Hello gentlemen,
What exactly is an overwound watch, I've heard the term quite alot like " it's not working because it's overwound" I've tryed to look on the net but there is not much info, some say it is not possible to overwind a watch some say it is just a term to say there is something else wrong with it and others say it is possible to overwind a watch. So I would like to hear from you experienced horologists what your opinion on an overwound watch is.

My best guess is that the watch has over banked because it has been forcibly wound more when it is already fully wound, but that is just a guess.

Thanks Everyone
Francesco.

I've always thought that it is impossible to overwind a watch. You'd have to take a pair of pliers, and forcibly turn that crown. It is over banked. But the ill informed do like to use that term a lot. I'll leave it to the higher minds to explain "over banking". Regards, Brad

overwound or wound to tight is the saying many use who do not understand why there watch does not run. Like brad said someone would have to use a pair of pliers to overwind a watch then it wouldnt be overwound but have other issues. I have seen where grease on mainspring gets thick and gummy so when you wind a watch tight it does not unwind properly which in fact will make it not run properly but still that is not overwound but rather in need of a COA. As far as overbanking that is when the roller jewel jumps out of the fork and lays on the back side of the fork which usually only happens on single roller watches a reason why RR watches were double roller. A lot of reasons why a watch will over bank from a simple bump to someone not having banking pins adjusted correctly.

Some time about 1800s watchmakers added the click to winding wheels/ mainspring barrel assembly.

After this time it is impossible to overwind a watch to keep it from running down the mainspring / gear train.

An over wound watch (Or as ilike to say it Wound Tight) means that the gear train is not working correctly for what ever reason. And that is why the mainspring is wound tight.

I hope this cleared the mud puddle.

It makes me Laugh..... over wound really means Broken and fully wound ! But, we continue to see it all the time .

positive: wound tight = fully wound --> does not tick

comperative: over wound = can't wind further --> still doesn't tick

superlative: wrenched = winds without end --> does not tick either

Gerald

"Overwound" is a Misnomer;

When you have "wound" a working watch it runs until the wind is gone.

When you have "wound" a working watch and it does not run it has a bad mainspring.

When you have "wound" a non-working watch, it does not run.

Then there are the watches with a "Mystery" sickness . . .

actually overwound is usually wound completely tight and the oil has congealed a bit causing the spring to bind on itself,so,unable to slide on itself to divest energy into the gear train,it sleeps ,tightly frozen , - or over wound

overbanked on the other had is when one of the banking pins jumps the banking

When you wind a working watch, it runs down after a while. When you wind a non-working watch it can't run down, so it stays tightly wound.

People reason that, because the watch is wound tight and still not working, it must be "overwound". That's backward. Being wound tight is usually the result of a watch not working, not the cause of it.

Its a term that folks use when they don't understand why it doesn't work and usually want to underplay the real issues to sell it.

how many times have you heard this:
"Rare and beautiful vintage watch in pristine condition. currently not working because its overwound! Would be a great addition and easy to fix" Buy it now for 1 million dollars

That sounds like every ebay seller with a broken watch. The easy to fix part is if you fave a balance staff, 3 jewels, and a pallet fork arbor because its got a broken pivot.

Thats why a majority of the watches sold on ebay are not serviced. You will see a lot of buffed out cases because anyone can do that. But sellers dont want to pay to have it maintained because it costs to much. They would rather pass along those costs on the buyer.