Cleaning and maintaining your watch with care, our tips
How to clean and care for your watch to keep it looking great? To keep your watch for many years, it must be cleaned and maintained with care! Charlie Paris reveals its advice to you so that you can keep your watch as long as possible. The maintenance of your automatic watch or battery watch is not necessarily easy because watches have a sensitive mechanism. It is therefore necessary to take care of it with small simple gestures. How to clean its glass? its strap? its case? We answer all these questions in this article.
Maintaining your automatic or quartz watch, the first steps:
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Your watch must be worn: an automatic or quartz watch should not remain several years in the bottom of the drawer. Watches, especially automatic ones, are made to be in motion. The maintenance of your automatic watch involves wearing it at least three times a year to avoid damaging the mechanism.
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Avoid shocks: your watch is a jewel. Even if the sapphire crystal of your watch is designed to prevent irreversible damage to your dial, it is better to avoid any form of shock that could harm the mechanism of your watch.
- Take care of your watch: On a daily basis, it's best to adjust your strap according to your activities. Steel and nylon straps are more suitable when you are doing sports. Leather straps can be worn the rest of the time. Do not wear your watch in the shower even if it is waterproof, because all watches are sensitive to temperature variations and with the effect of condensation you will risk seeing fogging under your dial. In addition to the risk of damaging your dial, you could also damage its mechanism, if it is an automatic watch. If your watch is waterproof, you can go swimming with it, but it is necessary to rinse it after a swim.
How to maintain your watch?
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Maintain the water resistance of your watch: depending on the model you own, you will have to check the water resistance of your watch. If you own a Concordia waterproof watch, make sure you screw the crown down before each swim, otherwise you may damage the mechanism.
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For a quartz watch, the maintenance of your watch involves changing the battery: as soon as the battery is empty, it must be changed, otherwise the mechanism may be damaged.
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For an automatic watch, maintain the movement: an automatic watch requires an overhaul by a watchmaker every five years or so (for more information, please read our FAQ). Indeed, with time, the friction between the parts will eventually clog the movement, and degrade its functioning. The cleaning of the mechanism is meticulous, and must necessarily be done by a professional watchmaker.
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For a solar watch: if possible, try not to let your battery discharge completely. Expose your watch to the sun for a few minutes every day, and it will work continuously for many years!
- Visit your watchmaker from time to time: You can visit your watchmaker every three years to check the mechanism and water-resistance of your watch. Otherwise, you should not hesitate to visit your watchmaker if you have a problem with your watch: fogging of the dial, loss of precision of more than 8 seconds per day, need to change the battery.
How to clean and maintain your watch strap?
- Choose the right strap: there are leather, steel and nylon straps. Charlie watches are designed to be able to go with you every day, no matter what your clothing style is thanks to its interchangeable watch straps.
- Leather Watch strap: Use a soft brush or dry cloth to remove dirt. Leather straps have a very dressy look, ideal for smart, dressy outfits. However, these straps are difficult to care for, and very sensitive to water and heat. For summer, we recommend a nylon or steel strap.
- Nylon watch strap: very sporty and casual, the nylon watch strap can accompany you faithfully all summer. The maintenance of your watch strap will be easy, just clean it with soap and water.
- Steel watch strap: clean your watch strap with a cloth and soap. Don't forget to dry it with a dry cloth.
