Our service center sees the same ten mistakes, year after year. Here are the rules we repeat until they stick.
The ten rules
- Never wind an automatic past its stop. It clicks when the spring is full — keep winding and you are paying for a service.
- Set the time between 9 and 1 PM only. On date watches, the calendar mechanism runs during that window; changing the date elsewhere can shear the wheel.
- Water resistance is a service interval, not a spec sheet. Gaskets age. Have the seal checked at each service — roughly every 5 years.
- Hot water is the silent killer. Steam enters case joints that cold water never would. No watches in the shower, ever.
- Clothes before watch, watch after clothes. Fabrics scratch crystals; the crystal is the most expensive thing you are about to ruin.
- Snap cases snap. Folding clasps and snap bracelets catch on everything — and then they catch your handbag on the way down the stairs.
- Magnets are magnets. Speakers, phone cases with magnetic closure, MRI rooms — an affected hairspring will make your automatic gain or lose wildly.
- Keep the crystal covered when not worn. A box or pouch between wears costs almost nothing and saves real money.
- One watch per occasion is a myth; one watch at a time is a rule. Constant swaps accelerate gasket wear on every piece.
- Service on time, not on trouble. A service that costs a little every five years is far cheaper than the one you avoid for fifteen.
Every CROWNEX store has an in-house service bench. Bring your watch in any day — most checks are done the same visit.
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