I’ve a 20 year old Omega Seamaster auto, love it and wear it most days. But if I’ve a few days doing mechanics/labouring, I tend to take it off.

Is it fine to let an auto watch mechanism run out and stop, and then just reset and wind up, or is it better to keep it running continually?

Asking as had it serviced (ouch!) and want to avoid another service for as long as poss!

Cheers

Never had a problem with my Pulsar Kinetic.

It has from time to time, lain unused for years, then takes a few hours to start keeping time.

I don’t think a couple of days will hurt it. I believe it’s extended periods of being unworn that can potentially cause things to dry up a bit.

I’ve got five or six auto watches, so each one often sits in the watch box unwound for up to a couple of months whilst I’m wearing one of the others. They’re all fine.

Won’t really make any difference what you do, I acquired an old automatic that hadn’t been worn for 30+ years, picked it up gave it a shake and off it went, still works well ten years on.
I have a silly amount of mechanical watches, bit sad tbh.

It’ll be fine. I do it all the time. Some go a year between wears.

It’s better to leave it unwound for a few weeks than have them in a watch winder all the time. My autos often go a few weeks between running.

As others have said, leaving unwound until it stops, then winding won’t cause any harm at all – the lubricants used are synthetic and in tiny amounts, plus the watch is sealed, servicing is usually about every ten years or so, to give you time to save up enough money…
The only watch I’ve ever had serviced was done when it needed a new mainspring, and it was about fifty years old at that time, but was showing some issues anyway. The service and mainspring cost me £460, the watch cost me £50. But that was in 1970!
It needs winding every day, and it’s become too valuable to wear every day, so whoever inherits it from me will likely need to get it serviced next!