Our new models and solvements for all problems you may encountered at and after buying watches from us.

Question: What is a “hack” seconds feature?

Best answer
This, AFAIK, is a military term referring to watches that stop the second hand, to allow for more accurate synchronization between two watches. In the most common type of hacking watch, when the crown is pulled out to the time-setting position, a lever is moved which contacts the rim of the balance, thus causing the movement to stop. John Davis has seen other methods used to stop the movement as well, including brakes on the third or fourth wheel.

A. Lange & Sohne have produced a watch that stops the balance when the crown is pulled out and automatically moves the second hand to the “0″ position – to help facilitate setting against an accurate time reference.

Question: How do I remove scratches from my watch?

Best answer
Depends on the finish. The following text explains the process for Stainless Steel.

Polished SS
1. For fine scratches, Ive found that nothing beats a jewelers cloth, like the Pioneer/Shino Polishing Cloth available from most watch suppliers for $3.60. It is a double cloth. The inner cloth is impregnated with a red polishing powder (ferric oxide or rouge, i.e., your common rust). The outer cloth protects your hand from the nasty red stain and is also used to give the final polish. This jewelers polishing cloth works even better on gold. You may also use Sylvet washable (S. LaRose & Co. in Greensboro, NC; www.slarose.com) or the double sided jewelers cloth typically sold in drug stores. The only other tools you need are elbow grease and common sense.

2. For deep scratches, use Never-Dull–great name, isnt it?–usually sold in drug stores and hardware stores. Never-Dull is cotton impregnated with a strong cleaner/polisher. It has an unpleasant smell (like the polishing compound for cars) but works fast, leaving behind only faint scratches that can be removed with a jewelers cloth. And presto, youve got a mirror finish! Well, not quite.

CAVEAT: You will always leave microscopic scratches on a highly polished SS (or gold) surface. These ultra-fine scratches are visible only in bright light and from a certain angle. The only perfect finish Ive seen is a factory finish. Even jobs done by jewelers are still inferior to the factory mirror finish. I don’t know why.

Brushed SS
1. To remove fine scratches, use a jewelers cloth. Be GENTLE or you will put a shine on the finish, which will not quite match the brushed look. If that happens, you can put the brushed finish back on by following Step 3 below.

2. For scratches over a small area, use a fiber-glass brush (e.g. the German-made Eurotool sold by watch-tool suppliers). It looks like a mechanical pencil with a bundle of glass fibers instead of lead that can be dispensed from the tip. You brush this glass-fiber tip on the SS surface to remove the scratches and to create a new brush finish. I would not recommend using this tool over a large area because the brush strokes tend to be uneven, especially around curves, though you can get better with practice. WARNING: The broken fiber glass on your skin can cause unpleasant itches. Wear a thin latex glove and use a brush to remove fiber-glass debris from your watch after repair.

3. For scratches over a large area, use a Styrofoam block made for polishing finger nails (sold in beauty supply store). Each block is about an inch thick and 3 inches long. Its surface is impregnated with a very fine abrasive material. Brush gently with the grain to remove the scratches and to blend the new brush strokes with the original ones. I prefer this Styrofoam block to sand paper or steel wool as it is easy to grip and to maneuver. The soft Styrofoam also conforms to curved surfaces and is very forgiving. With patience, you can even remove deep dents and reshape small parts safely with this Styrofoam polisher.

Sand-blast SS
Leave it alone! Even fine jewelers cloth will still put a slight shine on the finish, which ruins it in my opinion. Get this finish re-done by professionals.

Question: I always see “17 jewels” on many watches specification. But what does “17 jewels” mean?

Description: What does “17 jewels” mean?

Best answer
Higher grade watches have traditionally used a jeweled movement, which means that jewels (originally natural ruby, now synthetic ruby) were actually used in the movement. These jewels are functional – they are used as the bearings for the wheel trains and in high wear parts such as the escape lever and impulse jewel.

A lower-end movement from before 1970 would typically use 5 or 7 jewels; this end of the market has pretty much been taken over by quartz.  Nowadays, most manual wind watches will have a standard complement of 17 jewels, which are:

1: Impulse jewel (the part of the balance wheel assembly which receives a kick from the escape lever) 
2-5: Balance staff pivot bearings (two pairs – in combinations of one pivot jewel (i.e. jewel with a hole to receive the axle (pivot) of the wheel) and one cap jewel (i.e. jewel without a hole outboard of the pivot jewel, to prevent excessive movement of the balance staff), usually shock protected) 
6-7: Escape lever pallets (one pair) 
8-9: Escape lever pivot bearings (one pair) 
10-11: Escape wheel pivot bearings (one pair) 
12-13: Fourth wheel pivot bearings (one pair) 
14-15: Third wheel pivot bearings (one pair) 
16-17: Center wheel pivot bearings (one pair) 

Note that automatic winding movements, and movements with additional functions such as chronographs and calendars, can up the total number of jewels tremendously. For example, the IWC Il Destriero Scafusia (claimed to be among the most complicated wristwatches manufactured) has a total of 76 jewels to accommodate the time, perpetual calendar, rattrapante chronograph, repeater, and tourbillon functions – and this is a manual wind watch.