Frequently Asked Questions on Watch Repair and Care

There are many different materials that are used to make a watch case e.g. stainless steel, plastic, gold, silver, titanium etc. Most high-end watches are made from precious metals, stainless steel or titanium.

Most allergies from metals are caused by the presence of nickel used as an alloy. Recent regulations have been implemented to reduce the content of nickel in metals used in the jewellery trade, hence you would see many signs “NICKEL FREE” or “NICKEL COMPLIANT”. There is no guarantee that a person would not have an allergy from various metals or alloys. Most good quality watches & jewellery are nickel free and therefore reduces the likelihood of allergies.

Electroplating is a method used to plate metal e.g. gold plating over a base metal of brass. 10M is the thickness of the plating in MICRONS (1/1000th of a millimetre). There are various degrees of thickness e.g. 5M, 10M, 20M.

Battery manufacturers state on average a watch battery will last 2 – 3 years. But this is from the date of manufacture, there is no way of knowing how long a battery has been stored before use or how long a watch has been with the distributors or a shop before been sold, this is one of the basis watch manufacturers do not guarantee batteries.

In relation to watches water resistant is how resistant a watch is to water entering the case. There are various degrees of resistances e.g. 30, 50, 100 metres. A waterproof designation is only about the watch at the time the test was conducted. Through ageing, wear and tear or damage, the state of the watch can change at any time. Water-resistance is not a permanent characteristic.

The typical rule of thumb is to have the water resistance of a watch checked every year or so, especially if used for sports or diving. Most manufacturers recommend a servicing every two – four years. Avoid perfumes and chemicals as these damages the seals and plating of watches.

A quartz (BATTERY) watch can be within 1 minute a year.A mechanical watch has a tolerance of -5 to +25 seconds per day on average +/-2 minutes per week. A chronometer has a tolerance of -4 to +6 seconds per day, on average less than 1 minute per week.

An automatic wristwatch is a mechanical watch with a self-winding mechanism. A manual wristwatch must be wound by hand.

Not quite, they use a quartz movement with a oscillating weight system similar to those used by automatics. The difference is that the oscillating weights’ motion is converted into electricity, which is then used to change a capacitor (holds electricity). The quartz movement then draws current from the capacitor as if it were a battery. The more recent versions of these movements can store enough power to run the watch for several months (or even years in the case of the Seiko Auto-Relay)