Let’s set the record straight.
There’s a lot of bullshit out there on how often you need to get your watch serviced. On one hand, manufacturers say you need to get it serviced every X amount of years. On the other hand, online forums and friends have conflicting answers to what is supposed to be a simple answer. I tested with providing a simplified chart on servicing and then got flack for not being more in-depth so here it is.
Bare in mind that everyone is different. The primary consideration you should keep in the back of your mind when going through this is CONTEXT. There are complex and alternative scenarios where these concepts are negated.
It can be very confusing but here’s an attempt for a definitive guide in figuring out how often and when you should get your watch serviced.
HOW TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT YOUR WATCH NEEDS A SERVICE
The simplest way to answer the question of “how often you should service your watch” is to first figure out how to determine whether or not your watch needs a service. Only then can we answer the question of how often you should service your watch.
The basic steps we can take right now is to figure out if there’s anything wrong with your watch to begin with. Here are some questions you should audit:
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION#1:
IS YOUR WATCH ON TIME?
If your watch is running well and on time, generally speaking you might not need a service. If there is nothing wrong with it (no funny noises or sounds, winds great, keeps good timing, etc.) you should be fine. Paying homage to the old adage, “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.” Don’t worry about getting it serviced until you finish reading this entire article.
If you’re a watchmaker and or know more than the average watch enthusiast, don’t get your titties in a bunch just yet. I go through many different scenarios in this article such as overall lubricant lifetime, etc. Let me finish clearing one section at a time so that we can get to the nitty gritty details later.
If your watch is not on time, you probably need a service. Before you rush out the door to the nearest watchmaker, we want to take all the necessary precautions and steps before we get it serviced. Let’s keep going through the list below.
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION#2:
IS YOUR WATCH WORKING?
There’s a big difference between a watch that is keeping time and a watch that is working. Your watch can keep great time and still have something wrong with it. An example, if your automatic watch is keeping good time but the automatic system is broken, there is something wrong with your watch. At one point, Rolex watches were notorious for this problem. The watch would keep great time when wound even though the automatic system was broken (due to wear or impact damage of the axle).
Here are some additional examples:
Your chronograph watch could keep great time independent of the chronograph functionality. Your watch is intended for the chronograph function to work therefore the chronograph function should work when you want it to. Your chronograph watch can keep good time without the chronograph function being turned on, but if the chronograph function does not work, what is the point of purchasing a chronograph watch?
Your watch can keep great time even if the date function is functioning improperly. I see plenty of watches come in with the date calendar stuck in the middle of the date window with no problem on the timing of the watch.
Watches with additional functionalities like moon phase, leap year, alarms, etc. can all run well without the functions working properly.
If your watch is working well but there is something wrong with one or more of the functions of your watch, you might want to get that fixed when you can. The very least you could do without forking over money is to get it checked out by a watchmaker to get a diagnosis on what could be wrong. A good rule of thumb to remember is that, it might not be a problem now but it could definitely manifest itself into a bigger problem the longer you wait.
CONTEXTUAL QUESTION#1:
HOW OLD IS YOUR WATCH?
If you just bought your watch in the last 10 years, here are some questions you should consider. If you bought your watch second hand or certified pre-owned, make sure you do a quick Google search (click the link if you’re feeling lazy) on how old your watch is since it was first manufactured. You’ll have to go through a whole host of questions to figure this out (i.e. serial and model # of your specific model and brand). In the case of watches that are considered vintage, we’ll cover that later on in this post.
***Please note that when I say “date of purchase” I seriously mean the date of acquisition. Not the date in which your watch was last serviced. Now, let’s also not get confused with date of acquisition and the date that the watch was produced.
If your watch is less than 4 years old from the date of purchase and it is still on time, don’t waste your money to get it serviced. Hold off on it. We find that it usually takes about 4 or more years for a watch to come back (from the date of purchase) for a necessary service (not pre-emptive).
If your watch is greater than 4 years from the date of purchase and it is still on time, we can definitely find a reason to get it serviced if you’d like. The question is whether or not it is necessary. As a watchmaker, we can generally find something wrong in a watch that is 4 years old since it was last touched (from the manufacture or last service).
If it is still running and on time and you don’t have the finances, don’t worry about getting it serviced just yet. A lot of watchmakers make it seem like it is a life or death situation if you do not get your watch serviced within the recommended service intervals. I beg to differ. If your finances are tight, the last thing you need to do is fork over money for a complete service. Your primary focus should be to save money, provide food, shelter, and security for your family. Getting a watch serviced should be the last of your worries especially if it is in good condition, running on time, and has nothing wrong with it.
If your watch is greater or less than 4 years old from the date of purchase and it is not on time, you should get it serviced. Any watch that is not running well or keeping time regardless of age should be checked out. This revolves back to the fundamental question of “Is Your Watch Working?”
A watch that is less than 4 years old should not be having problems with timing. Of course this is highly determined by other factors (i.e. client hobbies, daily activities, lifestyle, weather, events, etc.) as well so we’ll have to finish the rest of the questions to get a holistic approach and to see how everything ties in together.
If your watch is a vintage* watch and it hasn’t been checked out by a watchmaker within the last 4 to 7 years, I’d highly recommend bringing it in to get checked out as soon as possible. Regardless if it is on time or not. If a part breaks in your vintage watch, you’re going to be in a world of trouble when it comes to sourcing or fabricating a new part. Vintage watches are going to be the only exception to the rule where none of this applies. Once a part breaks on a vintage watch, your service price goes up dramatically as opposed to the price of a regular maintenance.
In short, if you have to get a vintage watch serviced when something breaks, it’s going to need a lot more work. If you get a vintage watch serviced when it is still running ok, the watchmaker still has a chance to assess, fix, and or prevent a breakdown for several more years.
*The term “vintage” at this point gets thrown around for any watch that looks remotely old and weathered. It’s become a very highly subjective term.
CONTEXTUAL QUESTION#2:
HOW LONG AGO WAS IT LAST SERVICED?
Instagram poll with No BS Watchmaker’s audience on how often to they get their watches serviced
There are two schools of thoughts to service intervals.
#1: GET A COMPLETE SERVICE EVERY 4 TO 7 YEARS
A lot of manufacturers recommend service every 4 to 7 years depending on which brand. Rolex currently recommends service every 7 years (they’re trying to get 10 years for after sales service). Cartier is now offering 8 years international warranty from purchase. Jaeger LeCoultre offers 8 years as well. Breitling offers 5 years. You get the point. A quick way you can denote what a brand recommends for service is by looking at the service and sales warranty they offer as a bare minimum. The warranty offered is the bare minimum the watch should last until something is considered wear and tear.
Let’s consider why a complete service is generally recommended every 4 to 7 years. We know that the movements used in today’s watches are lubricated with synthetic oils. It’s a great advancement compared to back in the days when we used natural animal oils like sperm oil from sperm whales. We’ve manipulated synthetic oils for almost every need that we have in watchmaking. Read more about it here: The Art of Oiling in Watchmaking.
SYNTHETIC OILS DRY OUT
What’s this got to do with service intervals though? One of the downsides of synthetic oils is that eventually it will dry out. Unlike its predecessor, natural animal oils gum up over time causing the pivots of the gear train to stop altogether (causing you to visit a watchmaker in order to get it fixed). Synthetic oils on the other hand evaporate. This means that the pivots of the gear train will keep on running without you ever realizing it. You could go years without ever going to a watchmaker even though the pivots in your watch are running dry, sheering, and causing build up of debris and dirt. The sheering (from the pivots running dry) thins out the pivots until it eventually snaps altogether. This could happen in several months or several years.
The manufacturers, brands, and industry knows this. This is why we recommend routine maintenance before it ever gets to that point. It is to be proactive. It is extremely easy to open up a watch that hasn’t been serviced in 4 to 7 years and find something wrong with it.
Let’s not forget to mention the topic of water resistance though. Gaskets dry out over time even though the watch could be running on time. If you haven’t gotten your watch checked and tested for water resistance in 4 to 7 years, you could be walking right into a water related problem in sooner rather than later. A routine complete service addresses this.
STATISTICAL STATS ON YOUR MECHANICAL WATCH
Still not convinced? Let’s look at the stats. An average mechanical watch vibrates around 28,800 beats per hour. This means that the watch vibrates 691,200 beats a day. That’s 252,288,000 beats a year. Try multiplying that by 7.
Would you personally go 4 to 7 years without getting a full body check up?
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
LET’S PLAY THIS OUT IN TERMS OF FINANCES
In the USA, the average life expectancy as of 2019 is 78.87 years. For the sake of simplicity, let’s round it to 79. Let’s also be conservative and say the average cost of a complete service is $650 (accounting for the lows and the highs of a complete service between different brands). This also assumes that you’re getting a complete service and nothing additional such as dial, hands, crystal, pushers, bracelets, etc. Let’s also say you started purchasing watches at 25.
COMPLETE SERVICE INTERVALS: EVERY 7 YEARS
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: 79 YEARS
AVERAGE COMPLETE SERVICE: $650
AGE: 25 YEARS OLD
TOTAL AFTER SALES COST OF MAINTENANCE: $5,014 TOTAL IN AVERAGE LIFE TIME
**Mathematics involved: Average life span 79 minus 25 years of age to get 54 years in terms of watch ownership time. 54 divided by complete service interval time of 4 years to get 13.5. 13.5 multiplied by 650 to get total after sales cost of $5,014 for the life time of the owner.
COMPLETE SERVICE INTERVALS: EVERY 4 YEARS
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: 79 YEARS
AVERAGE COMPLETE SERVICE: $650
AGE: 25 YEARS OLD
TOTAL AFTER SALES COST OF MAINTENANCE: $8,775 TOTAL IN AVERAGE LIFE TIME
**Mathematics involved: Average life span 79 minus 25 years of age to get 54 years in terms of watch ownership time. 54 divided by complete service interval time of 4 years to get 13.5. 13.5 multiplied by 650 to get total after sales cost of $8,775 for the life time of the owner.
#2: IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT
I have to be unbiased and present both sides of the argument here.
The other school of thought is get it fixed when it breaks. This is actually the more common approach that almost everyone does without realizing. Your average person goes about life without ever getting something checked out until shit hits the fan. There’s nothing wrong with this approach per se but it is more reactive than being proactive. Let’s examine why it might make more sense to get it fixed only when the watch stops working.
MOVEMENT PARTS ARE SUPPLIED FOR MODERN WATCHES
If you own a relatively modern watch (15 to 20 years old from the date of manufacture give or take) you can be sure that the movement parts in the watch are going to be replaced if the watchmaker finds that it is worn out or even broken. Generally, this is the standard practice for most watchmakers and brands. Movement parts like the gear train, mainspring, and mainspring barrel are covered in the complete service for most independents. Most brands and manufacturers cover up to 100% of the internal parts of the movement. Some brands charge for about 5 to 10% of the movement parts (such as a complete set of the balance wheel) that are found to be either costly or due to client related issues like impact damage.
In theory, if you wore your watch with no problems for 10 years and it finally broke on you because the pivots snapped off from lack of lubrication. The watchmaker and or brand would cover it as part of the complete service. Breaking it down like this (no pun intended), does it make sense to get it serviced every 4 to 7 years if you can get away with more and pay less?
The only primary problem you might be faced with is water resistance. If you’re a recreational or professional diver and or avid hobbyist in anything related to water, you might not want to follow this way of thinking. Water related damages to your watch would offset the whole concept of saving money by servicing it only when it is no longer working.
LET’S PLAY THIS OUT IN TERMS OF FINANCES
Let’s compare getting it serviced every 10 years as opposed to getting a routine maintenance service every 4 to 7 years and see financially who pays less while getting the same amount of usage. We’ll add an extra $200 to our complete service price to cover unforeseen parts that are not covered in a complete service.
COMPLETE SERVICE INTERVALS: EVERY 4-7 YEARS
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: 79 YEARS
AVERAGE COMPLETE SERVICE: $650
AGE: 25 YEARS OLD
TOTAL AFTER SALES COST OF MAINTENANCE: $8,775 TO $5,014 TOTAL IN AVERAGE LIFE TIME
COMPLETE SERVICE INTERVALS: EVERY 10 YEARS
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: 79 YEARS
AVERAGE COMPLETE SERVICE: $850
AGE: 25 YEARS OLD
TOTAL AFTER SALES COST OF MAINTENANCE: $4,590 TOTAL IN AVERAGE LIFE TIME
**Mathematics involved: Average life span 79 minus 25 years of age to get 54 years in terms of watch ownership time. 54 divided by complete service interval time of 10 years to get 5.4. 5.4 multiplied by 850 to get total after sales cost of $4,590 for the life time of the owner.
BOTH SCHOOL OF THOUGHTS ARE RIGHT
Whether you’re an advocate for getting watches serviced every 4 to 7 years or you believe in getting your watches fixed only when it’s broken, you’re right. It is whatever suits your current situation and finances.
If you can’t afford to get a service every 4 to 7 years, it’s not the end of the world. Do what you can with what you have. If you’re beating your watch in on a daily basis then maybe it makes sense to get your watch serviced sooner rather than later. If you barely wear your watch or treat it sensitively like you would a 1 month old baby, you could probably get away with pushing the service intervals a little longer than usual.
If you like the thought of minimizing the overall damage of your movement then by all means get it serviced regularly. If you feel that it makes more sense to get it serviced when its broken then by all means get it serviced when that happens. At the end of the day whatever decision you make, be ready to accept the results.
Be proactive and do your homework.
THE EXCEPTION
The only exception to the rule for all of this is vintage watches. With vintage watches, I am of the belief that you should get it serviced routinely. As mentioned earlier, when it comes to wear and tear on internal parts for a vintage watch, you’re playing with fire. We don’t know how old and rare the movement is inside the watch until we get in there. The last thing you’d want is for a part to break only to realize that there is no part availability.
OPPORTUNITY COST
At that point, the only option would be to fabricate and create the part from scratch. Creating a part from scratch is time and money. If it takes 8 hours to fabricate the part, that’s 8 hours of lost time that the watchmaker might charge you for. To put things into perspective, some watchmakers can perform 2 complete services in 8 hours. Due to opportunity cost, that might be the price that he would charge you to recreate that part from scratch since it is 8 hours of additional time that he is spending to fix your watch.
MANUFACTURERS ARE NO HELP AND EXTREMELY COSTLY
You might be wondering what happens if you brought your vintage watch to the manufacturer or brand for repair. The problem with this is that most manufacturers and brands will not repair vintage watches. This is once again tied back to parts availability.
The way manufacturers and brands service their watches is by supplying their service centers with an influx of internal movement parts for the watch models. This ensures timely services ranging from 2 to 8 weeks (of course this depends on the brand in question). This means that there are boxes full of almost every single part for their popular models so that the watchmakers do not have to wait for parts (that are broken) to come in.
When a watch comes in, one of the first things that is done by the watchmaker is to figure out whether or not this is something they can work on. If it is determined that they are unable to service it because there are no parts available, they will either send it to Switzerland or return it unrepaired.
WHY WOULD THERE BE NO MORE PARTS FOR A VINTAGE WATCH?
Simply put, the answer is age. When a watch doesn’t come in long enough or if a watch is old enough, it makes no sense for the company to continue manufacturing the parts if there is not a need for it. If the manufacture realizes that there are only a handful of requests for parts on a certain model, they will discontinue it all together to save on manufacturing costs.
IF IT GOES TO SWITZERLAND…
Long story short, you are SOL (shit out of luck, for those of you unaware). Some brands will charge you an exorbitant amount of money just to even perform an estimate on a vintage watch if it goes to Switzerland. Regardless if you accept or decline the estimate. The price for the estimate is charged up front.
On many occasions, we have clients demand their vintage watches be sent to back to the manufacturer. Not a problem at all on our end. Until the brand responds that is. In one particular situation, Rolex wanted to charge several hundred dollars just to perform an estimate on it (it is usually done for free by the manufacturers on relatively modern models). In another occasion, Patek Philippe wanted to charge $3,000USD just for an estimate on a vintage pocket watch. To the average watch collector, this is absurd. To more experienced watchmakers, we know that time is money. In order to do a good job, the brands have to meticulously go through each part to identify the problems and justify their time spent.
CONTEXTUAL QUESTION#3:
IS IT UNDER WARRANTY?
If your watch is under warranty and you feel that the watch isn’t keeping time or that there is something wrong, please bring it in to the watchmaker. Voice your concerns. Tell him/her the honest truth about what is happening.
IDENTIFYING ROOT PROBLEMS
Any watchmaker that is worth his/her salt will try to diagnose the issue from the root. Re-read that statement again. Identifying possible root problems that are leading to your specific symptoms is the answer. A professional watchmaker does not stop at just fixing the symptom but also attempts to identify and solve the root problem.
What do you mean by “root problem”
Here are a couple examples of what I mean by “root problems” and “symptoms”
Real World Example 1:
Possible Root Problem- Drinking too much alcohol
Symptom- Terrible Hangover
Real World Example 2:
Possible Root Problem- Not enough sleep
Symptom- Feeling like shit and being tired the whole day
Understand yet? Let’s get into some watch examples here.
Watch World Example 1:
Possible Root Problem- Watch is magnetized
Symptom- Watch is running slow or fast
Watch Example 2:
Possible Root Problem- Watch was dropped on the floor or suffered severe impact damage
Symptom- The crystal of the watch is broken
Watch Example 3:
Possible Root Problem- Quartz watch is exposed to temporary magnetic fields from time to time
Symptom- Quartz watch is running slow every once in a while
Watch Example 4:
Possible Root Problem- Customer is not active enough
Symptom- Automatic watch is not holding power reserve
A BANDAID IS TEMPORARY
Hopefully by now you understand what I mean by root problem. Whenever we receive a watch, we need to identify the root problem of the symptom that the client is experiencing. If we do not address the root problem, it will only be a matter of time before the client comes waltzing in with the same issue.
The way I view myself as a watchmaker is that I try to work myself out of the business. Yes. You read that right. In theory, if I do my job correctly, I should be working myself out of the business. I should not need to see your face again for another 7 years (in regards to the watch I just repaired that is). If you’re coming back repeatedly with the same watch, I am doing something wrong. If a watchmaker does his job correctly, you should not need to see him/her again for the same watch at all. In order to make sure this happens, we need to identify the root problem of why a watch is malfunctioning in some shape or form.
IF YOU’RE EXPERIENCING A PROBLEM WITH YOUR WATCH & IT IS UNDER WARRANTY
Bring it back in for the watchmaker to identify and walk you through the possible scenarios. Remember, your watch is under warranty. Don’t be afraid to bring it in and ask. I go over a good amount of this in my book 100+ No BS Watch Tips for Watch Enthusiasts & Salespeople as well if you’re interested.
If it is a personal watchmaker you use, voice your concerns in detail. Time of day/when, how, who, what, and where are extremely crucial. No detail is too small.
If you got it serviced by the brand, explain all of this to the service associate. They may or may not need to take your watch in. But if they do, they will usually provide you with a receipt of take-in. You’ll want to make it clear that the details and information make its way to the watchmaker.
Don’t just bring it in and say “it’s not working” and “repair this as needed”. That’s ridiculous. Be respectful and logical. You don’t walk into the doctors office and say “fix me” without first telling them what’s wrong. Just like you don’t walk into the doctors office screaming that the medication prescribed doesn’t work- perhaps the dosages and or situation needs to be tweaked. It’s no different than any other field.
Fundamental QUESTION#3:
IS YOUR WATCH A QUARTZ WATCH?
You’d be surprised at the amount of people who do not know whether their watches are battery or mechanically powered. If your watch is powered by a battery, it is safe to say it is a quartz watch. If you have to manually wind your watch or move your wrist for the watch to keep power, it is safe to say it is a mechanical watch.
Having gotten that out of the way, let’s say you have a quartz watch at hand. The very first step we want to identify is whether or not it is running.
If it is not running, make sure you get a battery change by a qualified well-trained watchmaker. During a battery change, the watchmaker is also supposed to check the reading of the watch and recommend the next plan of actions. If the readings are off, they would recommend a complete service (water resistance is usually covered in most complete services) instead of a battery change as this will not be beneficial for you or them since you’ll be back sooner rather than later. If the readings are good, they’ll proceed with a battery change. If they’re well-trained, they should even be offering a free pressure test to make sure that it is water resistant. If it fails the pressure test, theoretically it means that your watch is not water resistant. If this is the case, the watchmaker will also offer either a water resistant renewal only or a complete service.
Less trained watchmakers or technicians will just change your battery, charge you, and get you out of the door. This is just a money grab if they’re not checking anything else.
If it is running, great. We can begin by following the previous questions that preceded this.
If your battery powered watch is running slow, fast, and or intermittently, it may be a sign that you’ll need to get it serviced soon. A quartz watch should not be running slow, fast, and or stopping intermittently.
The battery only powers the watch. The battery has no bearing on the running of the watch itself.
The thing that many people don’t understand when it comes to quartz watches is that the battery only supplies the movement with energy. The running of the watch is not affected by the battery of it (assuming installation and everything was done properly).
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Imagine bringing your car to the gas station to fill up your tank.
You fill it up so that the gas tank on your car is full. You drive it about 4 miles in and your car starts to make sputtering noises. You pull over. You’re trying to figure out what’s wrong. Is there something wrong with the car itself or do we point out figures at the gas that we just filled up at the station?
Magnetism is also an issue when it comes to quartz watches. By now, we know that almost every single quartz watch has a permanent magnet inside (called the rotor). In theory, we know that quartz watches cannot be magnetized. This is common knowledge. However what most people fail to understand is that even though a quartz watch shouldn’t be magnetized, it does not mean that the quartz watches cannot be effected by magnetism.
Let me repeat that again. Even though quartz watches in theory cannot be magnetized, it does not mean they are immune to the effects of magnetism. Now let’s examine what this means for you.
The timing of the quartz watches are temporarily effected when exposed to magnetic fields like a phone, refrigerator, iPad, computer, magnetic clips on purses, etc. When a watch is in any magnetic field, you can bet that magnetism is working against the watch. Even if it is a finite moment of time. Magnetism can slow, quicken, and or stop your quartz watch from running in the presence of magnetism. Once the quartz watch is removed from the magnetic field, it’ll run normally again. But this does not mean the quartz watches was immune to the effects of magnetism.
“Great Anthony, what does this mean for me in laymen terms? I still don’t understand.”
EXAMPLE SCENARIO:
Let’s use a common scenario that watchmakers are often faced with. A quartz watch comes in for a battery change. The client leaves with the new battery in their watch. She comes back in a week and says that their quartz watch is running slow. The watchmaker checks the rates and timing of the watch and everything checks out. The battery is full and the watch was serviced about 3 years ago. It doesn’t make any sense as to why the watch is running slow on the customer. The watchmaker probes the customer to find out more about their lifestyle, hobbies, and daily activities to see what’s going on. The customer wears the watch on her left hand, lives a sedentary life, hasn’t traveled for the past 6 months, works out daily, and doesn’t work in a hospital or near heavy machinery. As the client talks to the watchmaker, the watchmaker notices that she clutches her bag on the left side with her left hand. The position of her wrist (where her watch would be) is exactly lined up right next to the magnetic clip of the bag. This could be a clue.
The watchmaker begins an experiment. The client is instructed to wear her bags on the right hand side for a week while she wears her watch on the left hand side to see if it resolves the issue. The client calls in a week and says that her watch is on time still.
The watchmaker deduced that the quartz watch was momentarily being effected each time the client was holding her bag. Even though it effected the watch only temporarily in the magnetic field, it was enough to cause the watch to be off time for the rest of the day. It would explain why the watch runs fine on the timing machine.
DON’T BE SURPRISED…
You’d be surprised at how common scenarios like this really are. A problem that us watchmakers find is that the clients themselves are often exposing their own watches to magnetic fields throughout the day without realizing. I don’t fault or blame them actually because it’s not something that your average person will even factor in but you get the point. So even though your quartz watch can’t get magnetized, it can be affected by magnetism when in the presence of a magnetic field. We see a HUGE increase in magnetism related issues during the summer simply because of the increase in travel (I.e. TSA entry points, x-ray machines, etc.)
Another thing to keep in mind is that even though the quartz movement itself cannot get magnetized- that does not mean the other components that make up the watch can’t be magnetized. A perfect example would be quartz watches with steel hands on the dial. We know that the movement itself cannot be magnetized but that doesn’t mean the steel hands on the watch can’t be! So even though your movement might be functioning just fine, the magnetized steel hands could be causing a magnetic push/pull which could throw off the timing on your watch.
As you’re starting to realize (hopefully), there are a lot of factors that go into whether or not your watch needs a servicing!
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION#4:
IS YOUR WATCH A mechanical WATCH?
If your watch is not powered by a battery and it has a balance wheel, it is most likely a mechanical watch. I’ll let you do your research on how to identify a mechanical watch via Google. If you’ve gotten this far though, I hope to Baby Jesus that you know the difference…
Alright so you have a mechanical watch. There are 2 categories of mechanical watches: manual and automatic.
MANUAL WIND WATCHES
In our industry, there is never a short supply of crazy situations. I’ve had clients bring in their manual wind watches asking for battery changes. I’ve had clients, who bring in their manual wind watches that they’ve owned for 20 years, flabbergasted when I tell them that they have to wind their watches in order for it to work. How does that even make sense? You’ve owned the watch for 20 years without once realizing that you need to wind it? Insert mindblown.gif
Often times this solves their problems almost immediately. Working with customers, I realized extremely quickly that anything is possible and that you can never be too detailed. If you own a manual wind watch and it is not running, please try winding it first! It’s unfortunate that I have to say that but you’d be surprised at the amount of people who don’t do this. If you wind it daily and it is running, keep tabs on it every day to see if it is keeping time. Check at the same time each day for consistency in deviation.
By nature, manual wind watches require consistent winding. The more you wind it, the more power reserve your watch builds up. Be extremely careful with how hard you’re winding it though. When manual wind watches hit full power (from your winding), the mainspring will stop and feel tight. It is akin to the sign at the end of a one-way street that tells you to stop. If you keep going, you’re going to be in a world of trouble. One of the major problems with manual wind watches is that most customers do not know the feeling of a fully wound manual wind watch. The most common scenario is when a customer brings in their manual watches with the mainspring broken. We can always trace it back to the client forcefully winding their watch without realizing that the mainspring was fully wound already. If you have a manual watch and you don’t know what a fully wound mainspring feels like, bring it into an authorized dealer or the brand itself and request some assistance.
A good rule of thumb for a fully wound manual watch is when the crown starts to feel a little rough and eventually stops to turn when you’re trying to wind it.
If you do not wind a manual watch, it will stop when the power reserve is up. It is that simple. If you don’t wind it, it will not run. Manual wind watches generally have a 36 to 48 hour power reserve so it should in theory last you a good 1.5 to 2 days without having to wind it again. If you’re someone who needs their watches running daily and on time, I recommend fully winding it every morning to be on the safe side.
AUTOMATIC WATCHES
Anything mechanical watch that winds itself by the motion of your wrist can be deemed an automatic watch. You’ll often see common stamps on the dial like “automatic” or “self-winding” or even “perpetual” etc. to denote that the mechanical watch is an automatic. Any references to an automatic system, oscillating weight, bumper, pawl and cam, or even “rotor” (not in the quartz sense) can be deemed an automatic watch. For simplicity sake, you can also just Google your watch model and see if it is a automatic or manual wind watch instantly.
Automatic watches function the same exact way as a manual wind watch in the sense that you can wind it to increase power reserve. There is an additional component to automatic watches though. The reason why it is even called an “automatic” watch is because it can in theory automatically wind your watch by the motion of your wrist.
If you find that your automatic watch is not running, try winding it daily to see if it runs. If it runs, we know that the gear train itself works (albeit maybe not optimal). If it doesn’t run, we know it needs a service.
If it is running daily, take the same approach as we did with manual wind watches where we choose a specific time during the day to check our watches to see if it is on time. If it is on time, great! If it is not on time, it might be time to get it serviced (assuming you factor in all the other fundamental and contextual questions).
HOW IT WORKS: Automatic watches have a system built into it by utilizing what we call a oscillating weight/rotor. When we walk around with the watch on our wrist, the weight oscillates whenever the watch is in motion. The more you move your wrist, the more kinetic energy is transferred into the weight from the swinging. Due to gravity, the weight wants to return to the bottom (in any position that you put the watch in). There are many wheels connected to the oscillating weight so that when it does move, the wheels mesh with connecting wheels that ultimately wind the mainspring in the barrel.
Here’s the part that gets most people. The only way an automatic watch will wind itself is if the user is active. Please read that again. If the user is sedentary and does not move their wrist, the automatic watch is not going to wind itself. This is a very common scenario where the client believes that they are active when in reality, they are not. I am not talking about being active with your feet.
The activity has to involve the wrist (that the watch is on) to be in motion. You can be on a bike and ride 100 miles without your wrist ever swinging once. If you’re a female and you clutch your handbag 24/7 with the same hand that you’re wearing your automatic watch on, you can walk 100 miles without ever once “self-winding” your watch. Your wrist has to be in motion in order for the automatic system to work.
WHY YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET YOUR AUTOMATIC WATCH SERVICED OFTEN: Consider this. One of the wheels that meshes with the automatic system is the reverser wheel(s). It’s arguably one of the coolest designs in any automatic system. It has to function by winding, locking, and also unlocking. We can expect reserver wheels to change directions between 10 million and 100 million times in a one year period due to the sheer amount of volume and work that a oscillating weight imposes. Imagine going 7 to 10 years without getting it serviced. Can you imagine the level of wear and tear it has to go through? Going without service for that long can cause the reversers to either break off altogether or even worse litter particles across your movement.
FUN FACT: Most automatic watches come back for repair because of the reverser wheels. The second the reverser wheels give out is the second that a automatic watch becomes a manual wind watch. In theory, the reverser wheels is the only thing that is enabling the automatic system to work in conjunction with the mainspring barrel. This is one common problem if the customer is an extremely active individual but the watch does not hold any power reserve. If you’re legitimately active (meaning your wrist is also moving) and you wear your watch daily, this could be one of the reasons why your watch does not hold power reserve. So if this sounds like your situation, you might want to bring it in to get checked out.
Most clients don’t wind their automatic watches because it is “automatic” and that is fine! They can live with their watches running a little slow or a little fast but if the automatic system does not work and it stops overnight, clients are instantly more inclined to bring it in for servicing.
ONE MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AUTOMATIC & MANUAL WIND WATCHES:
One major difference besides the addition of an automatic system is the mainspring. Generally the mainspring for manual wind watches do not have a slipping bridle built onto it. This is why the mainspring breaks/snaps when you try winding it when it is fully wound.
As you can reason, why doesn’t the mainspring in an automatic watch snap if it is being fully wound daily from the oscillating weight? The reason is because automatic watches have a slipping bridle built onto it. If the mainspring is fully wound, any additional winding would slip and fail because of the slipping bridle of the mainspring. This enables the automatic watch to continuously build up wind without you ever worrying about the mainspring snapping.
MAGNETISM
A quick word on magnetism for mechanical watches. A mechanical movement can easily be magnetized if exposed to a frequent and strong enough magnet. The common belief in the past was that if your watch is running slow, it could be magnetized. While this is true, we now know that a magnetized watch can also run fast! If the magnetism is strong enough, it can even cause the watch to stop altogether.
With this in mind, anytime your mechanical watch is running slow or fast, please get it demagnetized first before even contemplating a complete service. You might find that your watch was simply magnetized.
Completely rusted movement on a watch
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION#5:
IS YOUR WATCH WATER RESISTANT?
If water resistance is a major concern for you, this could be the single most important question that would cause you to get a complete service. If your watch is water resistant to 10 bars but you find that it is not water resistant even at 3 bars, you’ll want to get it fixed. Click here to read more about the water resistant chart.
Depending on the other contextual questions, the watchmaker may perform a water resistant renewal service where they only fix the issues to make the watch water resistant again without touching the movement. If your watch isn’t working and it’s time for a complete service, water resistance is usually included with the service itself. This is generally common practice all across the industry.
GET IT TESTED FOR FREE
You can get your watch dry pressure tested by stopping by your local authorized dealer or brand boutique. Call ahead in advance to ask if that is something they can check and if so, how much it would cost. It should be for free (especially for the brand boutiques) but you never know when it comes to local jewelers. They should be able to offer the next course of action if the watch failed the pressure test.
STAY ON THE SAFE SIDE
What’s the point of owning a watch if you can’t wear it during activities that you need it for? If you’re a life guard, swimmer, professional, or recreational diver and you buy your watches so that you can use it for that reason, it makes sense to ensure your watch functions when you need it! Make sure you get your watches pressure tested every 2 to 3 years. I would err on the side of caution and do it frequently. The last situation you’d want to have is your watch filled with water during a time when you need it.
MOST WATCHMAKERS NEVER TEST BEYOND 10 BARS
If you’re going to beyond average depths in the water, you should definitely have your watch serviced by the manufacturer. About 95 to 99% of the independent watchmakers and authorized dealers in the field do not have access to water testing machines capable of testing beyond 1,220 meters (about 4000 feet deep). If you own any sort of diver watch that goes beyond 1,220 meters, you might want to get them sent out to the manufacturer because chances are, it’s not being tested properly. The equipment necessary to test beyond 1,220 meters is ridiculously huge and costly. It makes no financial sense logistically to even acquire one for the amount of divers that come in for an independent watchmaker. Any authorized dealer should have the capability of sending it in for you.
Your average watchmaker just tests the watches they serviced on a pressure tester and calls it a day. Why? Because they can get away with it. Your average client never goes beyond 10 bars of pressure in the water anyway. However if you’re a diver, you can easily go 10 bars and beyond. The last thing you’d want is to chance it with a watchmaker who didn’t take that into consideration.
QUICK SURVEY AMONGST MY AUDIENCE
I polled my audience on Instagram. 58% of them said that they get their watches checked for water resistance in a time span of more than 3 years. The remaining 42% said they get it checked in less than 3 years.
CONTEXTUAL QUESTION#4:
WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES & OCCUPATIOn?
Occupations have a huge role in whether or not a watch gets serviced routinely. If your life depends on your watch, you should definitely get it serviced routinely. No ifs or buts. It does not matter if there is nothing wrong with your watch.
GOOD RULE OF THUMB: If you depend on your watch for anything related to your profession (I.e. law enforcement, military, diver, pilot, etc.) please make sure that you do not skimp on your watch. Do not go cheap and do not take unnecessary chances.
Price should not be a determining factor. If you need it done right, make sure you do your homework on the watchmaker that you’re using or have it sent to the watchmaker.
Can you imagine being dropped off in a foreign land with the task of meeting at a specific time and location where a minute off could be catastrophic?
My recommendation for this is short and simple: get it checked often and get it done right the first time around.
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION#6:
DOES YOUR WATCH REQUIRE A “MINOR” JOB?
A minor job would be defined as a component exchange. Changing only single components like a crystal, or a crown, or pushers would be considered a “minor job”. Minor jobs refer to the things that we would have to remove the case back and get into the watch. It could also be things like a battery change or adding/removing a link from the bracelet.
Other people in the industry sometimes refer to minor jobs as quick service repairs as well. Both are sufficient in describing the task.
If your watch requires a component exchange of any sort such as the crystal, crown, crown tube, pushers, hands, dial, etc. then you might want to get it serviced as well. Please take into account all of the fundamental and contextual questions before this as well. Please refer to this for watch nomenclature identification
If your crystal is smashed/shattered/cracked, you can bet that your watch will need a complete service. If your crown is missing, you can expect a complete service. You can refer to this page for more information on why you might need a service on each individual component. Any watchmaker that is worth their weight will require you to get a complete service for big issues like this.
Anyone that is willing to perform a component exchange on issues like this without performing a complete service is only putting a bandaid on the situation without solving the problem. You can bet your bank account that you’ll be back in the shop.
Here’s the “Too Long Didn’t Read” version:
Simple infographic on determining whether or not your watch needs a service
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