Owner's manual

It is essential to remember that most of our watches are at least 40 years old, and unless otherwise noted, may show signs of wear in line with their age. Mechanical watches can endure decades of daily use, but will require maintenance from time to time.

 

We time all of our watches using a timegrapher to ensure accuracy, but it's important to understand that mechanical watches are not always as accurate as their modern quartz counterparts. Properly caring for your new vintage watch is paramount in preserving its condition. We wanted to share some best practices to help you do just that.

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• Regardless of what the case back says, keep your vintage watches dry whenever possible.

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• All efforts to avoid shock should be taken. Mechanical watch movements contain many delicate moving parts that can be damaged as the result of an impact.

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• For watches equipped with a crown quick set function, it is best to change the date manually when the hour hand is positioned in the "southern hemisphere" of the dial (after 3:00 and before 9:00). This ensures that the mechanism is disengaged and prevents damage caused by undue stress.

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• Properly initiating a self-winding movement will increase the accuracy of your automatic watch. Holding the watch in your hand with the dial facing up, shake it back and forth in an arc so that you can feel the rotor turning inside. Fully winding the mainspring can take approximately two minutes. The rotor will take care of maintaining the wind as the watch is worn. Care should be taken not to over bank (over wind) manually wound watches. The resistance on the crown will start to increase as the mainspring tightens. Do not force the crown beyond the natural stopping point of the mainspring. A dozen or less full rotations of the crown every 40 hours or so should be sufficient.

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• If your watch is fitted with a screw down crown, be sure that it is properly tightened before wear. This will help to prevent moisture or debris from entering the watch

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• Avoid contact with magnets and stronger magnetic fields as they can cause damage to the delicate hairspring within the balance. We make sure to demagnetize all of our watches upon arrival.

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• Most vintage watches are fitted with acrylic crystals. Though not as durable as the sapphire crystals used today, acrylic crystals can usually be polished several times should they become scratched.