Real Answers from the Bench

RABS began, quite accidentally, as shorthand for Real Answers from the Bench.

These are the questions we are asked every day about owning, wearing and looking after vintage watches, answered from the perspective of the people who actually work on them.

No mystique, no textbook for the sake of it. Just practical advice, observations and a little mechanical understanding gathered at the watchmaker’s bench.

Guides from the Bench

  • OWNING A VINTAGE WATCH

    Old watches have their own rhythm.
    How to wind, set and wear a vintage watch, what accuracy you should realistically expect, why an automatic can make unfamiliar noises and the little habits that help you enjoy an older mechanical watch without worrying about every tick.

    View Guides 

  • CARE & MAINTENANCE

    A little understanding goes a long way
    Straightforward advice on looking after a vintage watch, from water and magnetism to crystals, straps, storage and everyday wear.


    View Guides 

  • SERVICING & REPAIR

    What actually happens at the bench?
    From inspection and diagnosis to cleaning, lubrication, adjustment and final testing. We explain what we mean when we say a watch has been serviced, why sympathetic repair matters and why preserving an old watch is very different from trying to make it new.

    View Guides 

  • UNDERSTANDING YOUR WATCH

    There is a wonderful little machine behind the dial.
    Quicksets and cannon pinions, automatic and hand-wound movements, acrylic and mineral crystals, reference numbers, serial numbers and dating. The mechanics and terminology explained by people who spend their days working with them.

    View Guides 
Trustpilot