HOW TO CLEAN LUXURY WATCHES

Anyone that owns a luxury watch knows the feeling of putting it on and wearing it for the very first time. No doubt you would remember the way the watch looked on your wrist that day, the way it played with the light and felt like everyone could see it. With plenty of wrist time it, layers of dirt will slowly but surely build up which will naturally reduce the overall shine to your watch. With enough time you may even notice the links becoming stiffer to move and if it has a bezel, that might also stiffen up.

More and more watches are being offered in precious metals such as silver, bronze, and gold plating. It is therefore very important you know what your watch is made of and how to clean it to avoid causing any damage. Today we’re going to go over how to clean your luxury watch, especially for those in precious metals.

Before you begin to clean your watch or gather your cleaning utensils, you first need to know what the water resistance is and what the materials are. With 100 metre and above weather resistance you’re all set you wash your submerged in a bowl of water. However, any less than that we recommend just running the tap over it to avoid full submersion. Additionally, if your watch is made of solid gold (be it yellow, white or rose) or steel, you don’t need to worry about using any soap.

Source : Pride and Pinion

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For watches that are gold plated, silver or bronze, just be aware platings can be rubbed off and silver can tarnish and react with certain chemicals. For these types of watches try to use just water with a tiny bit of soap from a bar for soap as these tend to have less chemical added to them compared to normal hand wash soap.

Now that you’ve checked what you can and can’t do when washing your wash, head over to a sink and put a towel down next to it. Once you’ve finished washing your watch you’ll want to place it somewhere soft and clean to dry off so best to have it handy and nearby. Start by running the water to a room temperature level, try and avoid very hot or cold as this could cause the seal around the crown to expand or contract just enough to allow water in. Double check your crown(s) are all screwed down and once the temperature is right, run the water over the watch before putting some soap on the end of a soft brush toothbrush.

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Then gently rub in the soap all over the watch, pay extra attention to the gaps in between the links on both the inside and outside. The insides will likely be dirtier as that's the part that sits against your wrist where dirt and sweat can easily build up. Once you’ve spent a couple minutes gently rubbing the soap into it, give the watch a rinse under the water to remove all the soapy water. Depending on how dirty your watch is you may need to repeat the process until it’s all clean.

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Once you’ve carefully washed your luxury watch, gently set it on a towel and rub it dry. You may have seen people use hair dryers to speed the process up, but again, like with really hot or cold water it could cause the rubber seal around the crown to expand. Whilst it is unlikely to happen unless you spend hours doing it, hair dryers do get very hot so best to avoid sudden dramatic temperature changes to your watch. Once you’ve gently patted your watch dry you can now move on to the final stage of using a microfiber cloth to remove any smudges the towel may have created.

In exactly the same way you dried the watch, rub the microfibre cloth all over until polished like new. If your watch is not very dirty but you want it to be brand new for an event, you can always just skip the washing stage and use the microfiber cloth. Whilst it won’t be able to remove dirt stuck between the links or back of the watch case very well, it can easily polish the watch case and links on the outside.


This can already make a very quick but noticeable difference so if time is of the essence, fear not as you can just use the microfibre cloth, just like the one ZEALANDE includes with their straps.

Source : ZEALANDE

And there you have it, you now know how to clean your watch and above all, how to clean it depending on what watch you have. It is important to understand the differences to avoid causing any damage whilst cleaning them. For those maybe wondering how often you should clean your watch, the answer is it depends. Your daily watch might need a good clean once every other week or more often depending on the sort of thing you do. The more you wear it during activities like sports the more often it will need cleaning. However, if you were looking to give your bracelet a break from benign wear or you know you’ll be doing loads of sports then why not swap it out for a ZEALANDE rubber strap! Our straps are of high quality designed to perfectly fit and match your watch. Being a sporty option, it’s also easier to clean and keep clean, an advantageous element for those who wear their watches daily.

— James Talbot