, 1880-12-03
How to Treat y Watch.

Having obtained really serviceable
article, you should, in order to produce
satisfactory results, follow out these
rules: Wind up your watch every day
ut the same hour. This is generally
done at the hour we retire to rest; or,
perhaps better still, the hour we rise
Avoid putting watch on q marble
slab or anything excessively cold. The
sudden transition from heat to cold
contracting the metal may sometimes
cause the handspring to break. In
deed, the cold coIgulates the oil;
and the wheel work and pivotS
working less freely affect the regularity
of the time keeper. When we lay
our watch aside we ought to slope
it on II watch case, so as to keep
it nearly in the same position as it has in
the pocket. In laying aside your watch
be sure that it rests on its case, us by sus-
pending it free the action of the balance
may cause oscillation, which may con.
siderably interfere with its going, If
you would keep your watch clean you
must be quite sure that the case tits
firmly, and never put it into any pocket
but one made of leather. Those pockets
which are lined with cloth, cotton or cal
leo give, by the constant friction, a GER
tain quantity of fluff, which enters most
watches, even those the cases OF which
shut firmly. If the watch is not
a "keyless" one, the key should
be small, in order that we may
feel the resistance of the stop work;
then we can stop in time without
forcing anything. 1t is also necessary
that the square of the key should cor
respond with that of the watch. Ii 1t
be too large, it may in short time
cause the wind up square to suffer from
undue wear and tear; the rectifying OF
which is rather expensive. The hands
of an ordinary watch can be turned
backward without much risk. 1t is,
however, always better to move the
hands forward to adjust your watch to
correct time.
A skillful matchmaker one day thus
reasoned with n customer who ocomplained
of his watch: "You complained" said he,
that your watch gains minute in
menth. Well. then, you will congratu-
late yourself when you have heard me.
iou ulC hWaiV phuO III JO'i ""V>N oiiS
balance, which is the regulator, makes
five oscillations every second, which is
four hundred and thirty-two thousand a
day; so that your watch exposed to all
the yicissitudes of heat and cold, the
varying weight of the air, and the shak-
ing to which it is subjected to, has not
varied more than a minute a month, or
two seconds day 1t has only acquired
with each vibration Of the balance va
ration of the two hundred and sixteen
thousandth part of second. Judge,
then, what must be the extreme perfec-
tion of the mechanism of this watch"
A watch cannot go for an indefinite
period without being repaired or clean
ed. At the expiration of a certain time
the oil dries up, dust accumulates and
wear and tear are inevitable results to
the whole machinery, the functions be-
coming irregular, and frequently ceas-
ing to act altogether. A person pos
sessing a watch of good quality, and
desirous of preserving it as such, should
have it cleaned every two years at least.
But care should be taken to con6de
this cleaning or repairing to careful
hands; an incapable workman may do
great injury to watch even of the
simplest construction.