My watch
stopped working
Almost every stopped watch has one of about six causes, and the useful thing is that which six depends entirely on what kind of movement you have. A dead battery and an empty power reserve look identical from the outside and have nothing in common underneath.
So the sequence matters. Work out what sort of watch you are holding, follow the checks that apply to it, and in a good number of cases you will have the thing running again in two minutes without paying anybody.
Start here
- Try winding the crown. Gently, about 20 turns clockwise. If it starts running, you had a mechanical watch with no power left, and nothing is wrong.
- Watch the seconds hand. Ticking once per second means quartz. A smooth sweep means mechanical.
- Think about where it has been. Near a phone, a laptop, a speaker, a fridge magnet? Magnetism is the most overlooked cause of odd behaviour.
- Look for moisture under the crystal. Fog or droplets mean the problem is water, and that needs attention quickly.
If you do not know what the watch is, which happens a lot with inherited pieces, you can photograph it and get an identification covering the brand, era and movement type. Knowing whether you are holding a 1960s hand wound Swiss watch or a 1990s quartz changes every step that follows.
First, work out what kind of movement you have
This takes about ten seconds and determines everything else. There are three families, and the seconds hand usually gives the answer immediately.
If the watch is completely stopped and the seconds hand is not moving at all, use the crown test instead: wind it gently and see whether it comes to life. A quartz watch cannot be woken up by winding, so if winding works, you have a mechanical watch.
If it is quartz
In the overwhelming majority of cases the battery is simply dead. A watch battery lasts somewhere between two and five years depending on the movement and whether it drives extra functions, and when it goes, the watch stops. That is all that has happened.
One useful clue before you do anything: if the seconds hand is jumping forward in four second steps rather than one second steps, the movement is telling you the battery is nearly flat. That is an end of life indicator built into many quartz movements, and it is a helpful warning rather than a fault.
Replacing the cell is cheap at a watchmaker and they will pressure test the seals afterwards on a water resistant watch, which is worth paying for. If you want to know which cell your watch takes before you go, our battery cross reference covers the common equivalents between brands.
If a fresh battery does not fix it, there are three usual explanations and they get progressively more expensive. The contacts may be dirty or corroded, which is a quick clean. The movement may need servicing, because quartz movements still contain gears and lubricants that age and gum up. Or the circuit may be damaged, most often because an old battery was left in long enough to leak, and leaked battery electrolyte destroys quartz movements with impressive efficiency.
Which leads to the one maintenance habit worth adopting: if a quartz watch stops and you are not going to wear it again soon, take the battery out. A dead cell left in a drawer for three years can turn a working watch into a scrap one.
If it is automatic
Start with the most common and least alarming cause: it ran out of power. An automatic winds itself from the motion of your wrist, and when it comes off, it runs on whatever is stored in the mainspring. Most movements hold between 38 and 50 hours, which means a watch taken off on Friday night is frequently stopped by Sunday morning. Nothing is broken.
Wind the crown gently, around 20 to 30 turns clockwise, set the time and wear it. If it runs normally, that was the whole story. Our guide on winding an automatic properly covers the technique and the common mistakes.
If it starts but stops again within a day despite being worn, the next suspect is the winding system itself. A rotor that has come loose or a worn winding mechanism means the watch is not storing energy from your movement. That is a watchmaker job, and a reasonably common one on vintage automatics.
If it runs but keeps dreadful time, gaining or losing minutes a day rather than seconds, suspect magnetism before anything else. It is startlingly common and startlingly easy to fix, as covered in our magnetised watch guide. If the timekeeping is off but not wild, our guide on watches running fast or slow covers what is normal and what is not.
And if the watch has not been serviced in a decade or more, the honest answer may simply be dried oil. Lubricants degrade over time whether the watch is used or not, and a movement running on dry pivots eventually stops. That is what a service fixes.
If it is hand wound
These need winding every day, usually in the morning, and they stop when you forget. Wind gently until you feel firm resistance, then stop. Do not force past that point: the mainspring is at the end of its travel and forcing it is one of the few genuinely damaging things a user can do to a watch.
If the crown turns endlessly with no resistance building, the mainspring is probably broken or the winding mechanism has failed. That is a repair, not something to keep winding at.
Hand wound watches are heavily represented among inherited pieces, which means they are also heavily represented among watches that have sat in drawers for thirty years. On those, a stopped watch is less a fault than an expectation, and a service is usually what is needed before it will run reliably again.
Causes that hit every type of watch
Four problems ignore the quartz and mechanical divide entirely, and they are worth recognising because two of them need acting on quickly.
On moisture specifically: resist the folk remedies. Rice does very little, and heat sources like radiators or hairdryers can warp gaskets and damage the dial. If there is visible water inside, the right move is getting it opened and dried properly by somebody with the tools, soon.
What is safe to do yourself, and what is not
Winding, setting, keeping the watch away from magnets, changing a strap and giving the case a wipe are all perfectly safe and between them solve a decent share of stopped watches.
Opening the caseback is where the risk starts. Snap on backs are easy to scratch and easier to bend, screw down backs need the right tool to avoid gouging the case, gaskets are easy to pinch and ruin, and a single dust particle landing on a movement causes problems that are invisible until the watch misbehaves. On a watch with any sentimental or monetary value, everything short of opening it is the sensible limit for home diagnosis.
On cost, it is worth being realistic before you commit. A battery change is minor. Demagnetising is minor. A full mechanical service is not: for a Swiss watch it commonly runs into the hundreds, and for complicated or luxury pieces considerably more. Our service cost estimator gives realistic figures by brand and movement type. On inexpensive watches the service frequently costs more than the watch is worth, which is a legitimate reason to leave a drawer watch stopped rather than a failure on your part.
Not sure what the watch even is?
Upload a few photos to identify the brand, model and era, and see what it tends to be worth. That tells you whether a service is a sensible investment or not.
Scan Your WatchFor diagnosis and repair, an in-person assessment by a certified watchmaker is always the gold standard.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my watch suddenly stop working?
The likely cause depends on the movement. A quartz watch almost always stops because the battery died, and a battery lasts roughly two to five years. An automatic stops because it ran out of power reserve, usually after a day or two off the wrist. A hand wound watch stops because it needs winding. If none of those apply, the common culprits are magnetism, a knock that dislodged something, moisture, or oil that has dried out after many years without a service.
How do I know if my watch is quartz or automatic?
Watch the seconds hand. A quartz watch ticks once per second in distinct steps. A mechanical watch, whether automatic or hand wound, sweeps in several small steps per second so the motion looks smooth. If there is no seconds hand, shake the watch gently: an automatic has a rotor you can often hear and feel swinging inside, while a quartz watch is silent and inert.
My watch stopped even with a new battery, what now?
Usually one of three things. The battery contacts may be dirty or corroded so the new cell is not making a connection. The movement may need cleaning, since quartz movements still have gears and lubricants that age. Or the circuit may have been damaged, often by a leaking old battery left in place too long. Have a watchmaker check the contacts first, because that is the cheapest of the three to fix.
How long does an automatic watch run when you take it off?
Most modern automatics hold between 38 and 50 hours of power reserve, so a watch taken off on Friday evening is commonly stopped by Sunday. Newer movements with extended reserves run 70 hours or more. This is normal behaviour and not a fault: wind the crown about 20 to 30 turns, set the time, and wear it.
Can a magnet stop a watch?
Magnetism rarely stops a mechanical watch outright, but it very commonly makes one run wildly fast or erratic, sometimes gaining many minutes a day. The cause is usually a phone case, a laptop speaker, a handbag clasp or a fridge magnet. Demagnetising is quick and inexpensive at any watchmaker, and the tools are cheap enough that many enthusiasts own one.
Is it bad to let an automatic watch stop?
No. A mechanical watch sitting stopped in a drawer is not being harmed, and the old belief that stopping damages the movement is a myth. The main argument for a watch winder is convenience on watches with complicated calendars that are tedious to reset, not mechanical necessity.
How much does it cost to fix a watch that stopped?
A quartz battery change typically costs a small amount at a watchmaker, and demagnetising is usually similar or free alongside other work. A full service on a mechanical watch is a different order of expense, commonly running into the hundreds for a Swiss watch and considerably more for complicated or luxury pieces. On inexpensive watches the service bill frequently exceeds the value of the watch, which is worth knowing before you commit.
Should I try to fix a stopped watch myself?
Winding it, resetting it, and keeping it away from magnets are all safe. Opening the case is not, unless you know what you are doing: casebacks are easy to scratch, gaskets are easy to ruin, and a dust particle on a movement causes real problems. On any watch with sentimental or monetary value, the sensible limit for home diagnosis is everything short of opening it.