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.