Maintenance stategy, this might be a stupid question

[kronos twin]

I have amassed a relatively large collection (about 35 pieces) and I'm wondering what the best way to ensure they last as long as possible. So here's a couple of questions:

1. for those watches that you rarely wear but complete your collection, is it wise to keep them powered up everyday? I currently spend time winding all of my watches in the morning (a wonderful tradition) but don't know if this is the best way to keep them maintained.

2. I know that the general wisdom is that most movements last 5 years before they need a servicing. Having said that, is it prudent to have them wound everyday, or does winding them periodically optimize their utility?

[freddy333]

You are likely to receive varying advice on this subject, but here is my take.......

If they are auto-wind watches, I would get a good watch winder.......actually, you may need several of them. A good watch winder is neither good nor bad for your watches, it simply replicates the kinetic motion of your wrist to spin the internal rotor in the movement that charges (winds) the mainspring. Daily manual winding of an auto-wind movement (that is designed to be wound primarily by hand movements) is not a good idea. If the watches are in proper working order, then a S-L-O-W monthly or bi-weekly manual wind probably will not do much harm (I have been doing this with some of my case fraus for a few years without any discernible wear to the auto-wind components). If the watches are manual-wind, a bi-weekly or monthly wind, just to keep the lubricants & gears from gumming-up, is a good idea. On the other hand, manual winds are made to be manually-wound, so if you feel the need to keep 35 watches fully-wound, knock yourself out--it will not hurt anything.

[kronos twin]

thanks, Freddy. This is very helpful. I like this idea of the case frau. I need to take them out every once in a while. Actually wearing them would solve this problem as well. I plan to get a nice multi-chambered watch winder for these pieces and put my collection on rotation (no pun intended). Seriously, no pun. It just happens.