Plenty of us have to take care to protect a wrist watch or pocket watch from day to day wear.  More expensive designer watches or family heirlooms have to be handled with care, as there are no shortage of ways that your watch can get damaged throughout the course of the day.  Taking good care of a watch involves planning so if you follow these tips you should be able to prevent excessive wear and tear.

Step 1

Make sure that you take your watch off for heavy lifting or any ‘dirty jobs’.  In terms of protecting your watch, this is possibly the most important piece of advice that you could follow.  Watches being worn during heavy lifting can get scraped or broken easily - always be aware of what you are doing whilst wearing your watch

Step 2

Keep your watch out of the water.  Remember that ‘water resistant’ does not mean ‘water proof’.  Even a lot of humidity can damage a watch so for optimal care keep it away from wet or even sweaty conditions.

Step 3

Make a point of winding your watch regularly.  If it is the kind of watch that does need to be wound then establish a constant pattern for when you are winding it as this reduces general wear over time.

Step 4

Be careful with watch parts.  When you are winding or adjusting time, don’t pull to hard on the small knobs or parts of the watch.  This is another very common way that designer watches get damaged.  Make sure that you treat the parts with care and be careful with the watch strap/chain too.

Step 5

It seems an obvious point, but read the watch manual as it will give you detailed instructions for optimal care tailored specifically for your watch.

Step 6

Take the watch off at night.  You may not have realised it, but watches can be damaged at night whilst you are sleeping.

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Along with Rolex watches, Tag Heuer watches are some of the most often replicated mens designer watches around. But luckily as they are the most expensive designer watches it means that imitations are often cheap and fairly easy to spot.  If you are thinking of treating yourself to a Tag Heuer watch, here are several tell tale signs to look out for that will help you check whether the watch you are about to buy is authentic.

Step 1

First you should check the quality of the craftsmanship and examine the printing on the face of the watch. A real Tag Heuer watch should have crisp, clean printing. A fake watch is likelyto have fuzzy printing and you may find that the letters run together. Make a point of looking for glue showing through anywhere or whether there are any rough edges as an authentic Tag Heuer will be perfect and smooth.

Step 2

Next you should take a look under the crystal.  If there are traces of fingerprints, dirt, hair, or you see anything else under the glass that covers the watch face then that will be a clear indication of a fake.  Tag Heuer has extremely strict quality control guidlines that the forgers wont.

Step 3

An obvious suggestion is to examine the luminosity of the printing on the watch face. You should easily be able to read the time in the dark since Tag Heuer  uses LumiNova on the numbers as well as the hands of the watch.  Imitation Tag Heuer designer watches will use a much lower quality material that doesn’t hold a charge for long and isn’t as bright.  Try holding the watch up to a light for a minute or two in order to charge it then take a look at in the dark.  If the glow of the printing is strong and it lingers, it’s almost certainly authentic.

Step 4

Look for the words ‘Swiss Made’ on the underside of the face.  Some fakes will actually say ‘Japanese Movement’, which is a clear indication of a fake as this is not printed on any genuine Tag Heuer watches.

Step 5

Finally, make sure that you check the band for links.  You should look for a left and right piece to each of the links. Fakes will more than likely have solid links, alternatively they may have a line on them that is supposed to fool you into thinking that the links are two pieces.

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For most watches you will find that the battery will be it’s power source.  This is not always the case as some designer watches are powered by a tiny kinetic generator. These generators work by the movement of the wrist. It is this movement that will causes tiny rotors within the watch to spin round and in doing so will build up the necessary electricity needed to power the watch.

How Does Quartz Keep Time?

The quartz that you will find inside serves as an oscillator. An oscillator quite simply is an object that moves constantly, steadily and when interpreted by the inner workings of a wrist watch, will indicates how much time has passed.

Why is Quartz an Ideal Material?

The reason that Quartz is so widely used is that it loses so little energy as it vibrates - this means that the vibrations will occur at a steady pace. The average quartz in a watch vibrates 32,768 times every second - this sends the same amount of electric pulses into the watch’s circuitry. This internal circuitry then counts each pulse and then resets itself after counting the total amount of vibrations that have occured each second. If the wrist watch is analogue then these pulses go towards powering a tiny motor that drives the gears inside.

Is a Quartz Watch Better than a Mechanical Watch?

Quartz watches are by far the more accurate watches. On average, quartz designer watches will lose less than one minute per year. Mechanical watches will vary in their long term accuracy depending on many factors, especially the quality of the watch. Another benefit of quartz watches over mechanical watches is that they dont require any winding. Quartz watches, on average, lose less than one minute in accuracy per year. Mechanical watches vary on long-term accuracy depending on the quality of the watch. Unlike mechanical watches, quartz watches do not require any winding.

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When buying a watch you should first ask yourself ‘what do I want a new watch for?’.  Is it going to be for everyday use (assuming such use is not formal wear) or are you more likely to use it for specific sports such as running or diving? Read the rest of this entry »

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• A is for ARNOLD, JOHN - English Watchmaker (Born 1736, died 1799).  John Arnold and his rival, Thomas Earnshaw were the first to produce chronometers in significant quantities.  Arnold set up a small factory in Essex in 1788 where he was the first to produce a pocket chronometer.  He turned his attention to more accurate timepieces, eventually inventing one of such quality that Captain James Cook used it on his south sea voyages!

John Arnold

Read the rest of this entry »

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Why are they so expensive?

Any answer that we could give would be pure speculation.  At the end of the day, Rolex sells every watch that they make.  If the market will bear the price that Rolex charges for it’s watches, then there is clearly no reason for them to drop the price.  This is helped by the market perception that Rolex watches are great value in comparison to other fine watches.

How often should I service my Rolex?

There are different schools of though with this however many experts and Rolex themselves will recommend that you service your watch every 5 years for a modern model, or more frequently for a vintage version.  Proper servicing will ensure that the watch continues to run smoothly as a dry, grimy watch can wear and result in damaged parts.  Inevitably, this will make repairing the timepiece more expensive.

Why does my Rolex Rattle?

This will probably be due to the bracelet.  Try removing the bracelet and see if the watch still rattles.  None SEL (Solid End Link) bracelets are notorious for rattling so it shouldn’t be a concern if this is the case.

Where are the model and serial numbers engraved?

You will find the model number engraved between the lugs at the 12 o’clock position and the serial number engraved between the lugs at the 6 o’clock position.  It is likely that you will have to remove the bracelet to see them.  Do be aware that the numbers printed on the bracelts and end links are part numbers, not serial numbers.

How can I tell if my Rolex is fake?

The only sure fire way to tell if a Rolex is fake is to take it to a Rolex authorised dealer to have it appraised.  If the dealer removes the caseback they will be able to tell at a glance whether the movement is genuinely of Rolex as no other movements are laid out in the same way.  At the other end of the quality spectrum, even a watch novice will be able to identify a Chinatown bought fake but if you are in any doubt whatsoever, the safest bet is to take it to the authorised dealer.

What are Tudor watches?

Tudor is a brand owned by Rolex.  They use Rolex oyster cases but not Rolex movements and are priced a bit lower down the scale.

Why are the stainless steel Daytonas so expensive?

These models are extremely popular and dealers frequently have extensive waiting lists.  The SS (stainless steel) models sell for more than the TT (two tone) stainless steel and gold model so it could well be the old addage of price being dictated by the market factors of supply and demand.  As to the reason that they’re so popular - well, once again any reason that we could give would just be speculative.

Can I repair a scratched case?

You can, however we would strongly recommend that you don’t unless you know precisely what you are doing.  Many owners recommend that you wait until you have the watch serviced before you do this.  When the watch is serviced either by Rolex or a component watchmaker, they will polish the case as well as the bracelet and amazingly it will come back looking as if it had been bought new.

How should I clean my watch?

If you have an Oyster, you can wash it in warm water with a mild detergent and a soft toothbrush.  Be sure that the watch is water resistant before doing this (i.e it has been serviced in a reasonable time frame, the crown is screwed in, etc).  Make sure that you rinse it with clean water.  Of course you mustn’t do this if you have a Cellini or other non-water resistant watch.

What should I do if my Rolex is running fast/slow?

The certification for a Rolex watch dictates that it should be running within an accuracy of -4 to +6 seconds per day.  That is a very good accuracy for a mechanical watch.  If it is considerably outside of these boundaries then you should consider getting the watch serviced.

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