The pleasures of a Luxury Watch

by: Argentonio Vigilanza
Purchasing a luxury watch that is a good investment.
Many people consider luxury watches an extravagance. To them it makes little sense to spend thousands of dollars on a Rolex or a Cartier, when there are essential payments to be made. The same is true about cars. They say why spend 90,000 dollars on a brand new sports car when a sedan or a station wagon in 9,000 dollars would do just as well. After all, they both have four wheels, an engine, a steering wheel and a gas pedal and they take you where you have to go.
However, luxury watches are different! They serve many purposes. They are precision instruments that are fine-tuned for perfect accuracy, and give you the right time all the time. That's their purpose, no doubt. But luxury watches adorn the stylish and fashionable wardrobe. It's a matter of style. Some people feel naked without a belt, others feel absolutely desolate and deserted without their luxury watches. And it is not about time only. Even if they are surrounded by scores of digital clocks, cell phones, microwaves and other time-telling devices they are ill at ease without their luxury watch.
Aside from their functionality and sharp looks, luxury watches also confer a sense of status on their wearers. A stunning Rolex or Breitling can denote great taste and class every bit as much as a Jaguar or Mercedes. In fact, with the premier foreign car manufacturers diluting their brands with 30,000-dollar versions of their classic autos, one could argue that some luxury watches are a greater status symbol than some high-end vehicles.
To buy a luxury watch you need a discerning eye. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, and only a true connoisseur can tell the difference. They have a flair for style and quality. They choose their watches with as much care as they would choose a home to live in. They compare brands, quality and prices. They consider various factors such as mechanisms, escapements, complications, dials and many more aesthetic factors like watch bands and bezels. They enjoy looking at various brands as much as they love buying the watch that's close to their heart.
So if you want to add some style to your life, think of buying a luxury watch. For one thing, it's easier to carry around than a luxury car!

How to wind a Wrist Watch

by: Sandy Parke
Many of my lovely lady customers write to me after they purchase an antique wrist watch with a mechanical movement asking which is the correct way to wind a watch. They ask if it needs to be wound forward or both forward and backward. And they also ask how much should they wind it, how often should they wind it, and how to tell if there is real resistance at the end of the wind?
How to wind it. When you wind a ladies antique wrist watch, hold the watch in the left hand and use the right index finger and thumb on the winding stem. The only direction that is actually winding it is the forward direction. The backward direction is available on many watches only for the purpose of resetting your thumb to be in the right position to wind forward again. So, is it right to wind forward? or both forward and back? Either way is fine.
How much should you wind a watch? Wind it up all the way to the point at which you feel resistance and then stop. If you do not wind it up all the way, it will not keep accurate time (in most cases).
How to tell when there is resistance. Are you having a hard time figuring out if that last wind was resistance or not? And you are concerned about overwinding it? A good way to figure out when to stop winding, is to hold it close to the ear as you wind it. You will hear the winding mechanism clicking forward. As you get to the end, you will actually hear that it is finished or you will hear that your thumb just accidentally did not push forward but fell off the winding stem.
This is also a good way to wind when you have those 1920s and 1930s watches that have tiny stems. It is a little difficult to hold onto those tiny stems because some of them do not stick out very far, so holding it by your ear tells you whether or not you are actually winding it or if you just think you are winding it.
How often should you wind it? It is important to wind a watch at least once a week. And, of course, you would not expect it to keep running for a whole week but it will keep the mechanism healthy. Many of you have platinum and diamond watches and do not wear them everyday. That is fine. But you must wind them up at least once or twice a week to keep them in good running order for the year. I wind on Wednesdays and Sundays in the morning. Not winding them except on rare occasion will cause the oil to get sticky.
When should you wind it? If you are wearing your watch every day, you should allow the watch to completely unwind before you wind it up again. Most ladies wrist watches will run at least 18 hours and many of them will run for 36 hours. Allow them to unwind all the way before rewinding.