My automatic watch stops at night

If your automatic watch stops overnight, this doesn't automatically mean there's a fault. Often, the power reserve simply hasn't built up enough by the evening.

Why does my automatic watch stop overnight?

An automatic watch winds itself through your movements while wearing it. Inside the watch, a rotor moves, which tensions the mainspring of the movement and thereby stores energy.

How much power reserve builds up over the course of the day therefore depends strongly on how long and how actively you wear the watch.

If, for example, you:

• only wear it for a few hours a day,
• don't move around much in everyday life,
• work a lot at a desk,
• or only put the watch on in the afternoon or evening,

it's possible that not enough energy has been stored by the time you take it off. As soon as the available power reserve is used up, the watch stops.

Is this a defect?

Not necessarily.

It's generally normal for an automatic watch to stop after being taken off, once its power reserve is used up.

What matters is therefore not only how long the watch was worn, but also how fully it was wound beforehand.

However, if it stops after an unusually short time despite being fully wound, a technical check may be worthwhile.

What can I do?

Fully wind your watch manually once and then observe how it behaves.

Here's how to do it:

1. Take the watch off your wrist.
2. Leave the crown in its normal position.
3. Turn the crown slowly and evenly clockwise.
4. Do about 30 to 40 turns.
5. Then set the time and, if applicable, the date correctly.
6. Wear the watch during the day as usual.

This way, you'll start with a much better-built power reserve.

Is normal wear enough to fully wind the watch?

This can depend on how you wear the watch.

Although an automatic watch is continuously wound while being worn, not every movement generates the same amount of energy. Especially with predominantly sedentary activities, it can happen that the watch runs during the day but the power reserve isn't fully built up.

In such cases, occasional additional winding via the crown is completely normal.

How can I test whether the power reserve is okay?

If you want to know whether your watch runs long enough after being fully wound, you can carry out a simple test:

1. Wind the watch with about 30 to 40 crown turns.
2. Set the time correctly.
3. Then take the watch off and don't wear it during the test.
4. Note down when you took it off.
5. Check later when the watch stopped.

This way, you can roughly determine how long it keeps running with a built-up power reserve.

Important: a test like this is much more meaningful than simply observing how long the watch keeps running after a normal working day.

Why does it sometimes run all night and sometimes not?

This can certainly happen with a mechanical automatic watch.

On an active day, your watch can store more energy than on a day when you've moved around only a little. The remaining power reserve in the evening can vary accordingly.

It's therefore generally normal for the watch to keep running longer after a very active day than after a quiet day.

Can the position it's placed in cause the watch to stop?

The position of a mechanical watch can slightly affect how it runs, for example whether it's lying with the dial facing up or the crown facing up.

However, a sufficiently wound and technically sound watch shouldn't stop within just a few hours purely because of the position it's placed in.

If the watch regularly stops only in a particular position, please let us know when you get in touch.

What happens if the watch has stopped overnight?

If your automatic watch has stopped, you'll need to wind it up again and reset the time before wearing it next.

For models with a date display, the date may also need to be reset.

Stopping itself doesn't cause any harm to a mechanical watch.

When should I contact our customer service?

Please get in touch with us if:

• your watch regularly stops overnight despite being fully wound manually,
• it only keeps running for an unusually short time after about 30 to 40 crown turns,
• it also stops while being worn,
• its power reserve has suddenly become much shorter,
• or the crown shows unusual resistance when winding.

Please let us know, if possible:

• the exact model of your watch
• your order number, if available
• roughly how many crown turns you carried out
• how long the watch kept running afterwards
• how many hours a day you normally wear the watch
• whether you're mostly sitting or moving around a lot during the day

This helps us better assess whether simply not enough power reserve is building up, or whether a technical check is worthwhile.