Wearing Your Watch Regularly

Regular wear and use will keep your watch in perfect running condition. By doing so, you can maintain the viscosity of the lubricants in the movement. If not used on a regular basis, these lubricants may harden causing friction within the movement. Eventually this friction may damage the functioning of the movement. If you do not wear your watch regularly, make sure to wind it at least once a week. This will keep the watch gears moving, thus preventing the lubricants from hardening while maintaining accurate timekeeping.

To see more on our professional servicing.

Cleaning Your Watch

Be careful if your watch is not waterproof. Like any other work of intricate artistry and technology, a luxury watch requires occasional cleaning and upkeep. There are many places on the watch where dirt, body oils, and other greasy particles accumulate: between the links on the bracelet, the area joining the case /bezel, and around the cyclops lens. With repeated use and the gathering of dirt particles, your watch will require a thorough cleaning as described here:

1. Before you start cleaning, make sure the winding crown is tightly screwed onto the case.
2. Wash and dry hands thoroughly to avoid transferring dirt or grease.
3. Fill a bowl with lukewarm water and ammonia-free mild soap. Apply this soapy water all over your watch using your hands.
4. Gently scrub the watch to clean it of all dirt particles. An old toothbrush can be used as an ideal scrub for this purpose. During scrubbing, submerge the watch and the toothbrush into the soapy water at short intervals.
5. Once you are confident that the watch has been cleaned, rinse the watch with lukewarm water.
6. Using a clean soft cotton cloth, gently pat the watch until dried.
7. Since your cloth will not reach the links on the bracelet, you can use a hair dryer to remove the excess water from the inner surfaces
8. Finally use a dry, soft cloth to remove any remaining moisture.

Removing Scratches from the Bracelet of Your Watch

The bracelet of your luxury watch needs special care, as it is prone to scratches. By polishing the bracelet every few months, you can retain its brand new look. You can easily remove the scratches from the polished centre links with little effort and time. You need a good quality cloth designed for removing scratches from polished stainless steel and gold surfaces. These come soaked in a special liquid meant for polishing. These cloths are inexpensive and can be used multiple times.
Martin’s tips on using your cloth:

1. Make sure you use the cloth only on the polished surface of your bracelet. Do not use on the brushed sections.
2. To avoid polishing the brushed surfaces, wrap the polishing cloth around a cotton bud and use the cotton bud to restrict buffing movement to the targeted areas.
3. Do not exert too much pressure while polishing; only a moderate amount of pressure is needed.
4. Avoid circular or cross strokes while polishing. Follow the flow of the metal and go with the grain (never against the grain).
5. A minute of polishing usually is enough to remove the fine scratches that appear like hairlines. More time will be needed for deeper scratches.
6. Avoid polishing surfaces that have no scratches. You’ll end up removing a fine layer of metal from the surface by polishing because the surface has not suffered any indentation from a scratch.

Winding Your Watch

Automatic luxury watches have a perpetual movement which means they are self-winding. On average, these watches have a power reserve of 48 hours. If not wound after 48 hours, your watch will stop running and appear ‘dead’. In this situation, however, you can manually wind your watch. Simply unscrew the crown to position 2 and wind it about 30 to 40 times. Once you have done this, simply screw the crown back down and continue to use your watch as normal.

Martin's tips on winding your watch:

1. Avoid winding your watch whilst wearing it on your wrist
2. If found ‘dead’ or in a non-functioning mode, never shake your watch (even after winding it). Rather than shaking it, put it on and rotate your wrist gently, allowing the watch to rotate as normal to give it the ‘kick start’ it needs
3. If the watch still does not start put the watch aside and allow it to start on its own.
4. No need to worry about over-winding your watch. All our timepieces have a built-in protection mechanism which prevents the movement from being over-wound.

Water Resistancy

Most luxury watches come with a tested and guaranteed depth rating of 330 feet. This means that you can you take a shower, bathe or swim whilst wearing your watch. Deep water diving, however, should be avoided whilst wearing most watches.

As a general guideline, if you purchase a non-diver watch, treat it as moderately water resistant due to the age and custom craftsmanship involved in its production. To be safe, we’d suggest the watch not be worn whilst swimming or even showering although basic water contact from hand washing is manageable.

By treating your watch with the respect and care that such a great treasure deserves, you will continue to enjoy a machine that looks and functions as a brand new watch for decades to come.