Proper caring of your leather strap can evolve into a sensuous, tactile experience. As Justin Hast explains, a little bit of water and elbow grease is enough to keep your timepiece looking great. Discover how to adjust the bracelet size of your H-Link metal bracelet. Discover how to adjust the bracelet size of your 5-Link metal bracelet. Before a mechanical watch movement can start moving, it needs an energy source to drive it. That energy source is the watch mainspring. Find out more.
Learn more about its development behind the scenes. Learn more about each limited Pilot's Watch model here. IWC Schaffhausen header. Change location. Search Location Search Location. All locations. Shopping Bag. Forgot your password? Search on iwc. How to correctly wind your watch. Watch Video. How to set the date on your watch. How to keep your IWC luxury watch safe. How to adjust your Milanaise bracelet. How to care for your IWC leather watch strap. How to clean your IWC watch.
Lesson learned. A really dirty watch doesn't look good, and sometimes small particles of debris can work their way inside. I just use a microfiber polishing cloth on the watch.
A little water won't hurt, assuming your crown is fully secure and you avoid getting the leather strap wet. But never use soap and water. The molecules in the soap can work their way into really small spaces and not help your watch at all. A watch might have a high water resistance rating, but the material used in gaskets and seals can dry out, impairing a watch's water resistance.
If you swim or shower with your watch, you might even want to check water resistance annually. Many watchmakers have machines to check water resistance via pressure settings, and it is not a costly nor time-consuming test. If I'm not wearing a diving watch with extraordinary water resistance, but am caught in a torrential downpour, I'll even take my watch off my wrist and place it in my pocket. IWC warrants its watches for eight years from the date of purchase, absent problems caused by misuse.
That in effect will extend your warranty another full year. It also allows you to get everything resolved at once. I've heard about owners who wanted to find out if their watch was bullet-proof by putting it in the freezer. That's not something I understand relative to a fine, intricate and costly instrument. I —and I know many others —have worn their automatic watches while playing golf, tennis, or other sports. Despite high survival rates after all, these watches are tough , I'm unsure that this makes sense.
Fortunately for my watch, but unfortunately for my golf game, my stroke just doesn't have the power of a pro's swing. But all I need is one good impact, and the watch will have a problem. I recall one collector from Scandinavia asked if his IWC watch could withstand him chopping wood. And I recall a rider in the Tour de France wearing a fine watch.
I'm unsure why either person would want to test his mechanical watch to that extent. Keep in mind that an automatic watch winds with an oscillating weight.
All mechanical watches work due to swings in the lever escapement. And the shock protection mechanisms used in modern watches, KIF or Incabloc, are excellent but do not provide perfect protection from all blows at all angles. Perhaps I'm too protective an owner, but I never understood why the Tour de France rider would risk even scraping his watch if he crashed.
But perhaps that's just me. Extreme shocks can damage any watch mechanism, and scratches to the case, in contrast, are minor. But most collectors understandably don't like scratches and try to avoid them. One of the easiest ways to scratch your watch lugs is to try changing a strap. One expert I know designed a watchmaking course, and placed strap changing in Part 2, after basic movement disassembly and assembly. To change straps, learn how to do it, either by someone teaching you or at least digesting an online instructional video.
Use only the right tool, a so-called springbar tool, and never a knife. I believe in using high quality tools and many believe that the Swiss Bergeon ones are excellent. The difference in cost is nominal, and lesser quality tools ones usually have thicker forks at the end which also might move slightly.
If you must perform this surgery, consider practicing on a lesser quality watch first. Always work from the back side, so any slips —and scratches—will be less noticeable. If you're uncertain whether you might slip, consider placing masking tape first on your watch lugs.
Lubricants do dry or congeal over time. Cogs and teeth wear. In just one day, most modern watches make , beats. A fine mechanical watch needs to be serviced regularly. Having your watch receive periodic service is not a profit-making attempt by the watch industry.
Although servicing after warranty can be costly, it usually costs the company more. IWC actually loses money on service. There are many reasons for this, including the need to maintain an inventory of hundreds of thousands of parts and also the fact that servicing a watch involves twice the watchmaking work. For a complete service, a watch needs to be fully disassembled and then reassembled.
Reassembly often is more difficult than on a new watch, since parts have worn and no longer fit perfectly. The question everyone asks is how lengthy an interval should there optimally be between full servicings. Personally, I have a watch serviced when it appears to need service. One watchmaker told me that watches let you know when they need service: symptoms manifest themselves. The watch runs intolerably too slow or fast, or worst of all simply stops.
Or the watch doesn't stay wound, the date doesn't change despite being wound, and so on. Sometimes, a perceived problem is minor and the watch doesn't need a full overhaul. Having a good relationship with an authorized dealer can help, since they can give you an educated second-opinion on your service needs. Someone once said that if everyone saw all the things that could go wrong with childbirth, no one would have children. Here, if one assesses all the problems a mechanical watch might have, few people would want or enjoy them.
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