Do automatic watches need to be manually wound?

Yes, they do. Imagine the mainspring inside a watch: when you first get an automatic watch, the spring is completely unwound. Moving the watch around will cause the rotor to spin, which, in turn, will begin winding the mainspring. While this movement gets the watch running, it often isn't enough to fully tighten the mainspring and maximize the power reserve.

To fully wind the mainspring and utilize the watch's power reserve, it's important to first wind the crown about 20-30 times. This is generally sufficient for most watches. Once the mainspring is fully wound and the watch is worn on an active wrist, the rotor will continuously wind the mainspring, keeping the power reserve topped up.

A common misconception is that an automatic watch never needs winding. It’s a mistake to assume that a watch that has wound down, or is close to the end of its power reserve, simply needs to be worn to wind itself back up. While wearing it may generate enough power to keep it running immediately and even for a little while after it's removed, it may not fully wind the mainspring, resulting in a shorter power reserve when the watch is off your wrist.

Once you've manually wound and set your watch, it’s ready for regular use. If worn daily on an active wrist, the watch should remain fully wound—even if you take it off overnight. However, we recommend fully winding the watch manually if it hasn't been worn for most of its power reserve duration.

For less active wearers, such as those who work at a computer for extended periods, wrist movement may not be sufficient to fully wind the watch. In this case, it may need an occasional boost by winding the crown about 20-30 times.