Setting a Mechanical Watch

If you've never owned a mechanical watch, I've included some basic instructions below covering how to wind the watch, set the time/date, and things to be aware of. You can use the following links to jump to a specific section.

The first thing to be aware of is that there are basically two types of mechanical watches (three if you consider Grand Seiko's Spring Drive technology): Manually Wound and Automatically Wound. What's the difference? I'm glad you asked.

A manually wound watch is one that requires the wearer to use the crown to wind the watches main spring in order to impart energy, in the form of spring tension, to the watch. With a manually wound watch, you must consciously wind the watch every day or so for the watch to continue to run. If you forget to wind the watch long enough for the main spring to lose its tension, the watch will stop telling time until it is manually wound again.

A automatically wound watch is one that includes an oscillating weight (aka rotor) attached to the movement. As the wearer moves (ex. walking), the rotor spins within the watch causing the main spring to be automatically wound and for power to be supplied to the movement. Some automatic watches include support for manual winding too while others do not (ex Seiko's 7S26 movement). Theoretically, if you were to wear an automatic watch every day, the watch should never stop telling time.

One other thing to be aware of is that different watches have different complications. "Complication" is just the name applied to a specific function of a mechanical watch over-and-above simply telling time. If your watch includes a date wheel, it has a date complication. If your watch has day and date wheels, it has a day-date complication. The reason this is important is that there are different stop points on a watch stem (the piece of steel that connects the watch crown to the watch movement) that control the different complications.

Important Considerations

  1. It is generally considered bad practice to rotate the hands counter-clockwise when setting the time on a mechanical watch as it could adversely impact the gearing of the movement over time. If you happen to overshoot the time you are trying to set by only a minute or two, rotating the hands counter-clockwise shouldn't be an issue.

  2. When setting the date or day/date on a mechanical watch, it is common practice to NOT set the date when the hour hand is between 9 and 3 on the dial (when considered in clockwise rotation). This applies too AM and PM as in certain situations you may not realize whether the watch is showing AM or PM.

    The reason for this consideration is starting around 9PM, the date change gears in the movement begin to engage in order the set the date automatically. If you change the date manually while those gears are engaged, it could adversely impact the gearing. This is known as the Danger Zone. The best practice, if you need to set the date manually on your watch, is to move the crown to position 3 and rotate the crown clockwise in order to move the hour hand forward so that it is pointing at the 6 (lower half of the dial). This ensures the date change gears are not engaged.

  3. When returning the crown to position 0 (zero), DO NOT over-tighten the crown against the case. The crown should be snug, but you don't need to crank it down as this could strip the threads of the crown tube and make unscrewing the crown the next time extremely difficult. 

Time-Only Watch

A time-only watch (ex. one with a Seiko NH38 movement) is the easiest to set. There are only two positions on the stem which control winding the movement and setting of the time.

Most of my watches utilize a screw-down crown. When a screw-down crown is fully screwed-down against the watch case, it is in position 0 (zero). To unscrew the crown, you turn it counter-clockwise. When you unscrew the crown fully, you will feel a small pop as the crown is released from the threads of the crown tube and the crown moves into position 1. If you pull the crown gently, from position 1, you will feel it pop into position 2.

Position 0 is where the crown is screwed-down and secured against the watch case.

Position 1 is where you wind the watch's main spring. This is what gives the watch power. To wind the watch, simply rotate the crown clockwise while in position 1. If you have not worn the watch for a few days and the movement was stopped, a full wind takes about 40 turns. After a few turns, you should see the second hand start to move.

Position 2 is where you set the time on a time-only mechanical watch. Note, when you pull the crown into position 2, the second hand will stop ticking. This is what is known as hacking the movement. This provides a means for you to set the time more accurately than a non-hacking movement because you can set it down to the second.

In position 2, rotate the crown clockwise to move the minute and hour hands clockwise to the desired time. 

Once you have set the time you will push the crown back to position 1. This will cause the movement to be unlocked from hacking and the second hand will again begin to tick. To return the crown to position 0 (zero), press the crown in towards the watch case while also rotating the crown clockwise. This will cause the crown to re-engage with the crown tube threads until it is secured against the case. 

Date or Day/Date Watch

The operation of a day/date watch is similar to that of a time-only watch with an additional position on the crown stem. This additional position is used to set the date (ex. NH35 movement) or the day & date (ex. NH36 movement).

NOTE: On a watch with a date or a day/date complication, position 2 is used for setting the day/date while position 3 is now used for hacking the movement and setting the time.

Position 0 is where the crown is screwed-down and secured against the watch case.

Position 1 is where you wind the watch's main spring. This is what gives the watch power. To wind the watch, simply rotate the crown clockwise while in position 1. If you have not worn the watch for a few days and the movement was stopped, a full wind takes about 40 turns. After a few turns, you should see the second hand start to move.

Position 2, on a date or day/date watch, is where you set the date or day/date. 

To set the date manually, move the crown to position 2. In position 2, rotate the crown clockwise to the set the day, if the watch includes a day wheel. Rotate the crown counter-clockwise to advance the date wheel. This is the one case where turning the crown counter-clockwise is not a concern.

A best practice for setting the date is to set it to one day before the current date. If today is July 10th, set the date to July 9th. The same applies to the day if there is a day wheel. This way, when you set the time you can be sure that you know whether you are setting the time for AM or PM as you will see the date wheel rollover when you pass midnight.  

Position 3, on a watch with a date or day/date complication, is where you set the time. When you pull the crown into position 3, the second hand will stop ticking. This is what is known as hacking the movement. This provides a means for you to set the time more accurately than a non-hacking movement because you can set it down to the second.

In position 3, rotate the crown clockwise to move the minute and hour hands clockwise to the desired time.

Once you have finished setting the watch, push the crown back to position 1. This will cause the movement to be unlocked from hacking and the second hand will again begin to tick. To return the crown to position 0 (zero), press the crown in towards the watch case while also rotating the crown clockwise. This will cause the crown to re-engage with the crown tube threads until it is secured against the case. 

GMT Watch

Note: On a caller GMT watch, it's best to set the local time of the watch first (position 3) and then set the GMT hand. The reason for this is that when you set the hour and minute hands in position 3, this will also cause the GMT hand to move forward as it's tracking the additional timezone based on the current local time of the watch.

A GMT watch is one that's capable of tracking time in an additional time zone (sometimes up to 2 additional timezones depending on the type of bezel used) beyond the local time. This type of watch was first popularized by Rolex when they developed their initial GMT Master line for pilots of Pan American Airlines (aka PanAm).

A GMT watch is usually easy to identify as they typically have a fourth hand extending from the movement pinion, and quite often the bezel on the watch will include hour markings from 1 to 24. The reason the markings go from 1 to 24 is that the GMT hand makes a single rotation of the dial once every 24 hours, and these markings are used to track the additional time zone based on military/Zulu time.

The GMT watches I build are typically based on the Seiko NH34 movement. This is what's known as a Caller GMT or Office GMT. On a Caller GMT, the GMT hour hand can be set independently from the hour and minute hand. This is in contrast to a Travelers GMT (sometimes known as a True GMT) where the hour hand is actually set independently from the GMT and minute hands. There are various explanations available online about the differences in these two GMT philosophies. 

The operation of a caller GMT watch is exactly the same as a day/date watch with one exception. In position 2, instead of setting the day by rotating the crown clockwise, you're actually setting the GMT hand.

Position 0 is where the crown is screwed-down and secured against the watch case.

Position 1 is where you wind the watch's main spring. This is what gives the watch power. To wind the watch, simply rotate the crown clockwise while in position 1. If you have not worn the watch for a few days and the movement was stopped, a full wind takes about 40 turns. After a few turns, you should see the second hand start to move.

Position 2, on a caller GMT watch, is where you set the GMT hand and the date. 

To set the GMT hand, move the crown to position 2. In position 2, rotate the crown clockwise until the GMT hand points to the current hour in the timezone you want to track. Keep in mind that the GMT complication tracks time as military/Zulu time. This is the 24 hour scale where your AM times are represented by 1 to 12 and PM times are 13 (aka 1PM) to 24 (aka midnight).

To set the date, in position 2, rotate the crown counter-clockwise to advance the date wheel. This is the one case where turning the crown counter-clockwise is not a concern.

A best practice for setting the date is to set it to one day before the current date. If today is July 10th, set the date to July 9th. The same applies to the day if there is a day wheel. This way, when you set the time you can be sure that you know whether you are setting the time for AM or PM as you will see the date wheel rollover when you pass midnight.

Here's a brief example. Let's say I'm currently in the Central Standard timezone of the United States (during the month of December), and I want to track the time in London, England. First, I need to know what the difference is between Central Standard Time and the timezone in London which just happens to be Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during the non-Daylight Savings months. A quick Google search tells me that London is 6 hours ahead of Dallas. That means when its 10AM CST in Dallas, TX, the time in London, England will be 4PM GMT. So, on my GMT watch in position 3, I would set the hour and minute hand to indicate 10AM and in position 2 I would set the GMT hand to point at 16 on the GMT bezel as 1600 in military/Zulu time is 4PM.   

Position 3, on a watch with a date or day/date complication, is where you set the time. When you pull the crown into position 3, the second hand will stop ticking. This is what is known as hacking the movement. This provides a means for you to set the time more accurately than a non-hacking movement because you can set it down to the second.

In position 3, rotate the crown clockwise to move the minute and hour hands clockwise to the desired time.

Once you have finished setting the watch, push the crown back to position 1. This will cause the movement to be unlocked from hacking and the second hand will again begin to tick. To return the crown to position 0 (zero), press the crown in towards the watch case while also rotating the crown clockwise. This will cause the crown to re-engage with the crown tube threads until it is secured against the case. 

If you have any questions about using your mechanical watch, please drop me a note using the Contact form.