Watch Basics 101

Today our newest Lewis Jewelers watchmaker, David, conducted a highly informative class called Watch Basics 101. David specializes in Rolex watches so he's packed with a plethora of information. The Lewis team was educated on different areas ranging from parts of a timepiece to sapphire crystal vs. acrylic and the importance of having a Rolex serviced regularly.

Here are just a few interesting things David taught the team:

• Synthetic sapphire crystal is far more durable than an acrylic crystal and it takes a hard hit for it to chip. Chips are weak areas much like chipped paint on a car. A chip can eventually turn into a crack, which can possibly cause the crystal to shatter. These chips can cause small amounts of water to get inside your movement, which can then make parts rusty. Even though synthetic sapphire crystal is extremely durable, it's important to remember to handle your timepiece with care.
• Wondering if your watch has a sapphire or acrylic crystal? Hold it up to your cheek. If it has a cool feeling then it's a sapphire crystal. Pretty cool, huh?
• A Rolex is designed to be properly refinished ten times in its lifetime. Meaning, it's great to have us polish out the scratches, but don't have it done too often!

After the Watch Basics 101 course, I had the pleasure of sitting in on an inspection after precleaning. The photos below show David inspecting a Rolex Lady Datejust.

David is disassembling the movement.

Rolex Lady Datejust movement.

All the parts that have been disassembled.

After inspecting all the small parts to make sure everything's in pristine condition, all parts are placed inside a divided case for cleaning.

It takes about 41 minutes for the parts to be cleaned.

Isn't that incredible?? Disassembling the movement takes David 20-30 minutes. The movement consists of 220 parts, but only about 100 parts are disassembled. Imagine working on something so microscopic and delicate! The technical side of a watch really is something that's fascinating to learn about. We're definitely planning on having a Watch Basics 102 course in the near future!