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Opening the Back of the Watch
Pocket watch and wrist watch cases have been designed in MANY MANY different ways. I will try to describe all of the ways to open watches, but only from experience will you truly learn how to "crack every nut".
Some pocket watches have backs that are on a hinge. You simply place a fingernail under an edge and pop it open. Sometimes you will find another "door" inside. This is a dust cover. Owners would use the first door as a way to stand the watch on a table or night-stand and the second door kept gunk out. The same method is used to open this door... pry a fingernail under the edge and it will usually pop open. A case knife (shown in the margin) can be very helpful in opening may different watches. They aren't sharp enough to cut you, but are designed with a nice rounded edge that makes opening a watchcase a breeze, and won't damage case of the watch. I would highly recommend this purchase... I once slit my thumb open nearly to the bone using a sharp pocket-knife... what a lesson that was!.
Many early wrist watches also had snap on covers. They usually had a lip that indicates where to pry. Carefully place the case knife under the lip and gently pry the back cover off.
If you have a pocket watch that has no lip, or hinge, but appears to have a cover, then your watch may have what is called a "screw back" case. In this type of case, the back is threaded in place. Carefully try to unscrew the back (use a motion similar to opening a jar of pickles). Wrist watches also commonly have screw back cases. Unlike pocket watches that can be opened by hand, wrist watches have six notches around the edge of the case back. These are meant for the tool shown in the margin. You adjust the wrench so that the three teeth fit into three of the grooves of the watch-back. Then just turn the wrench and open the back.
There are also pocket watches and wrist watches that can only be accessed through the front. These are the hardest to navigate, and to describe (but I'll try). In a pocket watch one type of this is called a "swing out" case. The entire movement is on a hinge that closes into the back of the watch, and the crystal and bezel hold it all in. If you have one of these... unscrew (or unsnap) the front of the watch (glass side) revealing the dial and hands. You may notice that inside there is a tiny hinge. Pull out the crown "click" (as if you were going to set the watch's time), and see if the whole movement swings out freely. In some wrist watches you will need a "crystal lift" to remove the crystal and then the movement. A crystal lift has many small fingers that grab and constrict the crystal so that it can be removed easily. You may later ask... "how can I take out the movement with the winding stem still attached?" Good question... the stems in these types of watches are two pieces. One piece slides into the other like in a jigsaw puzzle. With practice you will learn to separate them a little jiggle here, and a little jiggle there. Let's just hope your first watch doesn't have something so complicated.
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