Free Delivery

12 Months Warranty

Secure Payment Methods

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Call us

How to wind a Rolex watch

While it may come as a surprise that your watch would ever stop, if it remains motionless for between 24 and 72 hours, depending on the model and caliber, it will stop working. But how to wind a Rolex watch properly Most current Rolex watches are designed with a self-winding mechanism, which is when the mainspring is wound to power the piece. As the watch moves throughout your day, it continues to power itself.

But once you take it off after a long week, the rest causes it to stop. This only means that you have to wind your watch to get it working again. There is also the possibility that you will have to reset the date and time as well once your watch has stopped. In this article, we will go over the steps to wind your Rolex watch and try to touch on as many models and variations as possible so you can gain a full understanding of how to maintain your watch properly.

There are other ways you can get around having a 48-hour power mechanism for your watch that doesn’t require you to wind it every Monday morning or have to decide to wear it throughout the weekend. You can first try buying an automatic watch winder which are small boxes that use electric motors to rotate the watch and ensure that it gets the right amount of motion. Some people may find this to be more of a hassle than winding it on their own. For that group, here are some tips on winding your Rolex watch.

Traditionally, Rolex designed their watches with hand-wind movements and even battery-powered quartz movements. Currently, most Rolex models rely on the patented Perpetual rotor, more popularly known as the Oyster Perpetual, which winds the watch throughout the day with the use of a screw-down crown.  The word “Oyster” means that the case back along with the winding crown have to be screwed down for the watch to be functionally water-resistant. The word “Perpetual” means to signify that the watch features a movement that is automatic, winding itself with the natural motion of the wearer.

How to Wind a Rolex Oyster Perpetual:

Step 1: Unscrew the winding crown from the side of the case. Grip the crown and rotate it towards yourself, turning it counter-clockwise or towards 6 o’clock. Keep rotating until the crown is free and pops out to the natural position. Free it from the threads that hold it to the side, but do not pull. When the crown is in this position, the watch will stay running, and rotating the crown will not change the date or time.

Step 2: Now you can start rotating the crown away from you, clockwise, towards noon. If your watch stops running or the date or time changes, this means you are not in the correct position to manually wind your watch. If this happens, lightly push the crown into the watch and it should resume.

Step 3: Wait until exactly 40 rotations of winding the crown and then your watch will be fully wound. You cannot “overwind” your watch, as long as it has automatic movement developed with Rolex’s Perpetual models.  With manual-wind watches, take specific considerations so you don’t damage your watch.

Step 4: Now that your watch is back to running, feel free to pull out the crown to set the date and time, if needed. Sometimes your watch may need a little motion to get moving if it wasn’t moving before. Depending on the Rolex, setting the time and date can depend on the type of model.

Step 5: This is the point when you can screw the crown back into the side of the case. You must wind the crown completely down to secure the case and keep your watch water-resistant. But don’t screw it too hard or you could risk damaging the threads.

Rolex watches without a screw-down crown

While all current models of Rolex watches have screw-down crowns, if you are the owner of a vintage watch, there is a chance that you do not have the screw-down crown feature. This should make it even easier to wind your watch. Winding an older, vintage Rolex is very similar to winding a pocket watch where you don’t need to pull the crown out, only if you do need to set the date and time. With a vintage watch, all you have to do is leave the crown in the case and give it a little turn. Tada!

It’s important to note that many watches that don’t have the screw-down crown are not automatic self-winding watches. Keep that in mind if you are the owner of a vintage, manual-winding watch that has stopped. There is the possibility of you overwinding your watch and damaging it. Once the mainspring is completely wound, the crown will stop rotating. If you force it beyond this point, you will damage it as manual-winding watches do not have the same slip gear function as automatic watches.


In conclusion

Many people don’t realize that they have to wind their watches because they wear their watch so regularly, it never gets the chance to stop. If you’re less likely to take off your watch during your weekend, it’s still important to know how to wind your watch, especially if it is an automatic self-winding watch, as there are more steps. Owning a Rolex means understanding how to properly take care of it, including being able to wind it. If at any point during the process of winding your watch you experience a great amount of resistance, do not force the crown, and take your watch to a professional to see if there are other mechanical issues. Setting the date and time is very specific to the model of your watch. Usually, upon purchase, you will get instructions on how to change the date and time. Be sure to check out the specifications of your watch to determine the method that you have to do. With the step-by-step informative guide “how to wind a Rolex watch’, you should be out and about with your watch in no time.

Leave a Reply