The short answer: wear it, wind it with the crown if it has been off your wrist for a few days, don't set the date between 9 pm and 3 am, and don't open the crown under water. That is ninety per cent of the care.
An automatic watch is a mechanical device with a few hundred parts moving eight times a second. It takes a surprising amount of punishment, but a handful of habits add years to it.
Winding
If you wear the watch daily it winds itself — the rotor inside turns with the movement of your wrist. The power reserve on our movements is roughly 41 hours, which means a watch taken off in the evening is still running the following evening.
If it has sat unworn for a few days and stopped, wind it by hand before putting it on: screw down or pull the crown to its first position and turn it about thirty times. You cannot overwind it — the movement has a slipping mainspring that prevents exactly that.
Setting the date
This is the one rule genuinely worth following. Between roughly 9 pm and 3 am the date mechanism is engaged, getting ready to flip over. Setting the date by crown inside that window can break a tooth off the gear.
If you have to set the date in the evening, move the hands to some afternoon hour first, set the date, and only then set the correct time.
Water
Water resistance is listed in the specifications of every watch. 3 ATM means splashes and rain, not swimming. 10 ATM means you can swim in it.
Two things hold regardless of the rating: the crown must be fully screwed down or pushed in before the watch touches water, and hot water is no friend to gaskets. Showering and saunas cause moisture inside a case far more often than swimming does.
Magnetism and knocks
A mechanical movement can be magnetised if the watch sits for long on a speaker, a bag with a magnetic clasp, or beside a laptop. The symptom is the watch suddenly gaining several minutes a day. It is not a fault — a watchmaker demagnetises it in a minute.
A drop onto a hard floor is more serious. Sapphire glass resists scratches extremely well, but not a sharp-angled impact.
Cleaning
Wipe the case and metal bracelet with a soft cloth, occasionally a slightly damp one. A mixture of sweat and hand cream builds up between bracelet links; a soft toothbrush and a drop of soap clears it, then dry it thoroughly.
Don't soak a leather strap. Leather softens and darkens after a few months of wear — that is normal. Replace it once it starts tearing at the holes.
Servicing
A mechanical movement is serviced roughly every five to seven years: stripped, cleaned, re-oiled and regulated. Signs it is due sooner are noticeable gaining or losing, a crown that catches, and a power reserve that has suddenly become much shorter.
Every watch carries a two-year warranty on the movement and the workmanship. You can extend that warranty to three, four or five years.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a watch winder?
No. A winder is a convenience, not a necessity — it makes sense if you own several watches and don't want to reset each one. It does nothing for the watch itself.
How many seconds a day may the watch drift?
For movements in this class, -20 to +40 seconds a day is normal. A watch losing half a minute a day is working to specification, even if that sounds like a lot next to a phone.
Can I sleep in it?
You can, it does the movement no harm. The power reserve just tops up less overnight, because there is less motion.
It stopped even though I was wearing it. What now?
Wind it by hand with the crown first and wear it another day. If it stops again, it is usually either too little movement during the day or a movement that needs a service. Write to us if it is inside the warranty.
