Caring For Your Timepiece

We all know that taking care of your precious and valuable items makes good financial sense. We ensure that our cars are cleaned and serviced regularly to keep them in good working order and looking good and we clean and maintain our houses for the same reasons. Does it not make sense to do the same with our watches and jewellery?

When you consider the amount of work that the tiny parts inside many watches do year after year, it really is amazing that they continue to keep time especially considering the abuse that some of us give them. It is nice to know that it only takes a small amount of care and attention to keep them in good condition.

Considering how much time we spend servicing and taking care of our cars, doesn't it make sense to to do the same with our watches and jewellery?

Storing Your Timepiece

The vast majority of people reading this article, would not necessarily regard themselves as a watch collector but many of us have more than one watch. Watches may be worn depending upon the mood, function or activity that the wearer is participating in at that moment. Watch storage may be something as simple as keeping it in a drawer or it may be more sophisticated and may involve keeping the watch to time so that it may be worn at a moments notice.

Depending upon the circumstances, storing watches in a safe or deposit box is always desirable but this is not always practicable. Small single watch pouches or watch beds can be sourced for a relatively small amount of money and these can be used at home, in a safe or whilst travelling to ensure that the watch does not get marked by other items in close proximity.

For those who like to showcase their watches, the choices are far more exotic both in the number of options but also the various styles and materials that they are made of. Many of these can be works of art in themselves and can be made of wood, leather, steel or carbon fibre.

The issue of how you store your watch leads us onto a completely different debate. Some enthusiasts insist that a watch should be stopped with the crown pulled out; others disagree and state that where possible it should be working all the time. What is agreed, is that the oils and lubricants inside the watch degenerate over time and need to be replaced regularly.

If you choose to keep your watches working all the time, then you will need to opt for a watch winding case.

If you choose to keep your watches working all the time, then you will need to opt for a watch winding case – if you have more than one automatic watch. These can often store multiple watches and can be programmed to keep your timepieces working at their full power all the time thus ensuring that they are accurate and ready to wear at a moments notice. Some models are even battery powered so that they are working even when they are inside a safe, making them incredibly versatile.

Waterproof Watches

Most modern watches can withstand some level of exposure to water but this has not always been the case. Watches that were made pre 1970 had nowhere near the level of sophisticated waterproofing that modern timepieces have, therefore it would be wise to keep them away from moist environments.

Waterproofing should be carried out by a professional watch-maker who has the necessary testing equipment.

Modern watches tend to have their water resistance levels marked quite clearly on the case and this tends to be a sliding scale. Virtually all can withstand exposure during washing of hands, whilst diver’s watches rated at 300m (1000ft) can easily cope with a swim in the sea. Some watches such as the Rolex Sea Dweller Deep Sea can cope with enormous depths but all must be checked regularly to ensure that their seals are working correctly. One footnote to this is the danger of modern power showers. Even watches that are reportedly water resistant to water can sometimes struggle when water from a power shower is forced at the seals. Eventually something has to give.

Problems often occur when clients go on holiday and change the time to the local time in their destination. Often the crown is not screwed in properly and then the pool or the sea is just too tempting and before your know it, water has penetrated the case and is already damaging the movement.

Waterproofing a watch sounds like a relatively simple affair but it is far more complicated than it first appears with many openings and joints that all need to be proofed. The seals themselves can degrade over time and these should be checked annually, especially if the watch being used for serious water-based activities like scuba. This work should be carried out by a professional watch-maker who has the necessary testing equipment. It should be remembered that whenever a watch comes into contact with salt water that it should be rinsed off as soon as possible with fresh water. Even high grade stainless steel will oxidize in direct contact with salt.

Are you interested in servicing your timepiece or are you interested in purchasing a new watch?