We have dealt with the subject of the longevity of a watch, trying to provide some essential advice, referring to a careful maintenance programme. We are now returning to the subject because it is desirable for everyone to keep the watch they really care about as long as possible. To achieve this, we would like to invite you to identify and, above all, not to overlook those signs that will help prevent future damage that would negatively affect the life of the watch. Let's start by dealing with the most damaging thing for the mechanism of a watch: water, particularly sea water. One of the easiest signs to spot is the formation of condensation under the glass, either slight or with more evident drops: this is the classic situation that signals a certain infiltration of water. Should this occur, it is imperative to take the watch to a workshop as a matter of some urgency to have the problem checked, thus avoiding serious and costly consequences in the future. It has happened too many times that people, despite noticing the anomaly, have given it little importance or even attempted to dry out the condensation using bizarre methods (the most well-known being the use of lamps), resulting in serious damage to the movement, which could be avoided with a simple overhaul and the replacement of the various gaskets. Remaining in the glass area, never overlook the obvious signs, as your eye will never be able to assess the seriousness of the thing. It is well known that through a major crack in the glass, the usual water or the not inconsiderable dust can seep in, which with the passage of time can cause the watch to run abnormally or the movement to stop completely. What can be said, then, about the screw-down crown when it no longer snaps regularly? There are cases of people who, in order to spend a little today, have had to spend a lot later, just because they thought that by avoiding extreme use of the watch, they could go on like that, not considering that everyday life, i.e. washing their hands, going in summer from the cold of air-conditioned rooms to the humid heat, could damage the movement day after day. Turning to the movement, it should be pointed out that ignoring a loud noise in an automatic watch, which is an obvious sign of a broken axis or screw in the rotor of the automaton, is not a wise thing to do. Even in this case, going on for a while, with the watch miraculously and somehow managing to wind, most people think: 'why bother?'. So, one day, the watch stops and it turns out that it will not be enough to simply replace the part in question but, since the rotor has dug a groove in the bridges underneath, a total dismantling operation will have to be carried out with the replacement of several parts of the movement! This can continue with the rotating bezels of diver's watches, which are kept for months at a time until they are totally lost, as the rusted sealing ring will break. Or with steel bracelets with rusted screws, lenses or pins, which are ignored for a long time, and at the moment of their breakage will cause the watch to fall to the ground or worse lose it. These are, we repeat, all predictable and visible things, which if noticed in time will not have serious consequences, and are therefore easy to solve. Small warning signs that will give your beloved watch a longer life, but which if neglected will spell its premature end.
