Topic
Care and servicing
A mechanical watch is a machine running on a film of oil that ages whether or not you wear it. These pages cover what a service really involves, when one is warranted, how to set and wind a watch without damaging it, and what storage does and does not achieve.
76 pages on this subject.
Answers
- Can a watch be regulated to run more accurately?
- Can I shower with my watch?
- Can I wear a mechanical watch every day?
- Can I wear my watch in the ocean?
- Can magnets damage my watch?
- Can you overwind an automatic watch?
- Do automatic watches need a battery?
- Do I need a watch winder?
- How do I clean my watch?
- How do I shorten a watch bracelet?
- How do I test my watch's accuracy at home?
- How do I wind a manual watch?
- How long does a mechanical watch last?
- How many turns does it take to wind a watch?
- How much does a watch service cost?
- How often should a mechanical watch be serviced?
- How often should a watch be pressure tested?
- How often should I wind my automatic watch?
- How should a watch fit?
- Should I insure my watch?
- What does a watch warranty actually cover?
- When is it unsafe to change the date on my watch?
- Why does my automatic watch stop overnight?
- Why is my automatic watch running fast?
- Why is my watch running slow?
- Why is there fog under my watch crystal?
Guides
Selling a watch: how to get it right
The three routes to selling a watch, how to price it from completed sales, what to prepare, how to ship and take payment safely, and the scams to recognize.
Servicing and caring for a mechanical watch
What a full watch service includes, when a mechanical watch genuinely needs one, how to choose between factory and independent, and how to care for it daily.
Setting your watch without damaging it
Crown positions, the date change danger zone, screw-down crowns and correct winding. The right order of operations for setting a mechanical watch safely.
Shock resistance and everyday durability
What breaks when a watch is dropped, how Incabloc and KIF shock settings work, what ISO 1413 tests, and which everyday activities damage watches.
Timing your own watch: measuring and regulating
How to measure a mechanical watch over seven days, read a timegrapher's rate, amplitude and beat error, and tell regulation from a service.
Watch winders and storage: what you actually need
A winder solves exactly one problem, and most owners do not have it. How to specify turns per day and direction properly, and how to store watches safely.
Movements
Citizen Eco-Drive
Citizen's light-powered quartz explained: the light levels it actually needs, the reserve in darkness, power save, and what the rechargeable cell costs later.
Compare
Automatic vs manual winding
A rotor buys convenience and costs thickness, weight and parts. A manual movement is thinner and more involving. How the two really differ in use.
In-house vs third party movements
What in-house actually means, why third party movements exist, and which one costs you less to own over twenty years.
Sapphire vs mineral vs acrylic crystal
Sapphire resists scratches, acrylic resists shattering, mineral glass sits between and costs least. Which failure mode you would rather live with.
Titanium vs stainless steel watch cases
Titanium is roughly 40 percent lighter, warmer on skin and better in salt water. Steel is harder, cheaper to refinish and easier to sell. How to choose.
Prices
The cost of owning a mechanical watch
The full ten-year arithmetic in US dollars: purchase, servicing, insurance and straps, minus realistic resale, worked through on three watches at different prices.
Watch service costs
What a full watch service costs in US dollars by movement type, why the bill is labor rather than parts, and the honest test for when a service is not worth doing.
Problems
My quartz watch has stopped
A stopped quartz watch is usually a dead battery, but four other faults look identical. How to tell them apart before you pay for a battery that will not help.
Rust and corrosion on a watch
Rust inside a watch does not stop on its own, and the repair bill climbs every week. What to do in the first hour, and why rice is not one of the steps.
The automatic will not hand wind
Many automatic movements cannot be hand wound at all, by design. Which ones, how to confirm yours, and what a genuine winding failure actually looks like.
The bezel is loose, or it will not turn
A bezel that spins freely has usually lost its click spring. One that will not move is packed with grit or salt. How to tell, what to rinse, what it costs.
The bracelet rattles, or it has stretched
A stretched bracelet has not stretched. The pins and the holes they run in have worn, joint by joint. How to check it, and what a rebuild really costs.
The crown is stuck and will not turn or pull out
A crown that will not turn or will not pull out points at a jammed keyless works, a broken stem or corrosion. What is safe to try and what needs a bench.
The crown will not screw back down
A crown that will not thread back down is almost always cross-threaded or caught on the stem position. What to do, what never to force, and when to stop.
The crystal is scratched
What can be polished and what must be replaced, by material. Plus the misdiagnosis behind most scratched sapphire: it is usually the anti-reflective coating.
The date changes at noon, or not at all
A date that flips at midday means the hour hand is twelve hours out. How to fix it in a minute, and what to do if the date is simply slow or stuck.
The hands do not line up with the markers
Hands that miss the markers are usually fitted slightly off, which is cosmetic. A gap that grows over a day is a slipping cannon pinion, which is not.
Tools
Cost of ownership calculator
Work out what a watch really costs per year once servicing and realistic resale are counted, not just the sticker price.
Timegrapher reading explainer
Understand a timing machine readout: what your rate, amplitude and beat error numbers mean, and which of them signals a service.
Watch accuracy calculator
Work out your watch's rate in seconds per day from how far it has drifted, and see where it lands against chronometer standards.
Water resistance checker
Check what your watch's water resistance rating actually allows: showering, swimming, the ocean or scuba, adjusted for crown type and seal age.