general instructions westclox bulls eye

[pberm1962]

I have a bulls eye pocket watch I just purchased used. How is this wound, in a one direction or back and forth. how tight should I wind this so as to wind it enough but not overwind it? what is the expected running time on on wind, is it about 12 hours? the watch seems to be ticking away so far and keeping decent time. thank you, Paul

[pberm1962]

I have a bulls eye pocket watch I just purchased used. How is this wound, in a one direction or back and forth. how tight should I wind this so as to wind it enough but not overwind it? what is the expected running time on on wind, is it about 12 hours? the watch seems to be ticking away so far and keeping decent time. thank you, Paul

[Kent]

Paul:

You can wind it in one (right thumb moving forward) or both directions. It is a ratchet arrangement. Rotating the crown with your right thumb moving forward actually winds the watch's mainspring. Rolling the crown back with your thumb merely works the ratchet, allowing your thumb to be positioned to move it forward and wind again.

You can wind it fairly tight, without really bearing wown with your thumb. There is no such thing as "overwinding a watch." Uninformed people use that phrase to describe a non-running watch with a good mainspring. When the watch doesn't run (releasing the mainspring), the mainspring is pulled up tight and stays that way. Then, since people can't wind the mainspring any tighter, they say (or are told) that they overwound the watch.

Any of the inexpensive watches, Bullseye included, ought to run at least 30 hours. My Bullseye did that when I bought it brand new in the early 1970s. So did the Westclox Scotty that I bought new in the mid-1960s.

Good luck,

[pberm1962]

thank you , Paul