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The
Watch Source Guide has put together a few simple guidelines to help
you care for your watch. Following these simple steps will help
you ensure it's long life:
1.
Water-Resistant
Versus Waterproof
A watch marked as water resistant without a depth indication is designed
to withstand accidental splashes of water only.
Do not submerge such a watch. Higher levels of water resistance are
indicated by increasingly higher acceptable depths, usually indicated
in meters.
There are a variety of ways to make a watch water resistant. All such
watches use rubber gaskets or "O" rings to seal the case
back. A watch with a back that screws onto the case provides a higher
degree of water resistance. Some crowns (the "winding stem")
actually screw into the case to further increase water resistance.
Usage Recommendations
The following usage recommendations are suggested by the Seiko Corporation
of America:
• Water-resistant to 30 meters (100 feet). Will withstand splashes
of water or rain but should not be worn while swimming or diving.
• Water-tested to 50 meters (165 feet). Suitable for showering
or swimming in shallow water.
• Water-tested to 100 meters (330 feet). Suitable for swimming
and snorkeling.
• Water-tested to 150 meters (500 feet). Suitable for snorkeling.
• Water-tested to 200 meters (660 feet). Suitable for skin diving.
• Diver's 150 meters (500 feet). Meets ISO standards and is suitable
for scuba diving.
• Diver's 200 meters (660 feet). Meets ISO standards and is suitable
for scuba diving.
Please note that we do not recommend swimming or diving with your
watch unless it has a screw-down crown (also known as 'screw-lock'
or 'screw-in' crown) and is water-resistant to at least 100 meters.
2.
Keeping Your Watch Dry
Always make sure your watch is dry after it has been exposed to water.
By taking a few minutes and thoroughly drying your watch with a lint-free
cloth, you will prevent rust from forming. This is a key point in
ensuring the long life of your watch.
3.
Caring for the Crystal
The crystal is the transparent part of the watch through which you
tell time. As we discussed with water, a watch may have a scratch-resistant
crystal, however no crystal is truly scratchproof. Therefore, it is
not advisable that you toss your watch onto the dresser or into a
drawer at the end of the day. It's better for the watch to store or
wrap it in a soft cloth before placing it down. The more care you
take with the watch, the less scratches you will end up with. Replace
broken or scratched crystals immediately. Even a hairline crack can
let dust or moisture into the mechanism, threatening its accuracy.
If you place the watch in a drawer with other jewelry, this too may
scratch the watch, as it might rub against the other pieces. Another
suggestion would be to store the watch in its original case, since
these cases are generally soft and made specifically for the watch.
4.
Metal Versus Leather Bands
If you participate in activities that cause excessive sweat or perspiration,
you may want to consider getting a watch with a metal bracelet or
rubber strap, instead of a leather strap. Watches that have natural
and genuine leather straps will gradually deteriorate with constant
exposure to perspiration. Metal bracelets would best be classified
as "dress" watches.
5.
Battery Replacement
Watches that run on batteries are known as 'Quartz' watches. The batteries
will last anywhere from one to several years. How will you know when
the watch needs the battery changed? Most of the watches sold by WorldofWatches.com
come with free lifetime battery replacement. Send the watch in with
your receipt, and WorldofWatches.com will replace the battery. If a
watch was not purchased from WorldofWatches.com or did not come with
free lifetime battery replacement, consider taking it to a local watch
professional for battery replacement.
Watches that do not need battery replacement include automatic (self-winding)
watches and solar-powered watches (which have a rechargeable battery).
You may want to consult the watch's manual if you're not sure what type
of watch you have.
6.
Cleaning Your Watch
The best way to clean your watch is by using a lint-free cloth and
a toothpick. Use the toothpick to clean out any dirt buildup in the
bracelet or casing of the watch and the cloth to wipe it clean. If
it is water-resistant, give it an occasional cleaning with a mixture
of warm water and a mild soap. If the strap is leather or non-metal,
clean only the case.
7. Servicing Your Watch
Like any other piece of machinery, a watch must be cleaned, oiled,
and serviced. Every couple of years, you may notice the watch losing
time or running fast-or it may stop working altogether. Just take
your watch to a local watch professional for servicing.
8.
Automatic Watch Maintenance
Although automatic mechanical watches do not have batteries, some
easy-to-follow maintenance is necessary for continued and long-lasting
good use.
Self-winding automatic watches depend on the movement of the arm to
operate and do require some winding, even if you wear your watch on
a daily basis.
If you wear your Automatic watch everyday, it is best to wind
it once, every two weeks to keep the wheels in motion and oil fluid.
Simply wind the crown (the same knob used to adjust the time and date)
until you meet slight resistance.
If you do not wear your Automatic watch everyday, you should
try to wind it at least twice a week to ensure continuous operation,
as well as keeping the inside mechanism in complete running order.
Try to wind your mechanical watch at the same time every day. This is
extremely beneficial for the mechanism. You may want to make it a routine,
winding it every morning when you wake up.
Avoid setting the day and/or date (if your watch has these functions)
at night. The day-date mechanism is activated during the nighttime hours
and could be disrupted if set at this time.
Also, always avoid wearing your mechanical watch if you are playing
a sport requiring continuous arm motion (e.g. tennis, baseball, golf),
since continuous arm motion could damage the movement.
10.
How often does a mechanical watch need to be serviced?
Manufacturer's recommendations vary, but most range from every three
to five years.
11. What happens to it when
it goes in to be serviced?
The watch is taken apart and the bracelet and case are cleaned ultrasonically
and polished. The pieces of the movement are cleaned chemically and
examined. Worn parts are replaced. The movement is then reassembled,
lubricated and regulated. Then, if the watch is water resistant, its
water resistance is tested.
12.
Where should you take your watch to have it repaired or overhauled?
If the watch is under warranty, the warranty may be invalid unless you
take it to a service center authorized by the manufacturer. You can
get a list of authorized repair centers from the manufacturer. If the
warranty has expired, you can take it either to an authorized center
or to a reputable repair shop.
13.
How much does an overhaul cost?
It varies a great deal, but consumers can generally expect to pay upwards
of $100 - sometimes a great deal upwards- for an overhaul of an uncomplicated
automatic watch. As a rule, the more expensive the brand, the more expensive
the overhaul.
14.
How long does the watch have to remain in the shop?
This, too, varies by repair shop, but turnaround times for overhauls
are generally measured in weeks - two or three in many instances.
15.
Do quartz watches need to be serviced like mechanical ones?
No. Quartz watch movements do not need nearly as much maintenance as
mechanical ones do. That's because they have far fewer moving parts
-just the gears that move the hands. (A digital watch has no moving
parts at all). All that most quartz watches really require is that when
the case is opened for a batter change, it be cleaned of accumulated
dirt. However, some expensive quartz analog watch movements should have
their gear train lubricated ever eight to 10 years. For inexpensive
quartz watches, this isn't worth doing.
16. How often does a watch's
water resistance need to be checked?
All water resistant watches need to have their water resistance checked
ever time the batter is changed or the case is opened for any other
reason. That's because when the case is opened, the caskets that keep
the water out of the case are dislodged. (These gaskets, or O rings,
are located inside the case at the joints where the case meets the case
back, crown and crystal.) For this reason it's important that when the
battery in a water-resistant watch needs to be changed, the watch be
taken to a repair center that has water-resistance testing equipment.
In some instances, water-resistance should be checked between battery
changes. If the watch is worn in the water, frequently or exposed to
a lot of sweat, it should be checked at least ever two years and, if
exposure to water is very frequent, ever year.
17.
Do you need to wind a mechanical watch every day?
The watch will run better if you do. You always get better performance
from a watch when it's fully wound than when it's wound down. It's best
to wind it even if you don't intend to wear it. That will prevent the
movement's lubricants from congealing.
This doesn't, of
course, apply to an automatic, or self-winding watch. This type of
watch should be wound initially to get it started. If the wearer is
reasonably active and wears the watch for 12 to 15 hours a day, it
will remain fully wound.
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18.
Does it matter which direction you turn the crown when you're setting
a watch?
On most mechanical watches it doesn't. On some, particularly those
equipped with calendars, you should only move the hands clockwise.
The manufacturer's instructions will include directions for setting.
On quartz watches,
it's OK to move the hands in either direction to set them. Manufacturers
point out, though, that you can eliminate the free play in minutes hand
by setting it in the following way (a quartz watch, unlike a mechanical
one, tends to have play in its minutes hands due to the lack of tension
in the gear train): Move the minutes hand clockwise until it is a few
minutes past where it is supposed to be, then move it counterclockwise
back to the correct spot.
19. Will heat and cold affect
a watch's accuracy?
Heat and cold will affect the time-keeping ability of a quartz watch.
Quartz crystals, whose extremely steady vibrations are responsible for
the unrivaled accuracy of quartz watches, are cut so they perform optimally
at room temperature. A temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit will throw
the timing off by about 1 second a day, as will one of 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Extreme temperature
will also affect the accuracy of a mechanical watch, but not as much
as other factors (see below). One reason is that hot and cold cause
the metal parts of a watch movement to expand and contract (though advances
in metallurgy have made this less of a problem than in the past). Another
reason is that heat and cold affect the viscosity of the oil that lubricates
the movement, and thereby affect the movement's accuracy.
20.
What other factors affect the accuracy of a watch?
In a mechanical watch, wearing habits such as when the watch is wound,
how long it's worn each day and what position it lies in when it is
not being worn all play a critical role in determining how consistently
a watch runs. Although a typical mechanical watch might gain or lose
about 5 minutes a month, it's possible, by adjusting the watch to fit
a wearer's regular habits, to achieve much higher accuracy than that.
The more consistent your wearing habits, the more consistent the time-telling
will be.
None of these factors
make any difference with a quartz watch. With quartz, temperature is
the only variable that affects the accuracy of the movement.
21.
Can a mechanical watch be worn playing sports?
In general, yes. All or nearly all mechanical watches manufactured today
are equipped with anti-shock devices that protect the watch's balance-staff
pivots - the part of the watch movement most vulnerable to damage from
impact. These devices are usually effective enough to protect the watch
from the shock it encounters when you hit a tennis or golf ball, for
instance.
Nonetheless, there
is a small change that an especially hard knock could damage not only
the balance but the rotor axle, which is some automatic movements serves
to secure the rotor to the watch movement. So deciding whether to wear
your mechanical watch or not while playing sports is a matter of risk
assessment. The odds, however, are on your side.
22.
Is the same true of a quartz watch?
There is very little chance of damaging the movement of a quartz watch
while playing sports -a quartz watch does not contain the delicate balance-staff
pivots that make anti-shock devices necessary in mechanical watches.
You can, of course, damage other parts of the watch -the crystal of
instance- whether the watch is quartz or mechanical.
23.
Will anything damage a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal?
Don't be misled by the term "scratch resistant". It doesn't
mean "scratch proof". The most scratch-resistant crystals
are made of synthetic sapphire, an extremely hard mineral that measures
9 on the Mohs hardness scale (diamond, the hardest natural substance
known to man, measures 10). Despite its high rating, sapphire can be
abraded by some materials. Brushing against a synthetic stone surface,
like those found on some furniture or walls, for example, could cause
a scratch.
Also keep in mind
that the more scratch-resistant a material, the more brittle it is,
so scratch-resistant crystals are more likely to chip or shatter than
non-scratch-resistant ones.
24.
Will wearing a watch on the inside of your wrist affect its accuracy?
If it's a quartz watch, no. The position of a quartz watch has no bearing
on its time-keeping ability.
A mechanical watch
is a different story. Mechanical watches are regulated at the factory
to run optimally on a right-handed person who will wear the watch on
the outside of his or her wrist -i.e. crown down, dial up. The watch
will not run as accurately in any other position, unless it is adjusted
to do so. If you want to wear the watch on the inside of your wrist
and have it run as well as if it were on the outside, you'll have to
have it re-regulated.
25.
How long will a quartz-watch batter last?
A silver oxide battery will last two to three years. Lithium batteries
will last 10 years or more. (They aren't interchangeable. Watches are
designed to use either silver oxide or lithium batteries.)
27.
It is true you can preserve a quartz watch's battery power by pulling
out the stem if you won't be wearing the watch for a few days?
Pulling out the stem saves 75% to 80% of the watch's energy because
the gears and hands aren't turning. However, he points out, the savings
is marginal when you consider that a silver oxide battery will lose
5% to 8% of its power a year just sitting unused. Another argument against
trying to save battery power this way is that if the gears in the gear
train sit stationary for a long time, the lubricants congeal.
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