Chapter 28
A Miscellany Including Stationery, Clocks, Noises, Baby Carriages, Remuneration and Advance Preparations
CLOCKS AND WATCHES
28.a. A wristwatch which is wound automatically by the natural movement of the hand may be worn, provided it is going.
28.b. 1) One must not put it on while it is not going.
2) This applies even to a gold watch which serves as an ornament, since, in putting it on, one is bound to wind it up by the movements one makes.
3) Consequently, an automatic watch which stops working is muktzeh, even if it is made of gold.
29.a. It is forbidden to wind up the alarm mechanism of a clock on Shabbath or Yom Tov.
29.b. Should one wish to wake up at a particular time in order to perform a mitzva, for example to study Torah or to pray, one may proceed as follows:
1) one may, before Shabbath or Yom Tov commences, wind up the alarm mechanism and depress the appropriate button, lever or catch to prevent it from operating before it is required, and
2) one may, on Shabbath or Yom Tov, release this button, lever or catch, so that the alarm will operate
at the desired time.*
29.c. One is permitted, on Shabbath or Yom Tov, to adjust the hands which determine at what time the alarm will operate, as long as one is sure it will not ring in the course of adjustment.
29.d. One is allowed to stop the ringing or buzzing of an alarm clock on Shabbath or Yom Tov, unless it is electrically (including battery) operated, in which case stopping the alarm would break an electrical
circuit.
29.e. In those cases where it is permissible to wind up a clock which is still going, as set out in paragraph 20 above, one may do so even if one thereby also winds up an alarm mechanism.
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* If the clock is electrically (including battery) operated, a duly qualified halachic authority should first be consulted.
