Hi Frank,
Thanks for your message.
Please note that as with all automatic watches, they first need to be wound - and this may be why you are experiencing issues with it operating consistently. The motion of your wrist does not provide enough energy to 'initiate' the watch from a cold start. It does, however, provide enough energy to keep the watch operational for an indefinite amount of time once it has been wound. You can read more about this here: https://ralphchristian.com/pages/timepiece-instructions
Please do reach out if you have any other questions or concerns and we'll be happy to help!