How to Set a GMT Watch
A calm, step-by-step guide to reading the 24-hour GMT hand, telling a caller GMT from a true flyer GMT, and setting home and local time.
Serdar D.5 min readWatch Guide
Watch guides cover the fundamentals every buyer should know, from movement types and complications to materials, sizing and how to read a spec sheet. Plain-language reference for new and returning collectors.
Serdar D.5 min read
How to Charge Watch Lume
Charging your watch lume with the right light source is the difference between a glow you can read all night and a faint trace that fades within minutes. Here is how it works and the best method.
Serdar D.5 min readHow to Change a Watch Strap
The full method for changing a watch strap or bracelet at home: the right tool, measuring lug width, standard spring bars versus quick-release, and a step-by-step swap that won't scratch the lugs.
Serdar D.5 min readHow to Remove Moisture From a Watch
Condensation on the inside of the crystal is alarming, but most of the time you can clear it safely at home. I walk through why moisture appears, which steps are safe, what to avoid such as the rice myth, and when a watchmaker and a pressure test are the right call.
Serdar D.5 min read
How to Wind an Automatic Watch
How to hand-wind an automatic, keep it wound by wearing it, restart it after it has stopped, and what power reserve really means. I cover the overwinding myth and the fact that not every automatic hand-winds.
Serdar D.6 min read
How to Read an Analogue Watch
The hour, minute and second hands, reading minutes in fives, the date window and thinking in 24 hours. A patient, from-zero teaching guide.
Serdar D.5 min read
How to Read a Chronograph Watch
What a chronograph's sub-dials show, how the two pushers work, and how to read elapsed time, explained simply. I also clear up the running-seconds versus stopwatch-hand confusion that trips up most beginners.
Serdar D.5 min readHow to Read Chronograph Scales
A plain-language guide to the tachymeter, telemeter and pulsometer scales, with a worked example for each and an honest note on which watches actually carry which.
Serdar D.5 min readHow to Read a Seiko Reference Number
A calm walk through reading the reference and calibre number on a Seiko caseback, what each part broadly tells you, and how it helps you buy the right spares and spot a fake.
Serdar D.6 min readThe Watch Date Danger Zone
Never change the date by hand between roughly 9pm and 3am. The date gears are already engaging in those hours, and forcing them wears the teeth. Here is the safe routine, step by step.
Serdar D.6 min readHow to Use a Dive Watch Bezel
A step-by-step guide to reading elapsed minutes off a dive watch bezel, aligning the zero marker to the minute hand, and why a one-way bezel keeps you safe underwater and handy on dry land.
Serdar D.5 min read
What Is a Beater Watch
A beater is the watch you wear without a second thought about scratches, theft or loss. Here is what makes one, and why the Casio F-91W, the G-Shock and the Seiko 5 are the classic answers.
Serdar D.5 min readWhat Watch Servicing Costs
A watchmaker's honest take on what drives servicing cost, how often a watch needs it, and when you can safely skip it. Cost factors, not invented figures.
Serdar D.5 min readThe Best Watch Brands for Value
Seiko, Orient, Casio, Citizen and Fossil for style: a reference guide to the best affordable watch brands, what each is known for and who each one suits.
Serdar D.5 min readWhy Your Automatic Watch Runs Fast or Slow
A few seconds of daily drift is normal for an automatic. I walk through magnetism, positions and rest, regulation, and how to tell which one is throwing your watch off.
Serdar D.4 min readHow to Care for a Mechanical Watch
From daily handling and winding to magnetism, water, service intervals and storage, a practical owner's guide to keeping a mechanical watch healthy for decades.
Serdar D.5 min readWatch Water Resistance Explained
What 30m, 100m, 200m, ATM and bar really mean. A watchmaker walks you through the water resistance ladder, the screw-down crown and what you can genuinely do.
Serdar D.5 min read
How to Size a Watch
Whether a watch suits your wrist comes down to more than diameter. I walk through measuring your wrist, the figures that matter and the quick rules that settle most decisions.
Serdar D.5 min readWhat to Look For When Buying a Watch
Movement, case size, water resistance, crystal, strap and build. A plain decision guide to what you are really paying for in a watch, not a product round-up.
Serdar D.5 min read
How to Spot a Fake Watch
How to tell a fake watch from the real thing: price and seller, weight, dial print, the sweep of the hand, serial numbers and papers. A watch editor's guide.
Serdar D.5 min read