How to care for your watch and watch straps?

Your watch can be a part of your collection for a long time if you put just a little time and effort into caring for it. We want to give you few simple tips and pointers about how to care for your watch and straps to enjoy it longer. We’ve divided it into section telling you more about different aspects of caring and fixing your watch.

Clean your watch and straps

Once in a while gently polish the watch face with a cleaning paste and cloth until it’s gleaming. You can also use a soft toothbrush to brush the dust and dirt away as it can build up and even damage the watch. What’s also important – this is supposed to be a way of enhancing your looks and a dirty watch will do the opposite, so keep it clean! The same goes to watch straps – just remember to use gentle methods like a soft cloth with warm water and soap. You can read more about it in our guide to different types of leather and how to care for it.

Avoid heat

Watches and even more watch straps, whatever they are made of, are quite sensitive to heat. The mechanism of a watch can be damaged or destroyed by heat and the same is true about many materials watch cases are built with. So, remember to never leave your watch close to sources of heat and a long exposure to the sun (when not on your wrist).

Avoid magnets

When a watch stays rested on a piece of electronics like a smartphone or a speaker with a huge magnet, small metal parts can be magnetized resulting in losing or gaining minutes or even hours per day. Avoid magnets and electronics to prevent that from happening. You can check if your watch has been magnetized by moving the watch under a compass – if the needle moves – your watch’s been magnetized.

Use the original box for storage

Most of the watch lovers own more than one watch. That means you have to figure out a way to store the watches you don’t wear at the moment, and very often the best way is to keep the original box the watch came in. They are almost always built with the safety of transportation in mind so your watch will be safe inside giving you the peace of mind and prolonging the life of your beautiful watches.

Avoid chemicals

Contact with cleaning chemicals but also with cologne and perfume can damage or weaken the straps. That is why you should use specialized cleaning products for your straps not to damage them. The best way is not to do your chores wearing a watch you love and also wait for the perfume and cologne to completely dry on your wrist before putting the watch on.

Care for your leather watch straps

Here are some simple rules on how to keep your leather straps in the top shape for years
– let the leather breathe and keep it dry – take your watch off when going to sleep or taking a shower,
– clean it with a cloth and a bit of cold water with saddle soap or olive oil and then wipe it off,
– know your leather – different kinds of leather need different care, make sure to choose right leather cleaning products for your watch strap,
– don’t keep your strap too tight – every time you move your wrist you make your strap stretch and stress, so if you wear your strap tightly, it will wear and tear sooner than later.

Keep your watch dry

After your watch being immersed or splashed with water – dry it completely using a cloth. You should do that even if the watch is advertised as water resistant as the water can be very damaging t5o many materials if it stays on the watch for a long period of time.