Watch care is an important part of owning a timepiece. Whether you spend a week’s salary or a year’s on your watch, it still has its enemies! Dust, dirt, sand, extreme temperatures, shock, and UV light are all working together to stop your watch from working as well as it should. So, learning how to maintain your watch will not only keep it clean and dirt-free, but will prolong its lifespan and ensure it lasts you a lifetime.
Recommended Tools for Watch Care:
- Lint-free cloth
- Damp soft-bristled toothbrush
- Watch case opener (if you know how to change the battery yourself)
General Watch Care Tips:
Regular Cleaning
Make sure you’re cleaning your watch with a cloth every day, or after every use if you don’t wear it every day. This helps to remove oils from your skin and any dirt or dust that has accumulated over the day. Always dry it really well with a clean, lint-free cloth afterwards.
Replace the straps when needed. Leather straps need some extra care as they can absorb moisture and oils from your skin and can also become dry and cracked without regular moisturizing.
Learn more on watch cleaning with our guides: How to Clean Stainless Steel Watches and How to Clean Your Leather Watch Strap
Avoiding Extremes
While many watches, like diving watches, are built to endure extreme conditions, it’s still good practice to avoid exposing them to harsh elements like heat or humidity. Direct sunlight can fade the color or details on the watch face and heat can negatively impact the battery life of a quartz-powered watch. Additionally, humidity can cause damage and increase the likelihood of the intricate cogs and mechanisms inside the case of rusting. Even keeping your watch in the bathroom can pose a risk to its lifespan.
Handling Your Watch
Always handle your watch somewhere safe. Whether this is sitting at a table or desk, over a jewelry box, or above a soft cloth in your lap, handling your watch in a safe place allows you to wind, clean, and care for your timepiece without the risk of dropping and damaging it. Never handle your watch with dirty or greasy hands – if you do, wipe your watch with a soft, lint-free cloth as soon as possible.
Maintaining your Mechanical Watches
Mechanical hand-wound watches are incredible feats of engineering. Their basic design has stayed mostly unchanged for 300 years due to how well designed the original models were. But because they consist of multiple different small moving parts, they need some specific care to ensure they’re keeping time properly.
Regular Winding and Setting
Regularly winding your mechanical watch literally keeps it ticking. It’s what gives the mechanisms momentum to rotate the hands around the clock face and make sure you stay on time every day. It also makes sure that the lubricants used within the mechanisms are evenly spread, giving your watch smooth movements and reducing friction on the delicate parts. Watches worn daily should also be wound each day – many people incorporate this into their morning routine. But if your watch is worn less frequently, monthly winding should be enough. If you’re noticing that your watch needs winding more often than normal, it might be time for a service.
Lubrication and Servicing
No matter how often you clean and wind your timepiece, the internal mechanisms do occasionally need more specific care. In this case, having your watch serviced by a professional will be beneficial. Lubricants may dry out or congeal over time and need a refresh. The cogs and teeth may wear out over time as well. Getting your watch serviced by a professional is an essential part of its maintenance.
Battery-Powered Watch Care
Caring for your quartz watch isn’t too dissimilar from caring for a mechanical one apart from one major difference – the battery. You should clean your quartz watch after every wear just like a mechanical watch, with a deeper clean being done every month. A quartz watch doesn’t need winding but the battery will need changing every 1-3 years on average unless your watch starts acting differently, such as losing time or dying prematurely. A dead watch battery needs to be replaced as soon as possible to prevent it from leaking and corroding the delicate inner workings of your timepiece.
When to Visit a Watch Repair Center
Every watch is different and will need servicing by a watch repair center at different times. But there are a few things you can monitor to decide whether your watch needs repair.
Does it work properly?
If your watch is losing time or just not working correctly, it probably needs a service and should be seen by a repair center.
Is the battery dead?
If the battery in your quartz watch has died or is on its way out (some watches have features to let you know it’s time to change the battery), take it to the repair center for a new one – we always recommend taking your watch to a professional for any issues relating to its battery.
How old is it?
Your watch probably won’t need to be serviced for regular maintenance in its first 4 years unless there is a specific issue occurring. For a watch that’s over 4 years old, having it seen by a repair center is down to your discretion. And if it’s a vintage watch that hasn’t been serviced in over 4 years, it’s a good idea to get it checked out.
Is it still under warranty?
If your watch is still under warranty and there is something wrong with it, like it’s not keeping time accurately, then contact the manufacturer rather than taking it to a repair center.
When do I contact Timex for watch repairs?
At Timex, we pride ourselves on our high-quality timepieces – but understand that they can go wrong from time to time. Reach out to us if your watch is in warranty and has begun to act up. We also offer servicing if you need it. Contact us for more information.
LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? SHOP THE STORY:
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Marlin® Hand-Wound 34mm Stainless Steel Expansion Band Watch34 mm Gold-Tone/Stainless Steel$239.00 -
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Key Takeaway
Taking care of your watch is an important part of ensuring its longevity and accuracy. You can easily clean your watch at home with a few simple tools, change the watch strap, and wind a mechanical watch yourself, but any servicing or repair is best done by a qualified repair shop.
Shop our full range of Men’s Automatic Watches and Marlin Hand Wound Watches to find your next perfect timepiece.
