Owner's guide
Caring for your
vintage watch.
Your watch has already lived several decades. It was built in an era of real craftsmanship, and with a little care, it will keep going for decades more. These are not fragile objects, but they are no longer new. Here is everything you need to know.
The six essentials
Daily care
The three things
that matter most.
Water is the greatest threat
Most vintage watches are not water resistant, even when the case back says they once were. Gaskets dry out and shrink over forty years. Take the watch off before washing your hands, and keep it away from steam, rain and humidity. A single drop inside the case can be enough to rust a movement beyond repair.
Keep it away from magnets
Phone cases, tablet covers, speakers, laptop lids and magnetic clasps all carry magnets strong enough to disturb a movement. A magnetised watch will suddenly run fast or slow. It is not broken, and a watchmaker can demagnetise it in minutes, but it is easier to keep some distance in the first place.
Shock damage is often invisible
A vintage movement is a small mechanical world of delicate parts. Take the watch off before sport, DIY, or anything involving impact. Never leave it on the edge of a table or a bathroom shelf. Most damage we see comes from a single fall.
Cleaning
Gently,
and dry.
A soft cloth is all you need
Wipe the case and crystal with a dry microfibre cloth. That is all a vintage watch needs. Never use alcohol, solvents, household cleaners or abrasive products: they attack the plating, dull the crystal and can seep inside the case.
Take extra care with plated cases
Rubbing hard, or polishing a plated case, will wear straight through it. Light pressure, always. A little patina is part of the charm and far preferable to bare brass showing through.
Scratches on the crystal
Crystals vary from one watch to another, and it matters. Many of the Japanese dress watches we sell, Seiko Dolce and Credor in particular, came fitted with sapphire crystals from the factory: they resist scratches remarkably well and, if they do get marked, they cannot be polished at home. Others use mineral or acrylic glass, which scratch more easily but can be brought back to clarity with a dedicated polishing cream.
The rule is simple: check the specifications on the product page before touching anything. Polishing an acrylic crystal will restore it. Attempting the same on sapphire will do nothing at best, and damage the case at worst. If you are unsure, write to us and we will tell you exactly what your watch is wearing.
Quartz watches
The battery is
the thing to watch.
Never leave a dead battery inside
This is the single most important rule for a quartz watch. A spent battery can leak, and the corrosion will destroy the movement from the inside. If your watch stops, have the battery replaced quickly, or have it removed if the watch is going into storage. A leaking cell has killed more vintage quartz movements than you can imagine.
Roughly every two to three years
That is the usual life of a battery in a vintage quartz watch. Have it changed by a watchmaker rather than a shopping-centre kiosk: opening a vintage case back requires the right tools, and the gasket should be checked and the case properly resealed.
If the seconds hand jumps every four seconds
Some quartz movements signal a dying battery this way: the seconds hand stops moving one second at a time and starts jumping in four-second steps. It is not a fault. It is the watch telling you the battery is nearly done.
Mechanical watches
Wind it,
wear it, service it.
Winding a manual watch
Turn the crown gently, forwards, until you feel a clear resistance. Stop there. Do not force past it: that is how mainsprings break. Around ten to fifteen turns is usually enough for a full day. Wind it at the same moment each day and the watch will keep better time.
Starting an automatic
If it has stopped, hold it flat in your palm and rock it gently back and forth for a minute or two. You will feel the rotor turning inside. After that, simply wearing it keeps it wound. An automatic left unworn for a few days will stop on its own: this is normal, not a fault.
The date-change danger zone
Never set the date between 8 pm and 4 am. During those hours the movement is already engaging the date wheel, and forcing it by hand can shear the teeth. If you need to change the date at night, move the hands to around six o'clock first, set the date, then set the time.
A service every five years or so
The oils inside a mechanical movement dry out and the parts begin to wear against each other. A full service, roughly every five years, keeps a watch running for another generation. That's how these watches make it to the next generation.
Accuracy
It is a watch,
not an atomic clock.
A vintage mechanical watch that gains or loses ten to thirty seconds a day is running normally. That is how these movements were built, and a modern smartphone will always be more precise. It is not what they are for.
A vintage quartz watch will hold time far more closely, usually within a few seconds a month. If yours suddenly drifts, suspect the battery or a magnet before assuming a fault.
Position matters. A mechanical watch does not run at the same rate lying flat as it does standing on its side. Try resting yours dial-up overnight, then crown-up, and see which keeps better time. A small adjustment can make a noticeable difference.
Storage
Where it sleeps
matters too.
In its box, away from the bathroom
Keep the watch in a case or a soft pouch, somewhere dry and away from direct sunlight. Bathrooms are the worst place: humidity gets everywhere. Sunlight is the second worst: it fades dials and dries out leather over the years.
Leather straps need a rest
Leather absorbs sweat and does not like being worn every single day. Let it dry between wears. A leather strap worn daily will last a year or two; rotated and looked after, several years. Straps are consumables. The watch is not.
Metal bracelets: look after the links
A metal bracelet asks less of you, but it is not maintenance-free. Dust and skin collect between the links, and on plated bracelets the wear shows first on the edges. Wipe it with a dry cloth now and then, and never scrub it. On integrated bracelets, the spring bars are often the oldest part of the watch: if the clasp ever feels loose, have it looked at before it opens on your wrist.
Long-term storage
If a quartz watch is going away for months, take the battery out first. If it is a mechanical one, wind it fully once every few weeks so the oils do not settle in one place. A watch that never moves ages faster than one that is worn.