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How to Oil a Pocket Watch

A pocket watch is an intricate time-telling device with numerous moving small parts that all work together to keep the instrument ticking away. To oil a pocket watch, the watch must first be disassembled almost completely so that you can get oil to the parts of the watch that need it. The parts of the pocket watch that need oil are the pivots, or jewel holes, on which the gears rotate. For disassembly, you may first want to consult a pocket watch pro, as there are a variety of different pocket watch makes and models.

Things You'll Need

Pocket watch oil and oiler
Jeweler's loupe or magnifying glass
Tweezers

Instructions

- 1
  Disassemble the pocket watch. Identify the pivot, or jewel hole, where the gears rotate. The hole will be flat on one side and the other will be concavely recessed.
- 2
  Drop a tiny amount of oil in the center of the "bowl" recess.
- 3
  Oil the holes on the bridges and the holes on the pillar plate, again using tiny drops of oil.
- 4
  Oil the last jewel hole located in the balance cock. Gently lift the balance wheel with a pair of tweezers. Slightly stretch out the hairspring and place a tiny drop of oil in the jewel hole directly under the hairspring. Be careful not to get oil on the hairspring, as this can cause the watch to stick and not run.

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