I am very new to chronometers. I try to collect things that I consider examples of where art and technology come together to produce something special. I like to display my Hamilton model 22 working. It is facinating to me that a purely mechanical object keeps as good a time as my electronic computer. My question is, will it eventually damage it to keep it runnning. Should I let it run down every now and then and "rest" or what?

Advice appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Maston

I Keep mine running all the time.

Thanks!

I run mine most of the time.

Maybe yes it will hurt it and maybe no it will not - it all depends on when was the last time your chronometer was disassembled, cleaned, and lubricated. By this I don't mean taking to one of those mall or storefront places that 'service' clocks and watches for a token amount such as $25 to $50 since for that kind of money all they do is just take the movement out of the case and dunk it whole in an ultrasonic bath for a few minutes, then spray it with a bit of oil. That kind of process makes the outside look shiney but it simply does not get out the dirt and congealed old oil from within the mechanism. What I mean is having a professional watchmaker take it apart and clean and examine every part, and replace any parts that are overly worn. Some of the guys on this forum have the skills to do this themselves, but many do not. If you take your Model 22 to a professional watchmaker to do it for you the typical charge for such a service will be hundreds of dollars since it takes many hours to do it correctly plus the cost of any replacement parts - especially for a complicated movement such as the Model 22.

If it has not had a professional cleaning within the past couple of years you probably will not want to run it very much since there will be dirt, dust, and old congealed oil in the movement. When you run a timepiece that has this gunk in the works the gunk serves as an abrasive and wears out the parts relatively quickly. It is not as bad as throwing sand in the movement, but over time it achieves similar results. On the other hand, if your chronometer has been recently professional cleaned and lubricated you can run it to your heart's content.

Mason, I shold have added that BOTH of my Hamilton 22's were fully serviced and adjusted by John Crabtree in 2007, and they are runningg perfectly. If you are at all in doubt as to when the last service was done on yous, I would suggest sending it to someone with Johns qualifications for a review and service estimate. He can be reached through his web site;

http://jlcrabtree.com/clox.html

Thanks all for the good info. I had my model 22 completely disassembled and professionally serviced by an expert watchmaker last year when I acquired it. It had been gunked up by a previous "cleaning" earlier and was not running reliably. Since being disassembled cleaned and reassembled it has been running about half the time (for over a year) and keeps great time. I'm in awe of its accuracy, which I check daily against the NIST Atomic clock website.

As the professional servicing is rather expensive, how often should I take it in for a check up... or what signs should I look for that would signal a visit to the expert?

Thanks all again for the advice.

Maston

Maston,
I tend to let my stuff run fully down periodically rather than continually winding up before they've run a full wind of the mainspring and stopped.

The main reason I do this, is so that the mainspring can fully unwind and release the inner coils, which otherwise would remain in contact with each other and eventually stick due to lack of movement and the lubricant drying out.
It also helps prevent the inner coils becoming 'Set' and weak.

If the timepieces begin to become erratic in timekeeping, or doing things they've never done before, like skipping on the click, feeling rough on the winder, or the beat sounding a bit 'off' or weak, they need looking at.

Many 'pro' shops would say that stuff should be serviced annually, which is ok for Government run establishments with bottomless wallets and no conscience, but as a collector using these mainly for display, then it's down to you really - and how often your wallet can take it.

The clocks are now in a 'kind' environment and not being used in 'anger', with probably the main enemy being central heating drying the movement out.
Your call really.

Would be interested to hear other comments on this.

John