In the age of smartphones, it is often just a status symbol or a fashion accessory. If you only wear your watch occasionally, it is better to heed these expert tips.
Mainburg – The classic wristwatch doesn’t have it easy. Nowadays, anyone who wants to know the time often automatically picks up their smartphone in their pocket. The clock is increasingly dispensable and more and more often just a fashion accessory that is taken out of the closet on occasion.
The problem is: under certain circumstances, long idle times can damage a watch. Master watchmaker Albert Fischer explains what is behind it and how the watch runs smoothly even when it is seldom worn on the arm.
Question: Mr. Fischer, you sometimes hear the tip that wristwatches shouldn’t lie too long. That is bad for the clockwork. Is there something to it?
Albert Fischer: In general, that’s no longer a problem these days. A lot has happened in terms of lubricants. We work with fully synthetic oils. These do not resinify and evaporate like the classic oils used to do. Therefore, it doesn’t hurt the newer watches if you leave them lying around for several months, regardless of whether it is a mechanical watch or a quartz watch.
Albert Fischer is a master watchmaker and president of the Central Association for Watches, Jewelry and Time Measurement.
Albert Fischer
In the case of classic watch oils, it was actually the case that they needed the movement to ensure relatively constant lubrication. If the watch was left lying around for a long time, the oil gummed up faster. So it got thicker, which had a braking effect on the clockwork. The amplitude became weaker or the clock even stopped. Over 30 years ago, however, began to switch more and more to synthetic watch oils.
Question: What if the classic watch oil has become thick in the movement?
Fischer: Then you would have to dismantle the watch, clean it, check the movement for wear and then re-oil it. It is not enough to just add fresh oil to the bearings when the old, gummy oil is still in it – that only makes it worse.
Question: What tips are there if you don’t want to wear your watch for a long time?
Fischer: When storing quartz watches for a long time, it is better to have the battery removed. Because there are quite aggressive chemicals in the battery. This is less of a problem as long as the clock is running, because the batteries are designed for this service life. But if it stops, the chemicals in the battery can break down the seal of the battery casing over time and damage the movement. If you don’t want to regularly check whether your watch is still running, it’s better to remove the battery.
The place where I generally wouldn’t store a wristwatch is in the bathroom. I know a lot of people like to do this because they put their watch on and off there. Especially if the clock is only dustproof, but not waterproof, the moisture in the bathroom can lead to rust damage in the clockwork. The humidity is also not good for leather bracelets.
You shouldn’t put a watch on the window sill in the blazing sun either. The sunlight has the unsightly effect that it may fade colored dials and leather straps. If the clock heats up a lot on the windowsill, it is also bad for the clockwork.
I usually advise against watch winders for automatic watches that are only worn occasionally. They are more for convenience – after all, they keep the clock running and you don’t have to reset the clock every time you put it on. But on the other hand, the wear and tear in the movement due to this continuous operation is of course greater than if the watch is only worn temporarily. Basically just like that, so you would wear it on your arm every day. dpa
