My Clock ran very well for many years but now has begun to stop or not chime properly. Does it just need a cleaning?
Often when I hear this I will ask when the clock was last serviced, only to discover either it was never serviced in it's life, or it was many years ago, usually something in the order of three decades or more. The wear to clock movements is metal on metal, and the best analogy I can give is like a car engine. Dirt and lack of oil will destroy them. This is not to say that you should oil a dirty movement, all this does is make sure the dirt migrates exactly where you don't want it. In real terms, there is no such thing as 'just a cleaning'. To clean the clock mechanism properly, it must be fully disassembled and cleaned in an ultrasonic machine using industry standard solutions. This is the same first step in a complete overhaul, and in 99.9% of the clocks I see, overhaul is necessary. Whether it is a badly set or fatigued mainspring or badly worn plates and pivots, these things will stop your clock or affect it's running and must be addressed for the clock to continue to run properly.
So WD 40 should not be used on the mechanism?
Absolutely not!
First of all, WD 40 is NOT a lubricant, it is, as the name suggests, a Water Displacement compound. It will strip the lube and some of the dirt, but leave your components bone dry and may wash the dirt into the very places it will do the most damage. I should also add here, any kind of lubricant spray should not be used on clocks. (Or watches, for that matter) The teeth of the wheels do not require lubrication, and this will only gum them up, attract dirt and dust, and accelerate wear. The clock should only be oiled sparingly at the pivots, and several other areas but under no circumstances ever dipped in lube or sprayed with it. So no spray lube, no Kerosene, no WD 40. This includes putting a small jar or pot of oil, kerosene, or any other liquid inside the clock case. (Yes, this also goes for Whale oil)
I think my Clock (or vintage watch) is only over-wound. Is that a simple fix?
This is a myth. There is no such thing as over-winding. The clock or watch is either wound up or it isn't, and a non-running clock or watch that doesn't run when fully wound is damaged or completely gummed up. Often, it is under a full wind that any issues will make themselves known, when, for example, the pivots are pushed sideways in their worn-out oval holes, and they jam the clock mechanism. This may not happen at low power.
My Great- Grandfather's pocket watch ran perfectly for his whole life, and never needed a nickel of repairs. Why is it now not working?
If the watch was never serviced in any way, this is a red flag. Often this means the watch will be very worn out. I see this most in wristwatches from the twenties and thirties, having passed through the Depression. Understandably, having your watch serviced was not high on the list of things to spend money on, and these early watches are often so worn out as to be not economically repairable. The same cannot be said for pocket watches from the same era, depending on certain factors. Because the pocket watch was falling out of favour, many of these watches were 'retired', that is, put away in a drawer and not run for many decades, while the wristwatch enjoyed it's new popularity. That is not to say we never see completely worn out pocket watches, but they are more likely to have a broken staff, due to their mass, and when broken were put away and not touched for many many years.
I like the idea of mechanical watches, but they are so expensive. How can I justify the cost?
Mechanical watches are here to stay. This green technology will last a lifetime or more, if properly taken care of. If you take into account the inflation factor, a good automatic watch today is actually cheaper than it was in 1950. Sure, there are the luxury brands, but you can find an excellent Swiss mechanical watch for $400 to $600, and the ubiquitous Seiko 5 can still be had for around $100, depending on the model.
My watch has a waterproof rating, why did it leak?
This can be caused by many things. If the gaskets are not regularly replaced on a rated watch, the rating should not be taken as accurate. This can be as frequently as every two years for an ISO dive watch, (Or every year) or every 4 to 6 years on a 100 meter, non-dive watch. If the watch does not have a screw down crown, a rating of anything over three atmospheres is unrealistic. This was very common in vintage watches, and the word 'waterproof' should be taken with a grain of salt. If the watch has pushers that do not screw down, they may still be capable of a fairly decent rating, but should not be activated while submerged. Even with gaskets replaced, some rated vintage watches will not retain their original depth rating due to corrosion, physical damage or exposure to certain chemicals and conditions. Hot water shrinks rubber gaskets, and can make your watch fail. This is why hot tubbing will void the warranty on a rated watch. Mist on the inside of the crystal is not necessarily a leak. Depending on the ambient humidity when the watch was cased up, the small amount of airborne moisture will sometimes condense on a cold crystal.
It is important to remember that even with a 100 meter rating, this means basically surface swimming, since the ratings are tested statically. I do not recommend that any valuable vintage watch be subjected to immersion, rated, gaskets or not.
Do I have to buy a Swiss watch? Are all Chinese watches low quality?
Absolutely not. The Swiss have a very long and storied horological history, but the watch as we know it appeared simultaneously in Germany, France and Italy in around 1492. The English have a well deserved reputation for fine watchmaking and clockmaking, and the oldest working clock is at Salisbury Cathedral, dating to on or before 1286. Interestingly, the first watchmaker in Geneva was a Frenchman, but I digress....
Chinese and Japanese watches can be extremely good quality, but like all things of good quality they are not cheap. There is, for example, a Platinum Seiko that sells for over $50,000, and yes, it is hands down an exquisite piece that kicks the butt of the Seiko 5.
Chinese haute horlogerie can be equally impressive. We have become so used to expecting cheap things from China in our discount stores, we imagine that everything from there is poorly made.
Not so.
Some Chinese movements have been passed off as Swiss by reputable makers and have fooled many. A friend of mine in Beijing last year sent me some pics of the Chinese version of the Basel Fair, and there were many high quality watch companies that are unknown here in the West. The jury is still out on the longevity of some of the more common modern Chinese mechanicals, but the Jei Fang has been around long enough to prove itself, and the Beijing Watch Co., as well as Seagull and others, produce perfectly reliable timepieces.
I recently had a close look at a Seiko SARB 065, and at around $600, is a formidable watch, beautifully made. I'd get one in a heartbeat, but I'm all about what is under the hood. Also keep in mind, that some of the biggest watch companies have furniture, that is, cases and bracelets made in China. Omega is a perfect example of this.
If I were the Swiss makers, and Swatch in particular, I'd be watching my rearview mirror.
Often when I hear this I will ask when the clock was last serviced, only to discover either it was never serviced in it's life, or it was many years ago, usually something in the order of three decades or more. The wear to clock movements is metal on metal, and the best analogy I can give is like a car engine. Dirt and lack of oil will destroy them. This is not to say that you should oil a dirty movement, all this does is make sure the dirt migrates exactly where you don't want it. In real terms, there is no such thing as 'just a cleaning'. To clean the clock mechanism properly, it must be fully disassembled and cleaned in an ultrasonic machine using industry standard solutions. This is the same first step in a complete overhaul, and in 99.9% of the clocks I see, overhaul is necessary. Whether it is a badly set or fatigued mainspring or badly worn plates and pivots, these things will stop your clock or affect it's running and must be addressed for the clock to continue to run properly.
So WD 40 should not be used on the mechanism?
Absolutely not!
First of all, WD 40 is NOT a lubricant, it is, as the name suggests, a Water Displacement compound. It will strip the lube and some of the dirt, but leave your components bone dry and may wash the dirt into the very places it will do the most damage. I should also add here, any kind of lubricant spray should not be used on clocks. (Or watches, for that matter) The teeth of the wheels do not require lubrication, and this will only gum them up, attract dirt and dust, and accelerate wear. The clock should only be oiled sparingly at the pivots, and several other areas but under no circumstances ever dipped in lube or sprayed with it. So no spray lube, no Kerosene, no WD 40. This includes putting a small jar or pot of oil, kerosene, or any other liquid inside the clock case. (Yes, this also goes for Whale oil)
I think my Clock (or vintage watch) is only over-wound. Is that a simple fix?
This is a myth. There is no such thing as over-winding. The clock or watch is either wound up or it isn't, and a non-running clock or watch that doesn't run when fully wound is damaged or completely gummed up. Often, it is under a full wind that any issues will make themselves known, when, for example, the pivots are pushed sideways in their worn-out oval holes, and they jam the clock mechanism. This may not happen at low power.
My Great- Grandfather's pocket watch ran perfectly for his whole life, and never needed a nickel of repairs. Why is it now not working?
If the watch was never serviced in any way, this is a red flag. Often this means the watch will be very worn out. I see this most in wristwatches from the twenties and thirties, having passed through the Depression. Understandably, having your watch serviced was not high on the list of things to spend money on, and these early watches are often so worn out as to be not economically repairable. The same cannot be said for pocket watches from the same era, depending on certain factors. Because the pocket watch was falling out of favour, many of these watches were 'retired', that is, put away in a drawer and not run for many decades, while the wristwatch enjoyed it's new popularity. That is not to say we never see completely worn out pocket watches, but they are more likely to have a broken staff, due to their mass, and when broken were put away and not touched for many many years.
I like the idea of mechanical watches, but they are so expensive. How can I justify the cost?
Mechanical watches are here to stay. This green technology will last a lifetime or more, if properly taken care of. If you take into account the inflation factor, a good automatic watch today is actually cheaper than it was in 1950. Sure, there are the luxury brands, but you can find an excellent Swiss mechanical watch for $400 to $600, and the ubiquitous Seiko 5 can still be had for around $100, depending on the model.
My watch has a waterproof rating, why did it leak?
This can be caused by many things. If the gaskets are not regularly replaced on a rated watch, the rating should not be taken as accurate. This can be as frequently as every two years for an ISO dive watch, (Or every year) or every 4 to 6 years on a 100 meter, non-dive watch. If the watch does not have a screw down crown, a rating of anything over three atmospheres is unrealistic. This was very common in vintage watches, and the word 'waterproof' should be taken with a grain of salt. If the watch has pushers that do not screw down, they may still be capable of a fairly decent rating, but should not be activated while submerged. Even with gaskets replaced, some rated vintage watches will not retain their original depth rating due to corrosion, physical damage or exposure to certain chemicals and conditions. Hot water shrinks rubber gaskets, and can make your watch fail. This is why hot tubbing will void the warranty on a rated watch. Mist on the inside of the crystal is not necessarily a leak. Depending on the ambient humidity when the watch was cased up, the small amount of airborne moisture will sometimes condense on a cold crystal.
It is important to remember that even with a 100 meter rating, this means basically surface swimming, since the ratings are tested statically. I do not recommend that any valuable vintage watch be subjected to immersion, rated, gaskets or not.
Do I have to buy a Swiss watch? Are all Chinese watches low quality?
Absolutely not. The Swiss have a very long and storied horological history, but the watch as we know it appeared simultaneously in Germany, France and Italy in around 1492. The English have a well deserved reputation for fine watchmaking and clockmaking, and the oldest working clock is at Salisbury Cathedral, dating to on or before 1286. Interestingly, the first watchmaker in Geneva was a Frenchman, but I digress....
Chinese and Japanese watches can be extremely good quality, but like all things of good quality they are not cheap. There is, for example, a Platinum Seiko that sells for over $50,000, and yes, it is hands down an exquisite piece that kicks the butt of the Seiko 5.
Chinese haute horlogerie can be equally impressive. We have become so used to expecting cheap things from China in our discount stores, we imagine that everything from there is poorly made.
Not so.
Some Chinese movements have been passed off as Swiss by reputable makers and have fooled many. A friend of mine in Beijing last year sent me some pics of the Chinese version of the Basel Fair, and there were many high quality watch companies that are unknown here in the West. The jury is still out on the longevity of some of the more common modern Chinese mechanicals, but the Jei Fang has been around long enough to prove itself, and the Beijing Watch Co., as well as Seagull and others, produce perfectly reliable timepieces.
I recently had a close look at a Seiko SARB 065, and at around $600, is a formidable watch, beautifully made. I'd get one in a heartbeat, but I'm all about what is under the hood. Also keep in mind, that some of the biggest watch companies have furniture, that is, cases and bracelets made in China. Omega is a perfect example of this.
If I were the Swiss makers, and Swatch in particular, I'd be watching my rearview mirror.
