Setting a watch is not difficult but there are little idiosyncrasies for setting a mechanical watch that can be tricky. To get you more familiar with setting your watch, here is a cursory guide of how to set a mechanical watch.

However, if you have a vintage or non-quickset watch, do not follow these instructions as they may not apply to your particular watch style. We recommend you contact a TrueFacet concierge who can advise you on how to safely set your more complicated watch.

We also caution you to never set a mechanical watch between 9PM and 2AM. Although you may only see the date change over at midnight, the mechanism of the watch is actually turning over the date those four hours between 9PM and 2AM. Therefore, you risk damaging the movement if you set your watch during that window of time.

HOW TO SET YOUR WATCH

1. Remove the watch from your wrist.
Do not wear your watch while you wind and set it. If you leave your watch on, you risk winding your watch at an awkward angle and, in turn, damaging the internal components and potentially loosening the crown.

2. Re-start your watch by manually winding it.
If it’s been a long time since you’ve worn your mechanical watch, you’ll want to fully wind it before you set the time. To wind your watch, unscrew the crown and turn the crown clockwise until you feel resistance. Your watch is adequately wound once you feel this and over-winding it could cause damage.

3. Set the date.
Mechanical watches typically have three positions for the crown, each designated for a different winding functionality. The first position (as outlined in the step above) is for manually winding your watch and is where the crown is just unscrewed. Pull the crown again to the second position to quickly change the watch’s date. Turn the crown clockwise until you reach the correct date.

4. To set the time, pull the crown fully out.
To set your watch’s time, simply pull the crown out to the furthest position from the watch base. When the crown is in this last position, the second hand stops to help you accurately set the time.

5. Set your watch at AM or PM.
To determine if the time is set to AM or PM, wind the crown clockwise until you see the date starting to change. This signals that you are nearing midnight and your watch is set for PM.

6. Set the time.
Gently turn the crown clockwise (or away from you) until you set the correct time. If you overshoot your desired time, do not turn the crown counter-clockwise to go back. Turning the crown counter-clockwise will force and damage the watch’s movement. Instead you will have to continue winding clockwise until you come back around to the correct time again.

7. Push the crown back in.
Press the crown back into its “zero” position near the base of the watch. Then screw the crown down to ensure it is pressurized and water-tight.

To ensure your watch holds its value and keeps its accuracy, read more watch care tips here.