Manual Winding or Self Winding? What's your preference?

Throughout my collecting journey, I have never intentionally choosen a particular timepiece just because it was manual winding or otherwise. But oddly enough, my collection has gravitated towards timepieces with manual winding movements.

What are the considerations when choosing a timepiece - for sure, the movement is one of the main consideration. I don't think I have consciously sought a timepiece just because it is manual winding or self winding. But for a geek like myself, the full view of a manual winding movement in its full glory gives me that satisfaction of a well laid out architecture as well as movement finishing. And the winding to give life to the timepiece is a ritual that most of us do with great pleasure - that tactile feel.

For chronograph, I personally prefer the manual winding movement. For instance, both the Lange 1815 Chronograph (above) and the Montblanc Villeret 1858 Vintage Pulsographe (below) featuring the Minerva movement have such a nice movement layout and the finishing on the movements are sublime.

Ask any collectors and most will tell you the Lange 1815 Chronograph or the Datograph movement is to die for. The depth and construction of the manually wound calibre L951.1 for the first gen Datograph is the gold standard.

What about self winding movements?

While there are benefits to having a self winding movement, like the convenience of not having to wind the movement, the view at the back is less appealing, at least for me.

The rotor placement and the size of the rotor obscures part of the movement. To many collectors, half the fun is the ability to be able to see the movement and admire the bridges and finishing of the movement. Imagine such a well finished movement like the one below, the Glashutte Original Senator calibre 36-01... unfortunately, the rotor covers parts of the movement.

Well, that's traditionally true - the obscuring of the movement by the rotor. In come this invention called micro-rotor...

With the micro-rotor, the fact that the rotor sits on the same plane as the main bridge gives us an unobscured view of the movement. Combining fully visibility with the convenience of an automatic calibre. But some will argue the efficiency of the winding mechanism is not as productive as a full rotor.

Take a look at the micro-rotor on the Chopard LUC Lunar One Perpetual Calendar.

The inclusion of the micro-rotor opens up the whole movement, exposing the entire main bridge and the finishing on the bridges... Wow!

Perhaps the micro-rotor is a go-between. A good one at that.

But for now, I think the manual winding calibres are awesome. Take a look at this Roger Dubuis Sympathie Bi-Retrograde Chronograph Perpetual Calendar. Gorgeous movement...

What about the iconic Lange 1?

Or the Duometre range from Jaeger leCoultre...

And a hark back to vintage... the IWC Poruguese Jubilee reference 5441

And the Armin Strom is another beauty... What's nice about the Tribute 1 is that the watch comes with 5 days of power reserve on one full wind.

And if 5 days of power reserve is not enough, what about 7 days of power reserve on the Moser Perpetual One?

Or the Parmigiani Hebdomadaire? 8 days!

Even the "simpler" UNITAS movements can be well decorated beyond recognition. Take a look at these two examples... First the Pascal Coyon Chronometer

And the Felipe Pikullik ZMB1. Both redesigned and finished to the highest level...

Or the Corum Golden Bridge

I think my preference is clearly favouring the manual winding movement pieces. Like I said, I did not intentionally start out that way but along the way, my preference has become quite clear.

I guess there is no right or wrong - it's personal preference at the end of the day. So, what's yours preference? Manual winding or automatic?

Year End Fun with Microbrands and Dials - Part 2

For the definition of special dials, that's simple enough. Enamel, lacquer or any non-traditional dial materials will constitute a special dial.

What was surprising was the appearance of two Pascal Coyon Chronometer.

The first being a rose gold plated movement... with a white lacquer dial.

And the other, a red 12 lacquered dial. When Mr. Coyon launched the Chronometer, he made 60 examples - 20 each in rose glod plated, yellow gold plated and rhodium plated movement. And for those who recognise the movement, it is a UNITAS hand winding movement heavily modified by Mr. Coyon and hand finished by him to a very high standard.

But what was not surprising was the overwhelming presence of Seiko enamel dial timepieces.

Starting with the Seiko SARD007, the dial is made of enamel and has a simple yet modern design reflecting the philosophy of Riki Watanabe, a pioneer of modern Japanese design. This is the JDM version belonging to a huge Seiko collector friend.

Next up is the Shippo Enamel Presage - a blue enamel dial from Seiko. Lovely example.

Above is a special black Urushi (lacquer) dial. And below are two very special Seiko Enamel pieces. Do you know what's so special?

These are earlier year Seiko enamel dial timepieces (Limited Edition) with the red XII and missing the "Presage" model name.

We were talking about how Seiko brought enamel dial watches to the masses just like they brought quartz watches to the world. Up until then, we only knew of Swiss (or European) made enamelled dial which cost quite a fair bit. But honestly, the enamel dials of Seiko cannot be compared to the Grand Feu enamel dials made for the European brands.

The Ming 19.07 Blue has a special Guilloché dial.

While Felipe Pikullik was featured in the microbrand sector, his dial work here qualifies this to also be a special dial - engraved.

Featured here is a special Undone. Not only was the case back engraved with the name of the owner, his name also appears on the dial

Grand Seiko has been of late releasing new timepieces with special dials. Featured above is The Grand Seiko SLGH005 'White Birch' with the New Hi-Beat Caliber 9SA5. And below, the Grand Seiko lacquered dial SBGR261 automatic.

Hublot was also represented with a very special Hublot LABfusion SWC Limited Edition. This was made specially for the Singapore Watch Club and it has a woven dial.

Nobody does Grand Feu enamel like Jaquet Droz.

This is an early year Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde with a two-part two-toned dial. I guess it was too difficult to make and that was why later Grande Seconde with Grand Feu Enamel were "simpler".

And then there were those who did not get the memo... but still some timepiece to be cherished and admired. The Cartier Roadster (above) and the Nomos Glashutte Tangente (below).

All said and done, it was another fun get-together Zing by XiYan @ PLQ. Zing works with the Social Kitchen to support disadvantaged individuals by providing them with employment to sustain themselves. Food was good (as usual) and the service, impeccable. Now we start planning for the next GTG in 2023! May I take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May all your horological dreams come true in the coming year!