run down.

: watches still need to be wound...but do
: manual wind watches need to be winded every
: time after they run out of their power

Of course. If manual winding is their only source of power, and they run out of power, then it is obvious that they are not going to run unless you wind them.

: reserve? whereas...would an automatic watch
: would just need a few shakes?

A few shakes may get an automatic going for a moment, but just shaking it and putting it back down on a table, it may only run a moment or so. Manual winding it still the best way to get an automatic going. Second best is to shake it, then wear it while doing something active.