2 common mistakes when setting the time of your vintage watch
Every watch lover knows it: You wore your favourite watch for 3 days straight and now another watch needs to be wound up (or heavily moved) and set to the correct time. If you wear a Quartz watch you will recognise this due to the winter and summer time changes.
These are two things that you should never do if you are going to change the time of your watch.
Of course, everyone knows that you can set the time by pulling the watch crown and turn it until the time is correct. But did you know these two common mistakes?
Do not turn the watch hands counterclockwise
When you want to set the time back an hour, it may be tempting to turn the hands counterclockwise to the correct time. This may be the shortest route, but not the best. This can cause damage to your watch.
The correct way is to turn the hands clockwise until you get the correct time. This may take a little longer, but trust us, your watch will be thankful (unless you want to please your watchmaker of course, then go ahead) .
The reason you have to do this is because watches are designed to turn the hands clockwise; and not against it. When you turn counterclockwise, you force the watch to do something it is not designed for. This can cause fatal damage and a high service bill.
Do not change the date within 3 hours of midnight (if you have a no-date watch you are safe)
Do not change the date of the watch within the three hours before midnight and three hours after midnight (9PM-3AM). There is a clear reason for this. The date on your watch automatically jumps to the next one every night.
However, this does not always happen exactly at 12 o’clock. You should not turn the crown around the moment the date automatically jumps to the next date. The watch is very fragile at that time and the crown can even break.
Because you do not know exactly when the watch will automatically jump to the next date, it is better not to move it within three hours of midnight. This way you are assured that it will not be damaged.
These common mistakes sound obvious but you will be stunned by the amount of people that don’t know this. Don’t make these mistakes. It’s a little effort, but it can save a lot of hassle and money!
