An automatic watch winds itself, which leaves a fair question. Why does it also have a crown you can wind by hand? The short answer is that wrist movement keeps a running watch running, but it is a slow way to start one from empty.

Here is when hand winding an automatic watch is worth doing, how to do it on the Ironside 200, and the one step you should never skip afterward.

When Winding by Hand Helps

Three situations cover almost all of it.

The first is a watch that has stopped. The Ironside 200 holds about 42 hours of power, so a watch you take off on Friday night will be still by Monday. You could strap it on and let your wrist wake it up, but it would start the day close to empty and might stop again that night.

The second is a quiet day. The rotor winds with movement, and a day at a keyboard or behind the wheel does not give it much to work with. If your watch tends to stop overnight after desk days, a short wind in the morning solves it.

The third is setting the time. A movement with a healthy reserve keeps steadier time than one running on its last few hours, so wind first and set second.

How to Wind the Ironside 200

The crown on the Ironside 200 screws down to seal the case, so it has to be released before it will wind.

Turn the crown counterclockwise until it pops out into the winding position. You will feel it come free of the threads. From there, wind it 20 to 30 times. You should feel light, even resistance, which is the mainspring taking up tension.

There is no need to count carefully. Twenty to thirty turns gives a stopped watch a comfortable reserve, and your wrist handles the rest once the watch is on.

If the watch had stopped, set it now. Pull the crown all the way out to set the time, or halfway out to set the date. One caution on the date. Avoid changing it when the hands read between roughly 9pm and 3am, because the date mechanism is engaged during those hours and forcing it can damage the movement. If the hands are inside that window, move them past it first.

Our guide to fitting and setting up your Ironside 200 shows each of these steps, along with the strap change and the clasp adjustment.

The Step People Forget

When you have finished, push the crown all the way in and screw it down until it will not turn any further.

This matters more than anything else in this article. The 200m water rating depends on that crown being closed. With the crown left unscrewed the case is not sealed, and water can get in the first time the watch gets wet.

Make it a habit. Wind, set, screw down, and then put the watch on.

Can You Overwind an Automatic?

This worry comes from older hand wound watches, where the crown stops dead when the spring is full and forcing it could break something. Automatics are built differently. The mainspring is allowed to slip inside its barrel once it is fully wound, because the rotor would otherwise overwind it every day on your wrist.

So you will not hurt the Ironside 200 by giving it a few turns too many. But there is nothing to gain from winding it every morning if you also wear it every day. The rotor is already doing that job, and extra winding adds wear without adding accuracy.

A sensible routine is short. Wind the watch when it has stopped, wind it after a couple of low activity days, and otherwise leave it to the rotor.

If It Still Stops or Runs Oddly

A watch that stops overnight after a full wind, or one that suddenly starts gaining minutes a day, is telling you something. A watch that runs fast has often picked up magnetism from a phone, a laptop speaker, or a bag clasp, and that is usually a quick fix. We cover it in why an automatic watch runs fast.

For everything else, our guide on how to care for your automatic dive watch covers the day to day, and you can always get in touch with us. Every DeMarco watch carries a two year warranty.

See the Ironside 200 in our store.