The basic knowledge of watch maintenance
1. Any non-professionals please do not open the case back in case of any damages to the watch.
2. The winding and time adjustment of mechanical watch
To ensure the continuous operation of self-winding watch (automatic mechanical watches), i suggest that you should wear your watch everyday, if you are not able to wear it everyday, please winding your watch before you wear it. (rotate you watch crown clockwise 20laps)
Please don’t adjust the date during 9 pm to 3 am to avoid the damage of the mechanical system. Because the movement gear system is changing its position and has completed the automatic date change at this time.
3. The preservation for the leave unused watches.
If you don’t wear the watch for a long time, please keep the watch in the box to keep the watch from the collision or other damages.
If you want to wear the idle watch again, you should winding first. Because when the spring is relaxed, the hour hand and second hand will become slower or faster, so we should winding first and then adjust time.
4. Waterproof performance
The waterproof performance relies on the gaskets in the crystal, the case back and the crown to prevent water enter the watch. So all the waterproof watches are engraved with “WATER RESISTANT” or “WATER PROOF”. The watches without this mark is only dustproof, and those watches should avoid touching water. 30m waterproof watch can be used for daily wash or in the rain, the water can only splash on the surface and no water pressure on the watch. 50m waterproof watches can be used for swimming and general housework, 100m waterproof watches can be used for swimming and 200m waterproof watches can be used for diving and some underwater works.
The aging of the gaskets will influence the waterproof performance, so the gaskets and the crown should be changed regularly according to the usage condition. Every time the quartz watch changed the battery, the gaskets should be replaced as well to ensure the waterproof performance.
No waterproof watch should be worn in hot water bath, in sauna or in any environment that temperature varies greatly. Because the gaskets will have thermal expansion and contraction phenomenon influenced by the temperature, then cause the accelerated aging of the gaskets, the water condensation in the watch and damage the watch parts seriously, eventually.
5. Shock and vibration
General wear and sports won’t damage the watch. But do avoid the watch falling on the ground or crashing with hard objects when you wear it. And please don not wear the watch and jewelry at same time to prevent they scratching each other.
6. The magnetic field
Powerful magnetic, though will not cause substantial damage to the watch itself, but it will affect the accuracy of the watch. So please don’t make your watch exposed to strong magnetic fields, such as speakers, mobile phones, the magnetic clasp of the handbags, computers, refrigerators or other electromagnetic devices.
Generally the watch will go faster and you need to degauss the watch in after market after the watch is magnetized. People that work in the magnetic environment can buy a magnetic eraser to degauss the watch, the operation of the magnetic eraser is very easy.
7. Harmful chemicals
Don’t let the watch touch with any solvent (alcohol or gasoline), mercury, chemical spray, cleaner, adhesive, paint chemicals or perfumes, cosmetics, etc. Or the case, the bracelet and the gaskets will discolor, decay and be damaged due to the corrosion.
8. Case and bracelet
The dust and moisture stored in the case and bracelet will cause the corrosion. So to prevent the corrosion caused by sweat, we should use a piece of dry and soft cloth to wipe the surface of the watch and bracelet regularly. And you must rinse the watch with warm water and dry it thoroughly after the watch been soaked in seawater. In summer, we can loosen the bracelet to improve the air permeability.
The leather strap typically has 2-3 years of life and will has normal spoilage, so don’t let leather strap immerge into any liquid. Under the sunlight or artificial light, or the touch of chemicals, cosmetic or sweat can also change the shape and color. If the strap is gotten wet accidentally, you’d better wear it after it is dried to avoid stinking. And put it in a ventilated place when you are not wearing it. The strap will harden in winter, and will has curved shape easily, so don’t reflex it to damage the leather.
The bracelet stained with sweat should be wiped clean, and placed in a ventilated place to avoid the corrosion. Pleas wash the dirty bracelet with soap water or clean water. If the watch is badly dirty, you need to gently scrub it with a soft toothbrush. Please wipe the after cleaned watch with a dry cloth to avoid the water residue in strap slits. And don’t use diluent or medicament when you do the maintenance.
9. The protective sheet on the case back
Please tear the protective sheet or the stickers, sticked on the case back, before you starting to use the watch. Or sweat will soak into the sticker and rust the case back.
10. The screw-in winding crown
When you proofread time, you need to loosen it clockwise and adjust it after the crown popped up. And please push it back and lock it when you finished the proofreading.
11. Date adjustment procedure
1) Pull out the crown to the second position, adjust the hour hand to the six o’ lock position
2) Push it back to the first position and adjust the date to the date of the day before (such you adjust the date in 18th then you should adjust it to 17th)
3) Pull it out to the second position again, if you adjust it in the noon, rotate the crown clockwise till the date jumped to 18th and then rotate the hour hand to local time and push it back. If you adjust it in the afternoon, the procedures are totally same except you need to rotate the hour hand one more round.
