How to care for your luxury watches?

Iwc Schaffhausen Watch

Our watch has many enemies including dirt, dust, moisture, and shock, temperature extremes and UV radiation. For more than a century, watchmakers like IWC have developed and utilised engineering solutions to fight these enemies.

But still the front-line attack against these enemies must be done by the individual user. To keep these parts running well requires care and maintenance.

Many watch enthusiasts have a lot of tips and tricks to keep their luxury watches like IWC Schaffhausen luxury watches in their best condition. Not surprisingly, given the diversity of opinion about watches generally, not everyone concurs about everything pertaining to watch maintenance. That might work for normal quartz watches but not for luxury watches like Cartier or IWC Schaffhausen watch that are more of an investment.

Find below five tips that will keep your luxury watches in best shape -

1. Keep your watch wound - Even though modern lubricants are long lasting, they do dry or conceal over time. An appropriately lubricated watch will work better and longer. Winding keeps the watch working, and spreads the lubricants. You don't have to do this daily for every watch; try to wind them once monthly.

2. Keep it clean but not with soap

A really dirty watch doesn't look good, and sometimes small particles of debris can work their way inside. You can use a microfibre 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.

3. Check gaskets and seals regularly

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.

4. Use your warranty effectively

Many watchmakers have a warranty for two years from the date of purchase (Not for problems caused by misuse). If you have minor problems with your watch and can wait, it often makes sense to send in your watch for warranty “repair” shortly before the end of the warranty period. That in effect will extend your warranty another full year. It also allows you to get everything resolved at once.

5. Service  is really important

Lubricants do dry or congeal over time.  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. Many luxury watch manufacturers actually lose 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. Regular servicing increases the life of your watches and is highly recommended.