The better your new timepiece is cared for, the longer it will last. We will provide you with all the service and tools you will need to ensure many years of wear and enjoyment from your watch. The following are some basic watch care tips to help you maintain your timepiece in the best possible manner.
General Maintenance Tips
- Do not attempt to replace your watch’s battery yourself or take it to an unauthorized jeweler to have the work performed. Such unauthorized repairs will permanently void your warranty and may result in excessive, and expensive, damage to your watch.
- When putting the watch on, be careful where you put it on at. You want to avoid hardwood floors and marble floors so that if the watch falls, you don’t damage it.
- Change the time at any point however, don’t change the date between 9pm and 3am. During that time, the date is going through its own cycle and you could damage the date ring.
- Mechanical watches will require service at irregular intervals ranging from every two to five years or so. This wide margin of variance is due to the unique ways in which each of us wears our timepieces and the fact that each movement of this type is assembled and finished by hand so each has its own personality. You will know your movement needs service when it stops performing normally. It may begin to run extremely fast or slow or may stop all together.
- You will know your quartz timepiece needs service when it slows down, speeds up or stops. When a quartz timepiece stops, it is normally an indication that the battery needs to be replaced. If the watch slows down or speeds up it is usually an indication that the movement needs more elaborate service. Quartz movements are the simplest and most accurate of all watch movements.
- Mechanical watch movements are affected by the pull of gravity and can therefore be sped up or slowed down depending on the position of the movement relative to the Earth. If your watch tends to run slow, try leaving it on its side with the crown pointing up at night. Conversely, if the watch tends to run fast, leave it sitting with the crown pointing down at night. Just remember “speed up, slow down.” It may seem silly that such a complicated machine can be affected in this manner, but it can. Every movement has its own personality and own quirks. If these two positions don’t work for you, try it dial up or dial down. Eventually you will find your watch’s best position.
Cleaning Tips
- In addition to your six month cleaning at Alson, clean your water resistant watch bracelet often using an old toothbrush and warm soapy water. Be sure the crown of the watch is fully secured during cleaning to prevent moisture damage to the movement. If your new timepiece is not water resistant, always bring it to Alson for proper cleaning.
Water Resistance Tips
- Do not wear your watch in the hot tub or Jacuzzi as the excessive heat will cause the gaskets to fail.
- Rinse your watch thoroughly with fresh water after the watch has been immersed in salt water or in a chlorinated swimming pool.
- Water resistant timepieces will withstand immersion in water up to the depth described by the manufacturer as long as the rubber gaskets in the case, crown and case tube are routinely replaced (usually every other year).
Winding Tips
- Wind your mechanical watch around the same time every day. It is possible to “over wind” a manual wind watch so be very careful not to wind the watch past its stopping point. The crown should be turned gently as you are winding the watch to prevent damaging the movement. If the watch has stopped, set the time before you wind the watch.
At Alson Jewelers, we service quartz watches and mechanical watches. The brands we service are Rolex, Tudor, Tag Heuer, Baume & Mercier, Raymond Weil and Cartier. Learn more about our watch repair and service.
