I got this from http://blog.thewatchenthusiast.com/watch-care

What do you think? General consensus?

Watch Care!

BASIC GUIDELINES

NEVER set the time on your watch backwards.

Doing so might damage your date mechanism. There are more and more exceptions these days but it is easier to follow this for all your watches than to check the instructions first.
DO NOT change the date, month or moon if the watch is between 9 P.M. and 3 A.M.

Especially in complicated watches like Annual or Perpetual calendars! Again, there are more and more exceptions these days but it is easier to follow this for all your watches than to check the instructions first.
AVOID saunas, the beach or any other HOT environments.

Excessive heat will cause the lubricants inside your watch to evaporate. Sudden temperature fluctuations can be very damaging as well.
Service your watch every 4 to 5 years and have your seals and gaskets changed.

Rubber gaskets deteriorate and loose effectiveness over time. Watches, like cars, need oil changes to reduce ware and friction over time. Have this done at an official dealer, don’t take any risks.
Take your watch OFF during sports. Especially tennis, golf or high impact exercises.

Over-winding or hard impacts will have a negative effect on the reliability and performance of the watch.
Rinse and care to leave it submerged in tab-water if you have been in SEA WATER.

Salt water is corrosive to all metals. Rinsing will not be sufficient, soaking for 45 minutes should be enough. Just make use you have a waterproof rating of at least 10 ATM. You should not be in the sea with anything less than that
Waterproof ratings are measured when built, over time this value will diminish.

Take off the last digit and multiply by two, to be safe. If it says “100 meters” or 10 ATM don’t go below 20 meters.
AVOID large speakers, airport scanners or strong magnetic sources.

Magnetic fields can magnetize parts of the movement, thus altering its precision. X-rays machines are OK.
DO NOT wind or set the time of the watch on your wrist.

The crown might bend. Dirt like skin, dust or hairs might get under it and into the mechanism.
Should your watch not be in use for some time, wind it once a month.

This will keep the parts inside the watch evenly lubricated.
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Found it after reading the article about The Extreme Lab 2! Impressive watch!!

 

I think the author is overly cautious and doesn't know very much about the technical side of watches. Some of this is obvious, but some complete nonsense. I play tennis regularly wearing a mechanical watch...in fact just now got back from a 2 hour session and I can assure you my watch is fine.

Having to soak your watch for 45 minutes to rinse off seawater? Nonsense.

I could go on but I think you get the point.

Cheers, Al

 

I think most of my watches must just be scrapped by now, I don't know how they could still be running.

I think I'll go soak them in lightly chilled olive oil for a while, extra virgin.

 

Talk about babying your watch! He could have just wrote "Leave your watch in the box it came in and NEVER EVER TOUCH IT!".

 

As Al says, he is very cautious and doesn't have much of a technical grasp of things so, I wouldn't worry if you don't follow exactly what he says. I liked this quote somewhere on the site:

Another issue is about waterproof ratings. Most brands indicate WRONGLY for example 3 ATM / 30 meters. First of all, 3 ATM correspond to 20 meters.

This is just a basic lack of knowledge of gauge (delta) pressure versus absolute pressure. A 30m watch is a 3 atmosphere watch.

But the most important thing is that the conversion is right according to physics, but wrong when claiming that you can dive down to 20 or 30 meters with your watch: it is NOT waterproof, only water-resistant. A rule of the thumb will tell you that in order to swim or dive with a watch, it has to have a case resistance of at least 10 ATM. Why? Well, the case might resist a swim, but the crown is not built to resist the pressure of a dive. The watches made to swim or dive have a specially designed crown gasket to stand the pressure.

I don't know what "rule of thumb" he's using but the dynamic pressure generated by a dive is a fraction of 10 bar. It would be quite safe to follow what your watch manufacturer says but get those seals checked regularly.

Must be careful not to "bend my crown" the next time I set a watch

Cheers, Chris

 

Some watches deserve rough treatment,

 

That's some serious paranoia! And that line about soaking a watch for 45 minutes after being in sea water? Ridiculous.

Next thing he'll say is that you shouldn't wear it if you sweat because that can also damage the watch.

 

Watch out on eBay! Unless it is impossible to find anywhere else try to go to your official local dealer.

It has become a classic for people to get coned over the net and the tendency is growing.







Three unhappy eBay buyers:

 

How about I just throw it in the fish tank for 45 minutes, I did swim in the salt water pool

 

Watch itWashing off the fish poob takes at least 2h34 minutes of soak time in +28,7°C fresh water I read this from...eeh...internet

 

But is it an automatic and do you wear your watch on your hitting hand?
Or do you have a mean two-handed-Björn-Borg back hand?
[emoji462]

 

I hold the racket with my right hand, and wear the watch on the left. I do however use a 2 handed backhand...

The watch is manual wind - sometimes with an ETA 6487, and I have also played several times wearing my Speedy Pro with Cal. 861.

 

45 minute soak after salt water... Wow amazing my dive gear has not rotted away or my 20 year old dive knife!!!!

 

Ok, thanks, so two manual winds on the "backhand" wrist. How would an automatic on a forehand wrist fare, do you think?
The oscilating weight would get thrown around alot!
I thing Nomos have a caliber where the weight has a brake when the main spring is fully wound. Pretty cool, I guess.
Best regards, jens

 

I would not recommend wearing an automatic...the mass of the rotor is not something you really want pounding around inside the watch. Even if there is not an immediate failure (rotor axle breaking, axle jewel breaking, bearing failure, etc.) the repeated deflection of the rotor can cause it to hit and damage other movement plates. If it sees enough cycles, the rotor itself can fail, like this one did:



Not the only example of this I've seen either...

Manual winding watches are much safer to wear during heavy use.

Cheers, Al

 

He said that winding watches must be wound once a month. So leave the watch in the box and only ever touch it 12 times a year for the express purpose of winding.

 

Wow, I am quite impressed the metal can snap like that! Tells you something about the forces at play in there!

Thanks, Al!

 

That's from @Archer repeatedly smacking his forehead when reading OF. Serious stuff.