Care instructions

Activation

A manual wind watch should be wound up until you feel a drag. A self-winding watch of course runs automatically. However, if it hadn‘t been used for a longer period of time, you should also hand wind it by turning the watch crown 40 turns as a rule. The watch crown doesn‘t need to be turned back and forth but only forward!

Beware of mechanical impacts

Studies have shown that repeated strokes in the vertical direction could lead to long-term damages regarding the cogs and springs in the clockwork. This load occurs at all kinds of sport that require permanent jerky movements of the wrist for example mountainbiking or playing squash and tennis.

A quartz watch usually runs more precisely than a mechanical one. A mechanical watch has a balance spring. It oscillates at a certain frequency between 18.000 and 32.000 half oscillations per hour. Even a perfectly adjusted watch may be inaccurate because of physical influences such as temperature or wearing behaviour. To adjust the watch absolutely perfect, it would have to be exactly adapted to the wearing behaviour of the owner because even temperature and gravity are enough to let the balance spring oscillate slower or faster. The accuracy of your mechanical watch can be influenced by yourself to a certain extent (+/- 3 seconds). When you remove your watch for the night, there are different possibilities to position it. Watchcrown up: the watch runs slower, watchface up or down: it runs faster.

Time and date setting

Please avoid using the quick-set funktion between 9 pm and 3 am. The mechanism of the date setting is working at this time and the movement could be damaged. Also avoid turning the hands back across 12 pm.

Service and repair

Most watch manufacturers recommend the maintenance of the watch every 2 to 5 years. We have a different opinion: The maintenance costs a lot of money and should only be performed, if there‘s an essential deviation that cannot be regulated, for example if the watch is extremely slow or fast or the power-reserve reduces greatly. During maintenance work the movement will be cleaned, oiled and wear parts will be changed. There are watches that get along without maintenance for about 20 years. Furthermore manufacturers recommend to send the watch back to them through a jeweller‘s shop. We suggest not to bring it to a jeweller‘s shop but to straightly ask a master watchmaker. Most watches can be repaired by them much more favourable. The prices of the manufacturers often are many times higher.

If you don‘t want to use your watch for a considerable amount of time, you should keep it at a dry place that is sheltered from direct sunlight.

Heat effects of the sun or sauna

Due to the effect of heat the valuable oil in the watch mechanism could chemically modify so that the smeariness diminishes and the accuracy and the power-reserve declines.

Water Resistance

If the watch passed a water resistant test, this feature counts at the date of the measurement. According to DIN 8310 water resistant is not a lasting quality because the gaskets succumb to aging and attrition. After dropping the watch, a concussion or great temperature differences the water resistance must be controlled once again by a watchmaker, especially before water contact. To keep a watch at your wrist while hand washing or showering, it should be tested with at least 3ATM (30m). While swimming the problem isn‘t the water but the rapid change of pressure when you plunge your arm into the water and the associated stroke against the water surface. Also you have to make sure that the watchcrown is withdrawn or screwed.

• Water resistance is not a lasting quality: It needs to be checked on a yearly basis and before particular burdens since the installed gasket elements diminish in their function and during their daily use.
• Watch cases are tailor-made by consisting of several materials, which can have different expansion coefficients at fluctuating temperatures.
• Nevertheless, in order to ensure the water resistance for certain requirements, there are special constructs with integrated gaskets. These are subject to a natural ageing process. Amongst other things they are attacked by salt water, sweat, high temperatures and acids.
• Watch cases are considered as “water-protected“ (“water-resistant”) when they are resistant against sweat, water drops, rain etc. When dropped in water they need to endure over 30 minutes in a water depth of 1 m without the ingress of water. These watches are determined for the daily use and must not be used under conditions with significant fluctuating water pressure and temperatures.
• For the additional information of pressure such as “3 bar” tightened test conditions apply. The pressure data “3 bar” must not be mistaken with the diving depth but is the definition of the test pressure. A test pressure of “3 bar” is achieved in a water depth of 30 m.
• While swimming and jumping in the water at short notice a higher pressure as the guaranteed test pressure might emerge on the sealing elements. At particular risk are watches when you jump into the water after a longer sunbath, due to the fact that the impact pressure is added up to the under pressure by cooling, which can cause damage in an easier way. A watch which is used for swimming and diving should be treated carefully in the remaining time and stored and checked yearly for water resistance from a specialist shop.
• The crown of each watch needs to be pushed in all the time or in case of a screwed crown always screwed tight properly. Please check this each time before you go into the water!
• And a further important hint respectively a mistake made occasionally by the proud wearer of a new water resistant watch: Never operate the pushpieces of a watch under water. No matter how high the tightness is indicated.
• DIN 8310 regulates criteria for constructs and test pressure, which new watches need to resist. The resistance is indicated in bar and marked on the case back.