HOW TO WIND YOUR OMEGA WATCH?

Omega Seamaster Diver 300M with black wave dial on a steel bracelet, resting on a wooden Omega box

Regardless of whether or not you're a watch enthusiast, most people will have heard of the famous watchmaker Omega. With decades of rich history and heritage, they have made some of the most iconic timepieces ever. However, have you ever wondered how to actually wind your Omega watch? Amongst setting the time and changing the date, winding up the power reserve can vary enormously depending on your model and year your watch was made.

First step to wind your OMEGA watch

Omega do not randomly choose how one of their watches should be wound up but rather they select the most appropriate method based on what the specific model is designed to do. It is really important you know how to wind your Omega watch to ensure no damage occurs to your watch and to make the movement last as long as possible without needing a service.

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra with black teak dial on a black rubber strap with white stitching

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra with grey teak dial and blue hands on a blue rubber strap

Turn the crown clockwise and you will be able to wind your watch up and hear and feel the buttery smooth spring being wound up. Be careful not to overwind your watch, even though modern day Omega’s have a clutch clock system to avoid the spring benign so tightly it breaks, older models don’t so as soon as you notice it getting harder to wind, you’ve probably got to the level of your full power reserve.

Automatic or manual? The question to ask yourself

Once your watch is fully wound the next thing you’re going to want to know is, is it manual or automatic? Automatic Omega’s feature a rotor in the movement which can freely move both left and right as you move your wrist around. This rotor is also attached to the spring that’s responsible for the power reserve of your watch. Automatic watches usually don’t need wounding up as frequently so long since so long as you keep wearing it, the power reserve will be constantly wound up.

The rotor moves freely left and right which keeps winding up the power reserve, but instead of actually manually winding it, the rotor winds it when you move your wrist. Thanks to gravity on earth, watch makers realised you could use kinetic energy to power your Omega watch so you only have to wind your watch up when you take your watch off for an extended period of time. Both Omega sport and classic watches feature this however there are a few models that don’t.

Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean with blue ceramic bezel on a steel bracelet, worn with a suit

Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch with black dial and tachymeter bezel on a steel bracelet

One of Omega’ most famous watches ever made, the Moonwatch that went to the moon on the wrists of the astronauts back in 1969. Since automatic Omega’ use a rotor that works from kinetic energy, which relies on gravity, as soon as you're in space there's no gravity. So kinetic energy isn’t going to work making the rotor feature completely useless.

Hence Omega left that function out so if you own the Omega Moon watch or a vintage Omega before 1931, you will have to wind your watch up everyday. Even though most people who buy a Moonwatch in 2022 are not going to the moon or space, Omega kept it as close to the original model.

With there being no rotor in the movement to constantly charge your power reserve, it is up to you to make sure you keep your Omega watch wound, otherwise it will stop ticking and the time will be incorrect! Since the Moonwatch and vintage Omega dress watches didn’t have a screw down crown you do not need to unscrew the crown. From the first position, which is the position when the crown is pushed all the way in, you can simply start to wind your Omega.

Display case backs of two Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch showing their manual-winding chronograph movements

The danger of not winding your Omega watch properly

Two-tone steel and rose gold Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra with blue teak dial

Just like before, be careful not to overwind your manual Omega because it is possible to overwind these models and this would actually break the spring which would mean your watch no longer has a power source. With manual Omega watches it’s just like putting fuel in your car at the gas station, you feel a click to let you know it’s full, the same goes for your Omega. You should be able to feel a small click as you’re winding it and this click lets you know the power reserve is full so you should stop winding.

As you can see, for some Omega watches (like vintage Omega’ or their Moonwatch line up) you can simply just turn the crown to wind it up but for others you need to first unscrew the crown before you can start to wind them up (like theri Seamaster lineup). Once your Omega is wound up, keeping it wound up is also different, the Moonwatch requires you to wind it once a day to keep the power reserve full whilst the automatic rotor feature in most of their modern lineup means you don’t have to do that. Knowing this will help you ensure your Omega watch is safely wound up and keeping time with a healthy power reserve to get you through the day!