Watches are amazing when you really take the time to think about it. Essentially, they’re tiny engines that work off of spring and gears, pinions and pivots, greases and oils. Like all mechanical machines, they require maintenance to maintain proper function and are susceptible to certain types of damage. There are 3 main types of damage when talking about a watch. We’ll explore each one in more detail and discuss some of the common signs of each type of damage.

Worn Out Parts

In todays world, worn out parts is the most common issue I find. For whatever reasons, a watch isn’t serviced regularly/properly and parts like pivots and clutch grooves start to go. I get it, it’s tough out there these days and the added cost of a watch repair isn’t in anyone’s budget. But, that doesn’t stop the watch from taking on wear and tear as it’s being used and even more so the longer you go in-between scheduled maintenance. Even worse, getting parts is becoming notorious difficult and very expensive making the repair bill even harder to swallow. Some parts can be made by me, while others require million dollar machines to make and is beyond what we can do here. The biggest difficulty in making a part is finding the schematics of the different dimensions of each aspect of the part. This information, especially when dealing with any reputable brand, generally isn’t shared amongst the public and is only shared between the factory and it’s service centers. This makes it very hard, if not impossible, to create certain parts if they’re to far worn down. This is why I always stress scheduled maintenance of no more then 6 years, with a more ideal timeframe of 3 to 5 years. All of this is depended on use as a watch that is worn more often will need a service sooner.

An obvious sign that one of your parts is worn down is the watch will have poor time keeping abilities. Now, to be fair, this is a common end result for a lot of problems just like a common result for car problems is the car wont start. Others signs include the watch not working at all or only certain functions of the watch working. Functions might seem to operate in a more sluggish/slower manner than quick and precise snaps like with a chronograph reset. You may also notice or feel a slip with certain functions of the watch when winding the watch or changing the date and/or time.

Water Intrusion

This is a bad one that causes severe damage. In some cases, it can result in a total loss of the movement. In worse case scenarios, the entire watch is ruined with severe rust damage. There’s several common ways water/moisture intrusion can happen. The most common way is to use a watch that isn’t water resistant in an environment that has high humidity or is wet in nature, such as a pool or a rain storm. You’ll notice that I never call a watch water proof, merely water resistant. This is because no watch is truly water proof and can only resist certain amounts of water pressure, providing everything is well maintained and used properly. A watch with a gasket that is dry-rotted won’t protect a watch. The other common ways water/moisture can enter a watch is through some sort of case damage, usually around the case back or crystal, or by not having their crown screwed down if the watch has that sort of crown. It’s also important to mention that while some chronographs are rated for some level of water resistance, unless it specifically states otherwise, using the chronograph pushers underwater will result in water intrusion.

An obvious sign that your watch has taken on moisture is you will often see condensation form on the underside of the crystal. Depending on the level of intrusion, you may also see water come out of the crown/stem area. Rust will often be visible on the inside of the watch, which can be fatal for a mechanical movement and therefore needs to be address promptly! Depending on how the dial and hands are manufactured, it’s possible they show signs of water damage by having paint peel off of the metal. Though, I will admit, sometimes you do get lucky and it does create a rather cool effect.  Time keeping abilities and watch functions may also be affected.

Shock Damage

This use to be the most common type of damage back in the day. A watchmakers bread and butter was repairing broken staffs and pivots. Today, it’s almost a lost art because of modern shock protected movements. Basically any movement made in the past 50 or so years has the balance wheel oscillating on jewels of corundum (synthetic sapphire) that are held in place by springs that help absorb the shocks a watch may receive. Now, these springs can only absorb so much so this type of damage does still occur albeit at a much lower rate.

An obvious sign that your watch has received shock damage is that the movement simply won’t tic. You can wind the watch, you can set the date and time, you can do any other feature the watch may have… but no matter what you do the seconds hand just won’t move and the watch just won’t work. It’s worth noting that in this scenario, where you can use all features of the watch but it won’t tic, you should also test for any magnetism coming from the watch and have it demagnetized if needed.