So just a brief word about vintage watches, specifically as daily wearers.  There are some that function quite happily in this category, and some that really.... don't. Essentially this all comes down to how fragile the watch is, and the best examples of this are pocket watches. These watches are generally heavier than wristwatches, and when they get dropped, serious damage often occurs. F=ma. This is exacerbated by the fact that in many case, there is no shock system for these old balances. Old wristwatches without shock protection are similarly at risk. We've all seen the old square, ta ..read more

Ok, just a word here about the ubiquitous quartz watch.... We do a lot of battery changes, and there are some things to keep in mind about quartz watches and batteries in general. If you change the battery yourself, do NOT touch the battery with your fingers, use finger cots. Likewise, do not touch the watch movement itself or use a vise to shut the snap back case. That last one is common sense, right? RIGHT? Anyway, we do see fairly regularly a lot of fresh batteries in watches that do not run, or fail soon after battery change, now why would this be, you ask? Quartz watches are fragile, in ..read more

Just a quick word here about watch repairs and restoration, and when and why to do them. For those that have extensive experience with this, you may want to skip this, but for anyone who is new to watch collecting or has only recently wondered IF they should restore Grand Dad's pocket watch, read on.... First, Grand Dad's or GrandMa's old pocket watch. If it is not being wound and used on a regular basis, you need do nothing, it is only if you intend to run it regularly that you might want to think about a service or restoration. Sometimes just a wee display dome is all that is necessary for ..read more

Ok, so I haven't increased my price on battery replacement in almost ten years, but lately I have been considering pricing certain jobs higher than that because of PITA factor. People often ask me 'How hard is it to change a battery?' and the answer is sometimes it isn't hard at all, other times it is a nightmare. Curved cases require special dies and presses to close the case backs and some watches, like Bering and Skagen, are difficult to work with because the whole front of the watch is glass or sapphire.  Really cheap watches, you can close the case with your fingers, but anything decent q ..read more

Ok, lately there has been a considerable uptick in the number of fakes crossing my bench, maybe there are seasons for this type of thing, I dunno. Some of the following is a re-iteration of parts of posts I have made in the past, so if it sounds familiar, that's why..... A lot of fakes are blatantly obvious, like a watch that is supposed to be an automatic and the second hand ticks in one-second increments because it is a quartz. I see a lot of fake Rolexes like this, and they are extremely cheap and awful. When someone deliberately misrepresents a watch as genuine, knowing it to be a fake, we ..read more

I've been getting more inquiries about this, and were seems to be some confusion as to what happens during clock service. First of all, in the case of all mechanical clocks, they require service every 8 to 12 years. Since this NEVER happens, the clock will run for decades until metal-on-metal wear cause it to fail, sometimes spectacularly. If the power of a wound mainspring is unleashed suddenly, as is the case with a broken wheel tooth or pinion tooth/stave, the backlash can destroy the clock movement. Basically, for a mass produced clock this is game over, unless you want to spend an absurd ..read more

Just a quick word here about the meaning and usage of the word 'Rare' as it pertains to watches and clocks. Everybody's favourite auction site does tend to over-use the word 'rare', if you were to go by what you read there, 99% of all mechanical watches are 'Rare', or 'Unique.' Unique means one of a kind, and obviously, should only be used when describing exactly that.  So what about 'Rare?' Most companies that produced mechanical watches in the last 150 years made a LOT of them, sometimes millions per year. Depending on what country you are reading this in, what we see everyday may differ fro ..read more

Regular readers of this sporadic writing have heard me warn of the Achilles heel of Quartz watches- Magnetic fields, along with heat and leaky batteries, but the Mechanical watch has one also. The staff of the balance in your mechanical watch has pivots that are very small, and they are hardened. They sit in a shock-absorbing assembly designed to protect them, but a good whack can and does shear them right off.  The most common cause of this type of damage is dropping the watch, but it can also be from striking the watch inadvertently against a door frame, for example. Now the above describes ..read more

Ok, this is going to sound a little odd, but hear me out. Have you ever heard the expression 'The dirt was holding it together'? Well, turns out that is almost true in some cases, particularly with clocks. I run into this quite a lot, a clock hasn't been serviced in many years (99.99% of the time) and sometimes it runs ok, sometimes not. Sometimes it runs quite well, and here I encounter the 'Don't fix it if it ain't broke' kind of thinking. I assure you, this does not apply to a lot of mechanical things, it is better to be proactive and do preventative maintenance. Clocks are a collection of ..read more

I've had some questions recently regarding the operation of an automatic watch. This technology goes back to the 20's, but a self winding pocket watch was made by Breguet in 1777, the same year a similar watch was claimed by Perrelet. Further claims were made by other watchmakers of the time, not the least Le Roy, but I'm not going to delve into that here, it is a hotly contested thing, being able to say you were first. Breguet still exists as a company, as does Perrelet. An automatic watch utilizes a weight which moves with the motion of the wearer, and was at first a pendule type, followed ..read more