Have you purchased a watch with a striking and complicated working bezel, just to have a friend stump you with the question, “How does it work?” Never again my friends! Lets review some standard bezel operations. The famous Uni-Directional Bezel is the most popular and is standard on most dive watches. Simply turn the pointer to the minute hand and count down time, piece of cake, it only goes in one direction for safety (you would surface early rather than risk the bends, or worse, on a dive). Tach or tachymeter bezels measure the rate of speed of an object, units start at 500 and go clockwise to 60. Using a mile marker, as a scenario, start your chrono, when you reach the next marker, stop the function. Look to your bezel for a number that will calculate your miles per hour/kilos etc. Pulsometer chronos can monitor pulse rates for a doctor by a bezel reference. The bezel can be a great tool and it is rarely used by most customer’s, push your sales people to get information on the most complicated pieces and have them teach you about the product. As for the Breitling Navitimer/slide rule style bezels keep the instructions near by for reference untill you can master all the tricks. CTWG

Passion in life is a must! My top three – watches, food and judo in no particular order… I love them equally. The trick to maximize enjoyment is to combine these when and if possible. Now Judo and eating I recommend against, but food and watches… perfect. The one place this rare feat can be had… a tastey little restaurant nestled in La Chaux-De-Fonds Switzerland. This small restaurant is adorned with watch propaganda from years past, clear tables with watch parts and watches for viewing. Be sure and give it a try if you are ever in the watch land, their food is just great… I recommend the perch. CTWG

photo credit: larcher

It’s a sapphire crystal the salesperson regurgitates dryly… rote info learned at training session. What does that mean? Oh, it’s hard and can’t be scratched! Hard as what? Nails? Diamond tipped saws? Chinese arithmetic? What? Many of you know the skinny on watch crystals, but for those who don’t! Check it out… sapphire good, everything else not so good(period). Sapphire is corundum, it takes second seat only to diamond on the Moh’s hardness scale. The last time you saw this scale was eighth grade science lab and now you are asked to remember it! Nah! forget it! Take it from CTWG, just stick with sapphire and you will be A-Ok. Watches used to be manufactured with mineral crystal (cheap models still are) which ranks 5th on the Moh’s scale, basically hardened glass. Some coat the mineral crystal with a sapphire layer, still no good. Real crystals are grown in very large synthetic tubes and cut to order for watch companies, it should feel cool to the touch and last for years without a blemish. CTWG

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As you may have noticed, I love the German watches. On a Factory tour to Glashutte Original in East Germany I peered down the street and discovered a small factory producing a beautiful product, Nomos. After further investigation, I have fallen in love with the line and it’s value. I looked at the complete offering in Basel and enthusiastically decided to carry them. This watch oozes value and is a great starter timepiece for anyone training to run with the big dogs. Stay posted for more Nomos news. CTWG

What!!! $150.00 for a battery change!!! It happens daily, people pay absurd prices for a simple and quick procedure. Or is it? Let me demystify what these battery changing folk do when they crack a watch open. A quality watchmaker will perform the following:

1) Remove dust or wrist remnants from your watch back. Why? Because when it is opened particles will drop right into the movement (that’s bad).
2) Use the right tools! Did you ever get your watch back with a big free form carving on the back?
3) Puff (shoot air around threads of the watch back) and check the movement for dust when it is opened. Check the contacts… clean them if necessary (exactly what it sounds like… where the battery touches)
4) Change gaskets and/or lubricate them to seal the watch properly.
5) And finally, a proper water test… using a tank or tube for appropriate depth testing.

That’s it! How much is this worth? Could be priceless! CTWG

What makes that watch glow? Could be Tritium. A rare isotope, it’s most significant use is as a component in the triggering mechanism in thermonuclear (fusion) weapons. It’s secondary use is the illumination of watch faces and hands. Risky business for the people applying it, not to be ingested or inhaled, not such a big deal to the watch wearer. Could be Superluminova®. A photosensitive paste placed on the hands of watches and dials that is very luminous after first contact with light (sun, lamp or police spot light), but fades after some time depending on the mix. It comes in little containers like KoolAid®, but does not taste so sweet and cannot trigger a thermonuclear weapon. In the watch industry we refer to these two glow bugs as a T-dial or L-dial. Old Trit. dials had T-Swiss Made-T on the dial, so you can pick them out of your collection and show people (you might find someone who cares!). Super Ls don’t label too much, but are far less dangerous for the boys at the bench. There are some long-winded debates on what dial is better with what substance and I really don’t take sides on which is a better luminous product. I prefer Superlumis because they are safer for all involved, I am not worried about prolonged hours in the dark and fading, because I sleep, you should too. As for the guys in the military I am all for Tritium gun tips and watch dials if it helps them on the job and keeps them safe. CTWG

photo credit: kjdrill

A Swiss-made watch is world renowned for its quality. Ever wonder how the Swiss started their love affair with all things watches? Well, it began when Jean Calvin, religious leader of his time, banned the wearing of jewelry in a 1541 reform. This sudden edict left all of the fine jewelers jobless. The smart play for these recently unemployed jewelers was to take up watch making (a lesser sin, not frowned upon). Quicker than you can say Riccola, watch making spread through the Geneva region and overflowed into the Jura mountains. Now, not everyone possessed the skill to be a master watch maker so some took to producing the smaller components, each adding their important part to the process. Farmers and offseason laborers also added their time to the production of these components. Once manufactured, they were inspected and presented to the master watchmaker upon the spring thaw. Presto, a cottage industry was born. Le Loche, Geneve, La Chaux de Fond even the German Glashutte region enjoyed an industry born of necessity. They prospered by working together. To this day, most Swiss watches are made in a group effort, some produce dials, others hands, another might produce fourth wheels. The cottage industry has certanily grown but the spirit remains. CTWG

photo credit: alex itin

Buyer’s remorse! I should hold a seminar on the effects of a high-end watch purchase on the psyche. Often, customers will purchase a high-end watch and several days later exchange it for another or even return it. Fear not, I understand this phenomenon, a sort of Tank Abbott body blow that makes our purchase seem not as substantial, not a “good buy” to our conscience. CTWG has a solution if you fall into these four catorgories. What type of buyer are you? 1) A Flipper, usually male, that purchases high-end watches, but only keeps them for a month or so and then trades them. 2) High-Complication Customer, willing to pay huge dollar amounts for a watch of high complications and rarity, very knowledgeable, but he will shelve the watch forever never letting the prize see daylight. 3) Monty-Haller, must have the best deal all the time, service, reputation, or where the watch is purchased mean nothing! 4) Super-Collector, similar to Beanie Baby hunters of past years, watches that are hard to get are must haves. If you fall into one of these catogories Cognitive Dissonance may strike at any time, but there is help. First, always purchase a watch that is easy to move on second hand market i.e. Rolex, Patek, Vacheron, Audemars. 2) Never wear the watch untill the CD passes, it makes it very hard to return or exchange with weekend scratches. 3) Pick your niche, no matter how much money one has it is impossible to have everything, find what really makes you tick, the style that you find yourself wearing the most, what, you only wear your Submariner and your Breitling! Good, sell the rest, don’t waste your time.(every pun intended) CTWG

“Have you seen the movement in this wristwatch?” the salesperson inquires, slyly turning the watch over to reveal the inner works. Instantly, the man gene kicks in, our eyes glued to the oscillator, the shiny moving parts mesmerizing us like a high-tech fishing lure. This is a time to be calm, step back, and take a deep breath. The movement is the engine and the glass back will let us peek into what really makes this watch tick. About seven years ago the industry really started to place exhibition backs on everything, even some quartz models have the peek-a-boo back. Countless watches display the same movement with their own custom Oscillator. This is all well and good, but as your collection grows you will appreciate who really can dress a movement. Look for techniques like perlage, a circular grain that resembles a pearl, swirled through the metal. Jewels (movement Jewels) can be surrounded by Chatons-gold rings that help replace jewels and make a decorative bezels on the watch’s wheel bridge as well as other parts. The terms go on and on, Cotes de Geneve, Mirror finishing, Anglage. Learn the terms and make sure your watch is dressed properly. CTWG

More good reading:
Deconstructing the Ideal
The A-B-C’s of Watch Finish

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Just recently, a trophy walked into the store to greet me. It was on the wrist of one of my valued customers. It was the Rolex 1655, or as the Italians refer to it “La Freccia Grande” (The Big Arrow). The watch has long been a favorite of mine, and there it was… resting on the wrist of another. He too is a “Big Game Hunter” as I like to call it, searching tirelessly for the rare, low production, obscure models. This particular Explorer II model Rolex is rarely seen in captivity, and he had it, bagged and on display. The hunt continues for me, what models do you stalk in your dreams? CTWG