Handwound & Automatic Models

Although over the last few years we've tended to produce more automatic models and reduce the number of hand wound variants we still produce both types of watch and in many cases can provide a hand wound variant of most automatic models to special order if required although they are not generally offered. The thing to keep in mind is that an automatic watch offers the best of both worlds because most automatics enable the owner to wind up the watch in much the same way as a handwound mechanical but is not required if the watches actually being worn because it will wind itself. Most self-winding watches, when fully wound, will run continously for 35 to 41 hours which is significantly longer than most handwound watches.

The other advantage is that you cannot over wind an automatic watch because it will disengage from winding when the watch is fully wound though we do provide this facility on some of our hand wound mechanicals that are made to special order. With an automatic as the power runs down at some preset point the movement automatically engages and starts winding again until it has a full charge then the process starts again.

One point to keep in mind is that with hand wound watches it is best to try to remember to wind it at the same time every day. This is important as far as the movement is concerned. Many owners make winding it every morning when they wake up or when they get to their desk a daily routine so they do not forget to wind up up and find it's suddenly stopped. Of course with an automatic you don't have any of these concerns so unless you have a particular reason to buy a hand wound watch or a strong preference for hand wound watches we tend to recommend an automatic is always the best choice because it tends to be both more accurate and less problematic to maintain.