Why does it keep losing time or stopping?

if battery operated / change battery
if wind up you need to take to a jeweler to reset the spring

If its a good watch, take it to a watchmaker. Dont know to find one 30 yrs ago they were inevery city

Thank you for contacting FixYa.
When you first receive your automatic watch, you must give the watch an initial pre-wind. If you wear it everyday, it will continue to wind itself on your wrist when you move around and walk. If you stop wearing it for more than approximately 2 days, the watch will need to be reset, but will then automatically wind itself once you start wearing it again. The disadvantage to this is pretty clear. Your watch does not t keep time if you do not wear it constantly. The advantages are that you will never have to replace a battery, the watch keeps great time when it is running, and most of all, this type of movement is exactly what the originals use! If your Automatic is losing or gaining time in a 24-hour period the watch needs to be adjusted. All of our automatics have an adjustment screw on the movement just like the originals. Any local jeweler can service these watches.
Best regards! Jewel

WIND AT THE SAME TIME EVERY DAY. This is extremely important. In order to ensure that your watch keeps good time it must be wound at the same time every day. Most people like to do this at night before bed.
WIND ALL THE WAY. The watch must be wound all the way, or it will slowly lose the proper time and require constant resetting. Also, if not wound all the way, the watch may stop keeping time earlier than expected.
WIND IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. Most European watches wind clockwise when the face of the watch is pointing towards you. Determine which way your watch winds, and stick to that direction. To figure this out, try to turn it both ways. The wrong way will either be extremely loose, or extremely tight.
Tips & Warnings
Keeping your watch clean and free of dust and dirt will also add to its longevity.
Contact the watch's manufacturer for any special and/or specific care methods.
Don't under or over wind you watch. When you start to feel resistance, STOP.

When you say "wave wind" do you mean you're waving it around to wind it with the self-winding mechanism? If so, that will only keep it running briefly as you're experiencing. Manually wind the crown about 40 turns clockwise to "fill the tank" and wearing it daily will keep it topped off. Anytime you don't wear it for a day, manually wind it again. As for the cleaning, the inside of the watch doesn't get real dirty but over time the lubricants wear out and thicken which makes the watch run slowly or not as long as it has to work harder to move the gears through the thickened lubricant. A watchmaker can disassemble and clean the old lube out with solvents and then reassemble the watch with fresh lubricants.

Why does an "automatic" watch need winding?? SELL IT

If you have had it for some time then it could be that it needs a clean.

I have seen manufacturers recommendations suggesting every two years for cleaning to maintain accuracy.

Is it an automatic self wind or wind up? An automatic watch has a weight that winds the main spring and if you wind it by the crown it will not stop. If its one that you wind by hand then the watch should be wound daily at the same time...like right before bed or when she wakes up. Wind gently until it stops. That costly repair should come with a warranty so if she consistently winds daily and still loses time you need to send it back!

If the watch is an automatic then she can gently hold the watch in her hand and rock it back and forth a good 20 times or so and that will give it a good winding! This is a common issue we see at our watch repair business. Some people do not move enough during the day to keep an automatic movement wound. If thats the case then there is nothing ong with the repair, just make sure it gets a good daily wind! :-)

You have to wind the watch till it is fully wound (significant resistance should be felt).
It doesn't matter how many times you wind it (1 or even 40) - what matters is the strength of the spring.
Do as follows:
At any time in the morning wind the watch up till you feel there is no more winding left (should be quite tough). Memorize the time you did it.
Leave the watch (or wear it) till it stops completely.
Count the hours your watch did work (from the time you wound it).
Now you know exact power reserve for your watch.
It is advised to wind the watch 2-3 hours before the power reserve is gone.

Rate me.
, please.

Your watch is an automatic watch which means it winds itself as long as you are wearing it. If you don't wear it for several days it will stop working. To solve this situation buy an automatic watch winder to keep your watch in while you are not wearing it and it will keep the correct time.