A mechanical watch is one of the few luxuries that gets better with age—provided you treat it with half the respect you’d show your therapist, mechanic, or mother-in-law. Unlike your smartphone, it’s not built for obsolescence. With a bit of foresight, your watch can outlast its original owner. The trick lies in mastering a few timeless habits.
1. Clean it—gently and often.
A soft wipe after each wear keeps fingerprints and dust from building up. If you’ve been through sweat, rain, or seawater, a gentle rinse (crown fully secured!) is wise. Just avoid soaps, solvents, and ultrasonic cleaners. This isn’t your laundry—all three of these have a chance of damaging gaskets over time.
2. Store it like a grown-up.
No, your sock drawer won’t cut it. A lined watch box or travel roll protects from dust, knocks, and scratches. Keep your timepieces away from direct sunlight, magnets (laptops, speakers, phone cases), and especially in humid regions like India, moisture. A silica gel packet wouldn’t go amiss either—your leather straps will thank you.
3. Wind with care, not compulsion.
Manual? Wind it at the same time daily, slowly and until you feel resistance—no more. Automatic? A short spin if it’s sat a while is enough. And unless you know exactly what you’re doing, skip the winders.
4. Mind the “danger zone.”
Never set the date between 8 PM and 4 AM—especially not between 9 and 3. This is when most mechanical movements are already in the process of switching the date, and the gears involved are under tension. Manually forcing the change during this window can strip teeth, misalign components, or crack the mechanism entirely. Translation: an expensive fix for a completely avoidable mistake.
5. Don’t treat water-resistance as gospel.
That “100m water resistance” marking? It’s swim-safe, not spa-approved. Hot water, steam, and rapid temperature shifts can warp seals and let moisture creep in. If it’s a proper dive watch that you intend to use on marine holidays, get it pressure-tested once a year. If not, err on the side of dry—and don’t even think about pairing leather straps with a rainy commute.
6. Magnets are everywhere.
Magnets are silent saboteurs—and they’re everywhere. Unless your watch comes METAS certified or offers other antimagnetic certifications, your phone case, laptop, even your fridge door can throw your watch’s movement out of sync. If it suddenly starts running absurdly fast, odds are it’s magnetised. It’s a quick fix at a service centre, but far easier to avoid in the first place.
7. Know when to service—and when not to.
Forget the old “service every five years” rule—it’s not a ticking time bomb. If your watch is running smoothly, holds power, and isn’t fogging up, it doesn’t need attention. Service it only when the accuracy noticeably drifts, the power reserve drops, or you spot moisture under the crystal. Needless tinkering can introduce more wear than regular use ever would.
8. Let professionals handle the hard stuff.
Battery swaps, strap changes, even a quick polish—leave those to a pro with the right tools, not your kitchen drawer arsenal. One slip while opening the caseback can damage the gasket, mar the movement, or void your warranty. It’s not worth the DIY badge—though practicing on a less-valuable piece could be an interesting pastime.
9. Let it live.
Watches aren’t museum pieces—they’re meant to move. Leaving them dormant for too long lets oils settle and issues go unnoticed. Even a short weekly wear keeps the movement healthy and gives you a chance to catch problems early. And beyond the mechanics, there’s the sentiment: a scratch here, a faded bezel there— to an optimist, that’s not damage, that’s history. The best watches aren’t babied—they’re worn, remembered, and eventually passed down.
