Watch Winding: So why do some people wind the crown back and forth?

Not sure about other people's reasons but in my case I only do it with my Amphibia because this is the way it's supposed to be done with Vostok watches and their quirky floppy crowns.

Thanks - I did not know that about Vostoks. Very helpful.

I'm no expert on the subject but I'm guessing there is a possibility of the crown becoming un-screwed from the stem, more likely in vintage pieces, not sure of any other issues/damage, but crown coming off is a bit of a pain

I have always wound back and forth without ever thinking about it! I would be really interested to know a definitive answer on this one!?

I have a couple of vostoks as well which I wund in the same way as my other watches!

My father used to wind his watch back and forth a couple of times in the morning to give it a boost. I remember I thought it looked cool. I do both, but mostly one direction.

Same here🙋‍♂

For me it is just an easier and quicker way of winding than just turning in one direction as I can hold the crown all the time during winding. I never had an issue with any of my watches and it would really surprise me if it woulld do any harm to modern mechanical movements.

Turning back the crown feels like idling or turning your pedals on your bike in reverse.

Looking forward to your comments.

But if you wind it backwards, you’re not putting a wind on the spring as the winding works are meant to wind in only one direction… beyond potentially unwinding the crown from the stem, it’s not going to do any damage

I've never actually thought of winding back and forth. Guess I have a new way to interact with my watches, which is not a bad thing.

I've always wound back and forth, even with my Timex I had as a child.

So here's an update on this topic after doing a little research...

All of you who are back and forth winders...beware you are probably damaging your watch and not winding it when you rotate the crown backwards...

Here is a quote from the one of the most prestigious watch sellers in business since 1794...Hausmann & Co...

"Winding must be done rotating the crown just clockwise, avoiding the bad habit of rotating it back and forth, which causes the further wear of the small winding toothed wheels."

Here is the link for more information:

Manual winding a watch: did you do it right? | Hausmann & Co. (hausmann-co.com)

So the answer is: Don't wind your crown back and forth

I wind back and forth out of habit and never feel any resistance on winding back. I can only guess that it may help in preventing you from locking the crown.

Depends on the watch. There are so many of these irritating watch myths started by some clown, I refuse to worry about them. Some of mine are easier to wind one way, the others easier to wind back and forth. I'm not going to worry about or change because some guy I never heard of thinks it's doing harm. If I ever have the winding mechanism break, I'll give it some thought.