How important is Power Reserve to you?

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How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

I have never owned a watch with a Power Reserve meter. Nor have I owned a watch with a SH21 movement. I must admit it is something that has never bothered me in the slightest. I have a watch winder but I don’t use it very often these days.

My current wearing habits generally mean that I have the same watch on for perhaps three or four days, sometimes even a week or more. I never follow a rotation. Very rarely do I wear one of my “main” watches for just a day. If I’m currently wearing a manual winder, I just wind it every morning; if I’m wearing an auto I just wear it. When I decide it’s time for a different watch it goes back in the box and runs down, to be reset at the next appropriate juncture. I couldn’t even tell you how long some of my watches run for, from fully wound to stopped.

So I guess that Power Reserve would be relatively low on my list of priorities. :D
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by timor54 »

Are you talking about length of power reserve or a power reserve indicator?
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

timor54 wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 9:27 am Are you talking about length of power reserve or a power reserve indicator?
Sorry, Tim. Should’ve made that clear.

Yes, I mean both.
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by scooter »

A power reserve indicator is probably one of my favourite complications.

It reminds me of a fuel gauge on a vehicle and that being mechanical a watch needs human intervention to sustain power.

I love the way that the indicator ebbs and flows and wouldn't have bought my North Flag without it.

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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by Bungle-ator »

Power reserve used to be important to me until I had half a clue. A 72 hour power reserve on my first auto was a bit of a pull but considering it was my daily wearer it was somewhat pointless.
I've an SH21 manual wind and the 5 day power reserve is a waste of time as it doesn't really handle things very well after day three and starts to run amok.
My explorer only has a two day reserve and it's just fine. I don't mind resetting the time on it after I've not been wearing it. That said, I'd expect the newer Rolex movements fare better than the SH21 when left alone for a few days so I would probably really appreciate the 5 days on it.

Filed as unimportant.

Edit: I've just read other posts.... Not generally interested in power reserve indicators. Just more mess that's not needed. I'd only accept it on a Chopard Miglia
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by downer »

The actual amount of PR on a watch is not too important to me, particularly on an automatic, because once I start wearing it the watch will run until I stop wearing it.

For a manual wind (which are not my favourite) I prefer a longer PR as I often forget to wind them. In this situation I can imagine a PR indicator would be useful.

Autos with PR indicators could seem a bit unnecessary, although as scooter says, they do provide visual interest and I do like the feature on my C65 SH21.
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by strapline »

I quite like a PR indicator, I think it's a very useful complication and I wouldn't mind betting that they've been in use for quite a long time. More importantly, I think, they can make or break a dial. They can add to or take away from the dial aesthetic. The Tudor NF is a good example of this; personally I think it works well but I have heard some corners be far less generous in their assessment of it. A good PR indicator probably appeals more to me than a day/date complication.

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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by timor54 »

I like the PR indicator on my North Flag. I value it as a sedentariness gauge.
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by golfjunky »

I like the idea of it and sometimes i like the way they are done on a dial but have no real use as rotate watches too often to worry about how long it will last. I still cant get why the ones on GS's are upside down (the indicator moves upwards as the power goes down)
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by CW257 »

Not at all. I’m the same in that I’ll wear a watch for a couple of days and then it’ll go back in the box to run down.

That said, I feel like I’m an outlier when it comes to certain features on watches. There’s aspects mentioned in every review I read which are clearly important to huge amounts of people, but which I never think about. Accuracy is one. So long as the watch performs roughly within its specified tolerances, I couldn’t care less if it gives me +2 seconds or +15 seconds a day. Lume is another thing I never consider. But each to their own!
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by 5oclockhero »

The now standard 36 hour power reserve is fine by me I tend to wear my watches at random so I accept they'll need a wind when I pick one up (which often makes me wonder if I need an automatic mechanism!) I have one with a day-date which i keep on the winder and turn it on a few hours each day only because resetting the day and date is a bit of a pain. But overall I'm happy with the 36 hours offered by nearly all the manufacturers as a minimum. Power reserve. Indicators seem a bit pointless and certainly I can't see the purpose of one on an automatic watch if its a daily wear.
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by RichM »

I'm reading 'The Watch' by Alexander Barter formerly Southey's Deputy Head of Watches Worldwide.

In it he writes that Jaeger-LeCoultre in the early 1950s introduced a model called the 'Futurematic' which dispensed entirely with manual winding, which at the time was a bold move as much of the criticism of early automatic watches from the 20s and 30s was the inability to be topped up with power if required.

The addition of a power reserve to the dial was to allay the users' concern that the watch might stop without warning.

I have a Seiko 5 auto that doesn't have a manual wind but no power reserve and it's never troubled me.

My C65 SH21 does of course and I bought it partly because of the power reserve display and actually, if I'm honest, partly also for bragging rights that it has that function!
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by Soporsche »

Not at all for me from an indicator perspective, as long as an Auto/Manual has enough power to run through a day and is still going the following day (often in the afternoon/evening) then I'm all good. I typically wear for a few days and back in the box to run down.
From a dial design aesthetic, they can really add to the interest on some watches and are nice to see/have though. Actually to flip this, if not a balanced or well executed integral part of the design then they can spoil an otherwise attractive watch.

In short, not necessary but quite nice to have if its a cohesive design.
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by Thunder1 »

As many of you already know, I'm a big fan of a PR indicator on many watches..within my collection, here's two excellent examples of it..
GO PanoReserve-65-01-02-02-04(1).jpg
Seiko Flightmaster(2).jpg
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Re: How important is Power Reserve to you?

Post by magicman »

Until you asked this question, a power reserve indicator, was not on my wishlist, as I like a plain watch.
But it did get me thinking and searching.
Has anyone come across a power reserve indicator using the 4th hand (think GMT) with 60 hrs of power marked on the fixed Bezel.
Now that may just tickle my fancy as I like the look of a GMT but don't use the function.
If it doesn't exist I think it should.
Maybe the engineering isn't easy or possibly.

Regards Steve
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