Teddy Baldassarre
How To Clean A Watch
When you’re starting or building upon a watch collection, keeping those watches clean is probably a matter to which you rarely give much thought on a day-to-day basis. Of course, there’s always the least time-intensive option, outsourcing your watch’s semi-regular cleaning to your local watchmaker or watch repairer when you send the timepiece in for its recommended technical maintenance. But if you’re interested in keeping your timepieces in tip-top condition between services - and especially if you have notions of perhaps selling or trading any of them for the maximum return - there are some simple steps you can take on your own, for minimal cost, that can ensure your watches are maintained at a level that’s both presentable and potentially sellable. Watches, after all, are not only luxury objects; they are also items that are worn regularly, day after day in some cases, like a pair of boots or shoes, or an overcoat. And like those items, they encounter all kinds of conditions based upon the wearer’s lifestyle, occupation, and recreational pursuits. Watches are also worn right against the skin, with all of the exposure to sweat, dirt, and unexpected atmospheric splatter that implies. Thus, regular cleaning of your watches should be considered a regular chore in the cycle of life, like doing the laundry or washing your car. The go-to shortcut of wiping the watch’s crystal with an untucked shirt tail or handkerchief - we’ve all done it - isn’t goin...
