Don't Ruin Your Mechanical Watch! Avoid These Mistakes

If you have a mechanical watch and if you care for it, you're bound to visit a professional to do your watch repair in places like Tulsa, OK not only for getting any damages fixed but also even for simple maintenance jobs. But even professionals won't be able to help you much if you yourself neglect to take care of your watch in the first place, so make sure to avoid these mistakes when using them:

Overwinding

Mechanical watches – specifically, wind-ups – are supposed to be wound regularly in order to work. But you must know when to stop. Once you feel resistance against your winding, it means the spring is already tightly wound, and overdoing it may cause it to give inaccurate time, or to snap altogether. It’s fortunately not a problem for automatics since these types of watches wind up by themselves as long as there’s movement, so they also have safety nets for when they’re already wound enough.

Winding Your Watch Carelessly

When you do wind your watch, never do it while it’s still around your wrist. Always take it off first. The awkward angles when you decide to ignore this red flag causes a lot of pressure on the watch’s stem, which may cause it to bend or break.

Another note is to wind it only in safe places. If it’s off of your wrist, a little bit of mistake is all it would take for you to drop it on a hard surface and, well, you know how that could lead only to damage. So keep away from roads, cliffs, water, and any other risky locations when you decide to wind your watch. Besides, it’s most practical to wind it at the same time every day, preferably in the morning, so it’s best if you’re still in your room when it’s done.

Doing Risky Tasks with Your Watch on

Similar to how you should avoid the risk of dropping your watch when you wind it, you should also keep it away from dangerous tasks wherein you might accidentally break it. Don’t wear it when you’re out to play golf, break some ice, chop some wood, or any other similar to-dos.

Contact with Chemicals

It’s not safe to use soap, perfumes, cleaning supplies, and other chemicals on your watch, or even to let them near it. This is because chemicals may erode the straps or metals of your watch upon contact. Some of them can even enter the watch’s mechanisms even if it is tightly sealed since some chemicals have smaller molecules than water and therefore can more easily seep through small spaces.

In relation to that, never neglect to check those seals. Make sure you know just how water-resistant your watch is, how much pressure it can hold, and until how deep underwater it can safely linger.

Placing It near Magnets

Magnets are known to ruin the stability of many mechanical and metallic items. Plenty of modern watches have been made with materials which aren’t affected by this, but you can’t really say the same for those that stay true to the essence of mechanical wind-ups. Unfortunately, the world today is filled with gadgets that contain magnets such as many electronic devices, speakers, gadgets, etc. So make sure to keep your watch away from those.

Neglecting Regular Maintenance

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, you ought to regularly visit a professional that can do your watch repair if you’re in Tulsa, OK or any other place. Whether or not you claim to have some knowledge of proper care for your watch, there are services wherein the whole watch must be disassembled and reassembled completely in order to be fully reconditioned. And that’s not a task that any average watch owner can wing. Don’t just go opening your watch by yourself, and make sure to read its manual if any minor troubleshooting must be done.

Hence...

Having a mechanical watch and keeping it alive is not an easy feat that you can succeed in without much effort. It takes a lot of precaution and care to keep your watch safe, and a regular watch repair service in Tulsa, OK or any other place should never be skipped or neglected. If you love your watch, you have to invest a lot more than what you initially paid for — you also have to invest in effort, time, and carefully conscious decisions.