Wound again.

Crystal & seals

Sapphire on top, rubber underneath.

Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness, so it rarely scratches. The thin gasket under it keeps the water out, and rubber ages. We replace every gasket at every service.

The bezel

It only turns one way.

Divers time their air with it, so it can add time but never take it away. 120 clicks, held by a small spring that we check and replace if it has gone soft.

Case & crown

The case, and the crown that seals it.

The crown screws down onto a tube with two seals inside. Most water damage starts with a crown left unscrewed, so we pressure-test every case after we close it.

Dial & hands

The face of it.

Hands come off with levers, never pliers. The dial is what collectors care about most, so we handle it with gloves and never refinish it unless you ask us to.

The calendar

A date that changes at midnight, not at half past eleven.

The date disc jumps in a split second. The small wheels under the dial turn sixty minutes into one hour for the hour hand.

Power

Where the power lives.

The mainspring is one long strip of alloy coiled in its barrel. Fully wound, it runs the watch for about three days. A tired spring is the most common reason a watch stops overnight.

The gear train

Gears that count the time.

The barrel drives a chain of wheels, each turning faster than the last. The fourth wheel turns exactly once a minute: it carries the seconds.

The escapement

This is the tick.

The escape wheel would spin freely if the pallet fork let it. Instead the fork’s two ruby stones catch and release it eight times a second, and every release is one tick.

Shown at one-tenth speed

Balance & hairspring

The heartbeat.

The balance swings eight times a second, 691,200 times a day, held by a hairspring thinner than a hair. Its length decides whether the watch runs fast or slow. We time it in six positions.

Shown at one-twelfth speed

Bridges, jewels & screws

Every wheel turns between two jewels.

Synthetic rubies are harder than steel and almost frictionless, so pivots turn in them for decades. Every blued screw goes back into the hole it came out of.

Self-winding

It winds itself while you wear it.

The rotor swings with every move of your wrist. The reversing wheels let it wind in both directions, and the ratchet stops the spring from letting go.

The caseback

Closed, sealed, tested.

The caseback screws down onto the biggest seal in the watch. After every service we test it under pressure, so it goes back in the water as safe as the day it was made.