WATCH CARE

The best care advice to increase the value of your timepiece!

Whether you've purchased a brand new watch or inherited a family heirloom, a good watch not only looks and feels satisfying to wear, it can hold its value - or perhaps increase its worth - with age. Like a good wine, look after it and store it well and you can enjoy years of maturing value.

Here Mr. Town Talk and the professional jewellery and antique experts at AC Silver based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, discuss how best to look after your most precious timepieces.

READ OUR HISTORY OF WATCHES AND WATCH MAKING >>

THE BEST WAY TO CLEAN YOUR WATCH

Mr. Town Talk: "It's simple for me to answer this one - it takes just a few swift moments to clean your watch and add to its longevity. Cleaning your watch also provides you the perfect opportunity to pause and appreciate your its beautiful design!

"Watches that are worn regularly will suffer from a build up of natural dirt from the body and the environment and most of the time, all that is needed is a quick wipe with a suitable, soft cloth. Town Talk provides the perfect soft cloth for the purpose - the 'Miracle Microfibre Watch Cleaning Cloth'. This is a luxury grade Microfibre with a tighter weave than standard Microfibre cloths. The unique weave means the cloth doesn't get caught on any parts of the watch e.g. bracelet, diamonds or the crown leaving fluffy fibres behind. It will also remove stubborn finger marks and surface dirt from the glass or crystal face too.

"With metal straps, every few months you may notice a build up of dirt collecting between the gaps in the bracelet. if so, try using my Town  Talk Impressive Jewellery Spray, which enables you to apply a controlled amount of cleaner onto the bracelet exactly where you want it. The small brush that comes with it has specially designed bristles perfect for getting out any dirt.

"For leather straps, the main piece of advice I can give is to limit the exposure to direct sunlight, which will dry it out. Avoid contact with moisture, cosmetics or oily products, which may cause staining. If a leather strap does come into contact with any of these, dry it immediately with a soft, absorbent cloth and place in a well ventilated area to air dry.


MR. TOWN TALK'S TOP TIPS:

• My Watch Cleaning Cloth is a miracle of microfibre technology. Made from wonderfully soft material, with fibres a fraction the size of a human hair, it will ensure a timely radiance for every style of gold, silver or white metal watch, and keep intricate metal bracelets clean. What's more my microfibre cloth is WASHABLE, so it can be used time and time again!
• A gold or silver watch band or bracelet can be polished with the appropriate Town Talk gold or silver polishing cloth, whilst a stainless steel strap can be polished with the silver cloth. These cloths will remove light surface scratches and restore a wonderful lustre or shine.
• Store unworn watches separately, to avoid scratches caused by friction. If left on the side overnight, place on our watch cloth to avoid any marking. If left for longer periods unworn, place it in either a watch box or a dust tight pouch.*Ensure you store in a place that doesn't suffer from "temperature shocks" and, of course, valuable watches should be kept in a safe.

AC SILVER'S TOP TIPS:

• Just like any machine, a watch movement will function more effectively if professionally serviced and/or cleaned regularly
• Perfumes should not be sprayed directly on to watches or watch straps
• Water resistance does not mean the same as water proof! Water resistance means a watch should still function if only mildly wet – i.e. in rain. Waterproof however, means the watch will remain watertight under several feet/meters of water.
• If you buy a new watch make sure you keep the original box and paperwork - it helps to add value if you come to sell it.
• Omega and Rolex are still firm favourites but if you're buying an antique watch, try to look out for the following:
• Is the watch sold with any guarantee? If so, for how long? 
• Has the watch been cleaned and serviced? 
• Is the original paperwork/box/sales receipt supplied? 
• Check authenticity of serial numbers (contact the manufacturer to validate the serial number - include a photo of the watch with your request)
• Check the movement ID number correlates with the stated age of the watch and or bracelet strap
• Check for the availability of replacement parts such as strap/crown (winder), or repair work

If you'd like any more of Mr Town Talk's Top Tips Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or sign up at TownTalkPolish.com. Our special thanks go to AC Silver for their expert advice on antique watches and jewellery.

Mr Town Talk’s Gleaming Polished World was established in Lancashire, Great Britain in 1895 to supply the finest Polishes, Cleaners and Accessories for Silver, Gold and Precious Metal Jewellery. More recently, Mr Town Talk’s range of unparalleled products has been expanded to include Household Cleaners and Laundry Requisites.

A HISTORY OF WATCHES

Whether you've purchased a brand new watch or inherited a family heirloom, a good watch not only looks and feels satisfying to wear, it can hold its value - or perhaps increase its worth - with age. Like a good wine, look after it and store it well and you can enjoy years of maturing value.

Here Mr. Town Talk and the professional jewellery and antique experts at AC Silver based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, investigate the history of watch manufacture.

SEE OUR TIPS ON CLEANING AND CARING FOR YOUR TIMEPIECE >>

AN ANTIQUE WATCH V A MODERN WATCH

Mr. Town Talk: "What do you see as the main differences between antique watches and today’s modern watches?"
AC Silver: "Initially, watches were functional items, allowing an individual to keep track of time whilst on the move. Over time, they have become more advanced i.e. anti-magnetic/automatic/ capable of remaining watertight under a great depth of water.

Latterly, watches have become more of a statement piece: either as a fashion accessory, or an overt display of wealth. Modern technology and newer designs allow watches to be made in all shapes and sizes. No longer do watches just ‘keep the time': today's watches keep ‘perfect/auto-adjusting’ time and also have an array of various functions, from the more common chronographs to Breitling’s Navitimer World, which houses a dual time zone system. Ultra-modern examples such as the Apple Watch, released in April 2015, incorporate state of the art technology enabling use of online applications and synchronization with mobile phones.

TIMELINE OF WATCH DEVELOPMENT

1400s -
The mechanical watch, requiring a key to wind it up, appeared in the late 1400s. Timepieces worn on the wrist were very slowly introduced in the mid-1600s and English and Swiss horologists became the main watch movement producers worldwide.

1800s -
The vast majority of watch movements (some of which by this time had interchangeable parts) in the late 1800s to mid-1900s were hand crafted in Switzerland, hence Swiss movements being so prevalent at this time. America however was soon to become a serious competitor and a catalyst in the development of watch technology. Wristwatches only became readily available in the early 1900s - the time when the Greenwich Meridian was recognised as the baseline for worldwide time zones.

1900s -
With the development of steel and modern technology in the early 1900s, watch cases were more easily mass produced and could be made watertight. Mechanism and refined engineering techniques permitted smaller and many more components to be made for a single timepiece.

Sales of wristwatches and pocket watches became comparable by the 1930s. Watch keys were no longer needed to ‘wind up’ the movement, instead an integrated ‘crown’ or winder was incorporated into wristwatch design. With increased sales in wristwatches, mass production and new technologies facilitated the production of self-winding, automatic, battery and quartz operated watches to be manufactured at ‘reasonable’ cost. Potentially, such watches were better at accurate timekeeping than mechanical watches and the use of electricity reduced the number of kinetic mechanical components.

By the mid 1970s digital, light emitting diode (LED) watches were replaced by thinner watches with liquid crystal displays (LCD). Then, by the turn of the 21st century, we saw the introduction of silicon in watch movement production and modern watches may now be considered to be mini computers in their own right."

ANTIQUE WATCHES IN A MODERN WORLD

Mr. Town Talk: "An antique watch is the most wonderful of treasured possessions to own, but what are the challenges of the wearing an antique timepiece in a modern world?"

AC Silver: "Like most antique items, authentic timepieces need to be cared for as the irreplaceable components may become damaged or knocked out of synch. Replaceable parts, or the skill and craftsmanship to fit such parts may be difficult to source.

Depending on the age or type of watch, water resistance may not be guaranteed, never mind true waterproofing! This can be easily forgotten, and a watch worn when in effect, it should be removed."



If you'd like any more of Mr Town Talk's Top Tips Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or sign up at TownTalkPolish.com. Our special thanks go to AC Silver for their expert advice on antique watches and jewellery.

Mr Town Talk’s Gleaming Polished World was established in Lancashire, Great Britain in 1895 to supply the finest Polishes, Cleaners and Accessories for Silver, Gold and Precious Metal Jewellery. More recently, Mr Town Talk’s range of unparalleled products has been expanded to include Household Cleaners and Laundry Requisites.

WHY DOES SILVER TARNISH?

There's a man who knows the answer to this question - Mr. Town Talk, The Polished Gentleman. Here Mr. Town talk shares his knowledge to help you care for special silver items:

WHAT IS TARNISH?

"I am often asked what causes silverware to tarnish or what the dreadful staining on silver cutlery is. It's simply a matter of science: tarnish occurs on silver due to the way the chemicals in the environment react with the metal Silver has the ability to combine with other elements in the air, such as sulphur. When this occurs, a new compound forms on the surface of the silver, which we know to be "tarnish".

"Tarnishing is a natural process for silver, but the industrial pollutants found in today’s atmosphere, and traces of sulphur from gas appliances such as cookers, fires and boilers, can speed up its formation. High humidity levels will also cause silver to tarnish much faster. Tarnish doesn't damage your silver but it does look dirty and spoils the appearance of treasured posessions, causing many of us to hide items away in cupboards instead of having them proudly on display."

Silver cup before

After: cleaned using Town Talk's
Excellent Anti-Tarnish Silver Foam

MAKE LIGHT WORK OF CLEANING TARNISH FROM SILVER

"Luckily there are special products available that will swiftly remove tarnish from any type of silver - whether that's cutlery, jewellery, candlesticks or salt cellars! Gone are the days of hours spent buffing away over a kitchen table, in fact those who have discovered my Town Talk silver cleaning and polishing products know that tarnish can be banished in a jiffy."

HOW DOES THE ANTI-TARNISH WORK?

"Cleaning with my products creates a simple chemical reaction that’s the reverse of the one used to apply silver plate to brass and copper. This technique is perfectly safe when you use my products as directed – and the tarnish disappears in front of your eyes – but this is only one part of the work done; my polishes not only remove tarnish, they also polish silver and add an anti-tarnish protector, which effectively reduces the amount of time needed to care for your items."

Town Talk's
Excellent Anti-Tarnish Silver Foam

WHY CHOOSE TOWN TALK PRODUCTS?

"Everyone who produces silver cleaning products uses abrasive-based formulations. Abrasives are sophisticated industrial products that come in many different sizes, shapes and degrees of hardness to irritate particles of dirt and tarnish to remove them from the silver. The skill of the manufacturer lies in selecting abrasives whose properties most closely meet the needs of the metal being cleaned. I personally don't feel you can use a blanket approach to all cleaners. For example, silver and gold don’t require the same hard abrasives needed for stainless steel or the slightly finer abrasive used on brass. My products are specially formulated for each type of metal and are sufficiently abrasive to cut through tarnish and grime and then polish silver to a glowing brilliance. In fact, they are so fine they work almost invisibly!"

ON ALL TYPES OF SILVER!

"Silversmiths and silverware companies of any note use advanced silver plating technologies that ensure a finish that’s both beautiful and highly durable. The chance of removing all the silver from one of these companies' goods is so unlikely that virtually all fine plated silverware sold today is unconditionally guaranteed. On the other hand, silver plate manufactured 30 or more years ago may be less durable, but is likely to be more heavily plated. My polishes are gentler and more effective than the cleaners generally being sold at that time - in fact one of the most important abrasives used in my silver care products is also one of the most common abrasives used in toothpaste - so will ensure any heirlooms will continue to shine for many years to come."

ONCE IT'S CLEAN, PROTECT IT!

"The anti-tarnish protectors are one of the most important ingredients in all my silver care products; the protectors contain a special molecule that can bond to silver. When it’s included in my silver cleaning product, a very small quantity of anti-tarnish protector bonds to the surface of the silver and forms an invisible shield that protects it from tarnish-forming substances. Of course, my anti-tarnish protector is non-toxic and colourless, which means your silver’s natural beauty is undiminished."

Antique box before

After: cleaned using Town Talk's
Astonishing Anti-Tarnish Silver Polish Spray

"Ultimately, the anti-tarnish ingredient breaks down, but not before it’s significantly lengthened the time during which your silverware remains shining and bright. What’s more, my specially formulated anti-tarnish ingredient is particularly durable. So you can be sure my products will go on being effective for much longer than other cleaning options on the market.

Astonishing Anti-Tarnish
Silver Polish Spray

"My Astonishing Anti-Tarnish Silver Polish Spray or Excellent Anti-Tarnish Silver Foam works well on most silverware, getting in to nooks and crannies as well as covering large surface areas easily as required. My Astonishing Anti-Tarnish Silver Sparkle Tissues are more suitable for cleaning cutlery or small silver articles and other items that combine silver with other materials. Whatever your silver item, I have an easy to use product that will bring it up a treat.

"Good luck with your silver project, ask me any cleaning questions you'd like at MrTownTalk@TownTalkPolish.com"

If you'd like any more of Mr Town Talk's Top Tips Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or sign up at TownTalkPolish.com

Mr Town Talk’s Gleaming Polished World was established in Lancashire, Great Britain in 1895, to supply the finest Polishes, Cleaners and Accessories for Silver, Gold and Precious Metal Jewellery, Cutlery and Cutlery Storage. More recently, Mr Town Talk’s range of unparalleled products has been expanded to include Household Cleaners and Laundry Requisites.