Without a doubt, it’s an exhilarating experience for first-time owners to finally get their hands on their first-ever luxury watch. After all of the preparation, research, browsing, and comparison involved in the shopping process, it feels fulfilling that you made the right choice in picking a particular brand and model. And although many would ask why purchase a timepiece when you can use your smartphone to know the time and more, there’s this allure of owning a watch.
Now that you’ve completed the purchase, it’s good to know how you can properly maintain a luxury timepiece or even a simple watch like a Junghans Max Bill automatic watch. Luxury or not, keeping it in good condition will go a long way for it to last long and even pass it down as an heirloom or sell it later. In this article, let’s talk about mistakes a newbie should avoid when maintaining watches.
What are the Maintenance Mistakes You Could Be Doing with Your Timepiece?
As much as possible, you want to take care of your watch and keep it working for a long time. Or else, you’ve wasted your hard-earned money on the item. First-time owners may not know all of the proper maintenance tips, so this article will be of great use to you and everyone.
- Improper storage of timepieces
Most often than not, people wearing watches regularly will simply place them on their nightstands and grab them on their way out of the room. But with luxury watches, you want to be a little careful. If you opt to not wear it daily and only occasionally, it’s important to keep it in its proper storage away from direct sunlight and in a place where there’s suitable temperature and humidity.
You may keep it in its original box or you can purchase a separate watch winder box or watch roll case. Whichever you choose, you’re saving it from the possibility of watch dials fading, moisture accumulating inside the watch, movement lubricants drying out, and many more. Though you may afford to fix it at the moment, it may become problematic in the long run.
- Not knowing the water resistance level of their timepieces
Are you an adventurous person who likes to test the limits? If you are, then you ought to check what your luxury watch is capable of in terms of water resistance. Although your watch may be water-resistant, taking it too deep may cause some problems to arise and can be too expensive to fix. Even if your watch can be taken down to 50 meters of water, you shouldn’t risk taking it down the ocean or sea too deep. And if your wristwatch has a leather strap or isn’t water-resistant, then it’s best to avoid getting it splashed. Part of your role as its new owner is knowing how to maintain it and this is one of the steps.
- Setting the time while wearing the item
One important thing you should know is that any watch is prone to damage if not properly cared for. Even though some are made to withstand harsh elements, improper maintenance can speed up the damage process. For example, did you know that you can damage a watch simply by wearing it while you set the time? Although it sounds unbelievable, all watches are still pieces of machinery that can break due to mishandling.
When setting the item to the correct time, you will have to turn the watch face using the crown or button on the side and it could be at an angle that puts stress on the movement. Over time, it could lead to the item breaking or the occurrence of scratches due to the nails turning the crown. Luxury watch or not, the best way to fix this is by winding it first before wearing it.
- Getting it too close to magnets
It may seem impossible but it’s still likely to happen, your watch gets magnetized causing it to have accuracy problems or to completely stop working. Without you even knowing or realizing it, you could be exposing your luxury watch to magnets from your phone case, house appliance, speaker, and other things. While being aware of your surroundings does help, it can be difficult to avoid exposing your timepiece to magnets completely.
Make it part of your role to ensure you keep your watches on magnet-free boxes or that there’s no item with magnets inside drawers. You can also use a watch demagnetizer if you know how to or choose to have it serviced by professionals.
Key Takeaways
As a newbie luxury watch owner, it can be overwhelming because you want to keep it properly maintained and working great for a long time. You’re done with the first step by reading this article and knowing what things to avoid. You will possess further knowledge as your collection grows over time.