F.P. Journe

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Winding boxes

If you have more than a few watches you NEED a winding solution. Preferably one that uses AC and not battery so you can switch the winder to always on and use power control adaptor plugs to switch the winder on and off very precisely. So far battery operated winders are pretty generic and I haven't found one that has a low enough turns-per-day setting for the Octa series.

There's no winding box that matches a watch perfectly. They either underwind or overwind. If it underwinds, the watch will stop working once it runs out of power and the chances of damage are probably nil. But it's pretty pointless to use a winding box if the watch stops anyway.

If it overwinds, the watch will not stop working and the safety mechanisms will not allow the main spring to over tighten and the watch will simply release the extra tension generated. So this is the preferred setting. If you overwind a lot there is a chance that the safety mechanisms for over-tensioning the main spring might fail and therefore damage the watch. But you have this risk when wearing the watch on an active day anyway so whether the damage occurs in the winder or on your wrist, damage will occur. It's not because of the box but a defective watch.

When you initially place the watch in a winder, it will probably overwind in any case assuming you've worn the watch for a while and the spring is partially, if not fully, wound up already. So no matter what the setting of the winder, there is always risk.

My belief is that so long as your Octa is not defective, placing the watch in a winder with a bit of overwinding is fine. And best placed a day or two after you have taken it off your wrist when the spring has had some time to wind down a bit so the initial overwind is not too much.

Also don't forget the correct setting for the winder box is not to fully wind the watch but to add enough power to continue running for a day longer only.

Have fun!

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