How to Wind an Elgin Railroad Pocket Watch

Hold the watch firmly in your hand. If your Elgin pocket watch is an older model that uses a winding key, turn the watch over and find the hole where the winding key is to be inserted. Gently but firmly push the key all the way in. If you apply torque to a partially inserted key, you may do damage to the watch. Therefore, insert the key all the way and ensure that it stays in place during the entire winding process. If the watch is a more recent model that is wound from the main crown (also used to set the time), place the watch in your hand and grab the crown with the thumb and index finger of your other hand.

Start to turn the key or the crown. Wind with firm but gentle movements. Do not make a sudden, jerking motion, as this may harm the watch. Continue to hold the watch firmly in your left hand at all times. Wind the watch until you feel resistance on the key or the crown. In general, you do not need to worry about overwinding the watch and would have to apply a great deal of pressure to damage the mechanism. However, you should stop as soon as the watch is fully wound and the crown or key either cannot be moved further or only marginally and with a lot of effort.

Wind the watch at the same time every day. While this is not critical, it is nevertheless a good idea to get into the habit of of winding the watch every day at approximately the same time. This way, you are less likely to forget to wind your watch and will always have to wind it by the same amount, thus getting a good feel for when you should stop. The morning hours are usually ideal, as a fully wound watch will better withstand shocks it may sustain during the day. A wound mainspring is tight and will therefore shake less in response to external impact. Due to the central position of the mainspring in the watch, this provides greater structural rigidity to the entire mechanism.