Upkeep

I wear my watch all the time, everywhere, I never take it off.

Fine, providing you take all of the above hints and tips into account. But you still need to periodically clean your timepiece externally. Use warm water, a very soft brush with a little soap to remove things like skin particles and dust, assuming your watch is WR to 50m minimum. Clean between the bracelet links, the back of the watch, and under the clasp. The band’s particles and grit can cause premature wear because it can act like sandpaper. It should be clean and nice! Once the watch is clean, simply dry it off with a soft cloth and you may be surprised at how much nicer it looks!

I’ve scratched the crystal – can I polish it?

Yes, if your watch has plastic or acrylic crystal. People use different compounds to do this but it is possible to use Brasso or specialist polishes such as Polywatch; it has been known to use toothpaste, in this case I would advise the smoker’s variety! For minor to medium scratches, you just need a little bit of the polishing compound to rub on the crystal in circular motions using a soft cloth. Deeper scratches will require more effort and sometimes it is necessary to follow the line of the scratch first as opposed to the circular motion, then the circular motion. Polish dried compound off and hey presto, with a little effort the crystal will be like new.

If you scratch or chip mineral crystal, you have a pretty big problem. You can’t polish this yourself unless you have access to optical lens polishing equipment. You can either get a professional to look at it, or just fit a new crystal, which is the quicker and cheaper alternative.

A sapphire crystal is very very difficult to scratch in the first place – a diamond will do it so avoid contact with diamond jewelery for example. A sapphire will chip more easily so beware of metal catches on door frames and the like. Anyway, if the sapphire does get scratches then if it bothers you I’m afraid it is new crystal time. Please don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that a sapphire crystal is very expensive – depending on the brand of watch in question then it is possible to have a sapphire bought and fitted for anything.

How often should my watch be serviced?

Watch buffs discuss this issue a lot. I would say that there is no rule of thumb here. Firstly, a mechanical watch employs certain lubricants to reduce wear and ensure consistent smooth running. Lubricants, however, don’t last forever, although there are those that last longer than others. Some manufacturers approach this in such a way that the degree of usage is considered.

Thus, a diver’s watch used by a commercial diver on a daily basis will be subject to more abuse than a diver’s watch worn by an office worker. The seals will exposed to water more often, the watch will theoretically get more vibration and shock – in a word, there will more stress put upon the watch and its movement. A yearly checkup for water resistance may be prudent, as well as fully servicing every couple of years. If the watch is lightly worn, then lubrication can be performed every five years and water resistance checks can be done every two years. I say don’t let five years go by without servicing any mechanical watch; after this time, even the best lubricant would have lost its lubricating capabilities.

If it ain’t bust, then don’t fix it?

Maybe a watch will run for ten to fifteen years without any attention – trouble is when attention is eventually required then it could be major…and expensive. Furthermore, you might have to live without a watch for a while because parts may need to be specially ordered. I prefer to limit the possibilities of disaster by following the guidelines above! I usually have my watch serviced once a year just to be on the safe side. Even the best replica watches on the web today will need to be serviced from time to time to keep them running smoothly.