Manual winding

[66ELAN]

Hi Guys,
I have a Chopard Mille Miglia and a Bell and Ross that when wound manually are both silky smooth and quiet. By contrast my two Bremonts (Alt1-P & BC-S2) both feel a little like I'm grinding coffee. I'm exaggerating, of course, but there is some amount of stiffness in the stem when being wound. Both watches are less than a year old and have done this since they were first purchased. The watches also both keep good time and don't seem to have any other issues. Do those of you with more or longer Bremont experience feel that this is normal or is it just part of the "personality" of the brand? I guess I'm not particularly bothered by the difference between the Bremonts and my other watches as long as they're supposed to be like this. I just want to make sure it's not something that's going to cause damage.
Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

[vipereaper30]

Every movement has its own characteristics so you will notice a difference. Grinding coffee is out of the norm but if both of your Bremonts feel the same then you are probably fine. My smoothest winder is a Glashutte Original (cal 100) and roughest is probably Fortis (7750) or Laco (2824.2).

I don't wind my autos much so it really doesn't make a difference to me. Although I have noticed my Bremonts have stiffer crowns when pulling/pushing and winding. This isn't to say that it is difficult to wind, just that the stem itself seems very robust.

[RAF_Groundcrew]

I have 2 Bremont U2 watches, a Stainless Steel, and a DLC Limited Edition... They both sound different to each other, when being manually wound. Not 'wrong', but they both have a slightly different sound 'character'.

[RAF_Groundcrew]

Although I have noticed my Bremonts have stiffer crowns when pulling/pushing and winding. This isn't to say that it is difficult to wind, just that the stem itself seems very robust.

I think the fact that the crowns are non screw-in leads them to have a more robust feel, due to the requirement to have 100m water resistance as they stand, without that extra 'seal'. I have had many Seiko divers watches where the crown, once unscrewed appeared to 'wobble' quite noticeably, but this was just the stem having freedom to move, once unscrewed.

I sold a Seiko SPR043-K 'Spork' on ebay a while back, and the new owner insisted it was defective due to the 'wobble' I referred to above. I challenged them to send it to Seiko UK (and gave them the name of a contact there) if they did not believe my assurances that it was not defective.

[MarkH]

A lot depends as to how much the mainspring is already wound when hand winding an automatic movement. If the mainspring has fully discharged then initial winding will feel smoother for around 30-40 turns of the crown. After that the clutch mechanism to prevent overwinding comes into play, and the resistance of the crown will become more noticeable. With a purely hand wound movement there is no protection mechanism and the crown simply stops turning once the mainspring is fully wound.

[TexZan]

MarkH, that's good to know. I often wondered if there was a clutch mechanism in my Bremont. I assumed it was there, but was always hesitant after 30 winds.


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[awildermode]

Dumb question: Does using the chronograph use up more if the power reserve?

[RedsBluesGreens]

Dumb question: Does using the chronograph use up more if the power reserve?

Not more of the power reserve, but more of the power stored in the mainstpring, which leads to a decrease in power reserve. So, if you left the chronograph running and the watch off your wrist, it would stop quicker than if the chronograph wasn't running because the power is being drawn more rapidly from the mainstpring.

J.

[MarkH]

You will have an approximately 20% drop in power reserve by running the chrono constantly, however this only matters if you're not wearing the watch and allowing it to run down so that the rotor mechanism isn't being allowed to recharge the mainspring. It's a very good reason why many will use watch winder storage boxes if alternating between wearing several watches!

For anyone curious as to what makes the venerable ETA Valjoux 7750 tick then here's a good place to have a look!

http://raulhorology.com/2013/02/the-legendary-workhorse-chronograph-eta-valjoux-7750-7751-plus-the-longines-l688/

[awildermode]

Thanks for the info and quick replies. ;)