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Maybe you like doing watch works. For a watch addict, to remove and replace or reconstruct something of a watch by yourself is a enjoyable job. Today, let’s talk about how to remove and replace hands of watch.

Tools required:

Using an India Made pantograph style Handslifter
1. Place the protective plastic sheet over the dial, the cannon pinion (the protruding tube on which the hour and minute hand sit) will go into the slot that you cut out. Turn the crown and align all hands. I assume here that your watch is not running and that you started the watch work while the mainspring was unwound. Even if you started your “hands off” project with a fully unwound mainspring, the moving while opening the watch might have rewound the spring and a clean movement could well run for an hour or two. If you do not want to unload the mainspring via the click, then simply cover the open watch and wait.

2. If you prefer the India Made handslifter (pantograph style), mount the movement into a movement holder. Make sure the movement sits reasonably tight but without squeezing any parts of the site of the movement. I could never really warm up for those movement holders, I guess I do not have enough practice. The movement always seems to find a way to slip out … but maybe you have better skills. I am just very careful and do not want to leave marks on the movement by tightening the movement holder too firmly.

3. Consider covering the claws of the India Made lifter with protective tape or polish them with an Arkansas stone. The claws from the factory might have very sharp edges and scratch your (black and glossy) dials. The biggest advantage of the India Made lifter is, that one actually controls the lifting force while pulling its handle.

The left hand simply holds the tool. The right thumb and index pull and the whole assembly moves upwards and lifts the hands off.

4. If you are working on a chronograph or a watch with registers (sub dials), remove the plastic sheet and continue to lift off those smaller hands. If the register is recessed (which is quite often the case) then I found that there was not enough space to go under the small hands with the India Made lifter.

5. The hands are off now and you place them in a safe container! Many hands have been cracked while laying on the workpad! I prefer to use RUBIS plastic tweezers for hands. Others might prefer brass tweezers. Be careful if you use steel tweezers, scratches on the side of the hands are quite visible. Especially for WIS that always seem to have a “loupe in their face”.

Removing the hands with the PRESTO handslifter
1. Place the protective sheet on the dial.

2. Check the dial for the best location to place the two white feet of the PRESTO lifter. This is very important. You do not want to press down on any decoration on the dial, I even keep them away from writing. If the paint is old, it might crack under the pressure. And this is maybe the tricky part about using the PRESTO. Without practice it is fairly hard to keep the PRESTO with reasonable pressure on its feet while squeezing it to lift the hands. I think that the PRESTO handslifter have probably a too high spring power and I really sometimes wish my lifter would be softer. I do not know, but maybe there are different spring loads available.

3. The two pictures below will show you how to operate the PRESTO lifter:

The rest step is the same as using an India Made pantograph style Handslifter.

1. Prevent scratching. All watches’ outside are grinded carefully. Every scratching will leave traces.

2. Prevent drop to the ground. If your watch drops from a high position, its internal structure and precise parts will be damaged badly.  

3. Prevent sweat erosion. Sweat contains complex chemical composition, which will corrode the case and strap of your watch.

4. Prevent water. Water can easily gasify and atomize. When get into watch, the parts will be rusted.

5. Prevent buckled too tight. Too tight will be bad for your health. Besides, the strap will be easily damaged.

6. Prevent extreme temperature. Extremely high or low temperature will both effect the work of watch.

7. Prevent dismantling. The assembly of a watch is carried out under specific circumstances, dismantling can damage your watch.

8. Prevent strong shook. Although every watch has shock-proof design, strong shock will also damage the internal structure of your watch.

Wearing leather strap watch has become a popular trend currently. It is relatively soft and comfort while avoiding the allergic reaction of wearing a stainless steel strap watch. Moreover, people will look more high-grade.

There exists various kinds of leather, including crocodile, lizard, cow and ostrich. The commonest is cow leather strap. As for the solidness and durability, leather strap is certainly worse than metal strap. Generally speaking, its life is only two or three years. However, if maintained carefully, it will live for a longer time.

Water is the natural enemy of leather watch. Immersed in water for a long time, leather strap would turn hard and brittle immediately, of course, including sweat of people. Therefore, you can not wear your leather strap watch when swimming. Long-term sweat soaked strap will easily be moldy, too. It is better to have watches, one metal watch and one leather strap watch. In summer, metal band watch is the best choice. In other seasons you can change leather strap watch.

The long-term exposure in strong sunlight will bleach the color of leather strap. You should avoid sun shine. At the same time, leather strap must keep a certain distance with some chemical reagents to avoid being corroded. You also shouldn’t pull strongly when wear the watch. Otherwise, it will easily break.

You should use a piece of soft damp cloth with detergent to clean the strap. Then wipe it with clean cloth sticking fresh water. Put your watch in a cool dry place. It is better to wipe watch strap every one or two months.