[jrohlman88]

I recently bought my first watch that costs more than $25, but I think it's broke! I bought an Emporio Armoni AR4647 online and received it Thursday last week. I wore it once out on the town and the auto winde works great, but when I leave it sit in the case on the dresser, it will stop ticking after 4-6 hours, and needs wound. I thought these kind of watches could sit for 24-40 hours without being wound? I will manually wind it until I feel a little tension, then stop because I read that if you over winde it, it could break the spring or something. But I've also heard that the newer watches have a clutch that prevents damage. Maybe I'm not winding it enough? In ignorance, when I first set the watch, I wound it backwards just a hair to align the second an minute hand together. Could this have broken it? Or could it have been broken out of the box? It's a skeleton watch, so I can see the spring, when it stops ticking, it looks very unwound, and after I winde it, the spring still looks less wound than when I first got it but that's where I feel tension, so I stop. Should I try to send it back to the seller? Should I go to a jeweler to get it fixed, and if so how much would that cost? Any help would be appreciated!!!

 

[patsbosoxfan]

I don't know the type of movement that watch uses but you should at least get a full day out of it. If it is an auto movement you shouldn't have to worry about over winding. The fact that it is skeletonized helps. Wind the watch till you see the main spring become solid. No gaps in the coil. Should be between 30-40 turns. Then set the watch down and see how long it runs. Moving it slightly backwards just once should not have affected it.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[CometHunter]

Hello and welcome.

Both statements about movements are correct. Earlier watches could indeed be overwound, but since the development of that clutch mechanism, it is almost impossible to overwind an automatic (assuming the manufacturer assembled it correctly).And even though these are "self-winding", they will run down in an abnormally short amount of time if not fully wound first.

It could be you're not winding it fully, or there's a problem in the winding train preventing the mainspring from being fully wound. Give the crown a good FULL 40 turns. Visually inspecting the mainspring (don't confuse this with the balance spring :T) helps too. If that doesn't solve the problem, try taking it back to the store for an exchange. That is the quickest and cheapest fix.

 

[jrohlman88]

thanks

thanks for the input, both of you! I gave it 40 turns, which was MUCH more than what I was doing previously. The spring looks much, much more wound, you can't see gaps anymore in it. I just got home from work, I work 12 hour night shift, I'm excited to wake up and see if it's still ticking! my bet is, I wasn't winding it enough lol. At least I hope that's what the problem was.

It would be a shame to return it, it's a requirement for my degree that I have a watch on at all times (I'm going into respiratory therapy and now work at the hospital as somewhat of a "junior" RT). And I got so used to wearing cheap throw away watches at work that, when I would go out, I would feel strange without a watch! It's really a beautiful watch, I'm very happy with the design, and I'm happy I was able to get some help in solving this problem... Thanks again for your help!!! if it's still having problems, I'm sure I'll be posting on here

 

[Valtyr]

I'm glad to know it is working now!!!


My bet is that while the watch was on your wrist it probably didn't move enough to wind fully (or much at all), but everything that the fine folks before me said is correct. You can wind an auto 5689769 times and it will still only hold so many, it has something to do with the mechanism that converts the pendulum into power for the spring. They're designed to wind efficiently in any circumstance. So if an hour of power reserve drains and you're still wearing it as soon as you start moving it'll fill that hour up.

Do you have pictures? They're always nice to see!

 

[Ben_hutcherson]

Content removed by the person to whom the intellectual property belongs due to disagreement with site policy

 

[CometHunter]

.... You can wind an auto 5689769 times and it will still only hold so many,

Valtyr, I think you have too much spare time on your hands! :001_tt2:

Just to clarify, this isn't really correct.....

Technically you're absolutely right and I stand corrected. At the time, I just didn't know how else to put my thoughts into words.
(I'd just come off a 4 hour Facebook marathon). :blush:

 

[jrohlman88]

Do you have pictures? They're always nice to see!

When I woke up, 10 hours after winding it fully, it was still ticking away. Unfortunately my Mac doesn't seem to work with this sites attachment manager, I have a really nice photo I took a few days ago too Maybe there is a way to upload it, but I'm still fairly new to Mac computers. I'll post a link to the watch in the online store!

 

[Valtyr]

I wouldn't have expected less from a well known fashion brand. It is a very nice watch (the link might get removed as they're not a sponsor) but it is quite nice. I believe the movement is Chinese or Japanese (can't really tell).

Are you in the market for new watches too?

 

[jrohlman88]

I believe the movement is Chinese or Japanese (can't really tell).

Are you in the market for new watches too?

I believe it's Chinese, it says it was made in china, which is the only major disappointment I have with it. I wish I could get either a europian or American made watch but I know they cost so much more.

I just got this watch less than a week ago so I'm not really in the market, I am a poor college student after all haha. But I would like to buy a new watch for work next month or so. Right now I'm just using a cheap timex, the band is getting frayed and the plastic is looking rough. Because I work around a lot of disinfectants, bodily fluids and things of that nature, it's really rough on whatever I wear. With this next work watch, I only want to spend $100 to $150 max. I was thinking of something from the g-shock series, they're sporty and a bit more more every day. But I would like to get a nice watch in a similar price range of the Armoni watch I just bought, but with a gold color. But I probably won't be getting that for at least 6 months, schools about to start back up and I won't be able to work as much. I'll get them eventually!! haha

 

[rogernola]

Just to clarify, this isn't really correct.

A standard old-fashioned T-end spring(or one of the other various attachments) will have a noticeable and abrupt stopping point when wound. If the spring is wound past this point, you can start stripping winding gears or tear the end off the spring, but this isn't going to happen unless you grab the crown with a pair of pliers and try to turn it.

"Overwinding" is a myth. It's a common junk dealer diagnosis for a watch that's wound tight and doesn't run-this is a symptom, however, of other problems and not a diagnosis.

---------------
Ben, you mentioned that what the watch-hustler type dealer calls "overwound" is really a symptom of some other problems. I just happen to have received a trench watch (lever escapement, not cylinder) that is just about perfect in every way except for the fact that it seems tightly wound and won't start working. Is there predominant reason for this, usually?

The balance does swing, the hairspring seems to be intact, the watch hands set (it's a nailset) except for a sticky spot at about 6. If it's a broken mainspring, I would think this is fixable. The watch is a generic Swiss movement with the proper hallmarks and unsigned movement.

Just wanted to give some direction to my vintage watch guy when I take it to him.