Installation and Adjustment of Minute and Hour Hands
【Important】Reminders:
If your watch has only minute and hour hands, the second hand post still exists in the movement. During installation, please avoid bending the post. Otherwise the function of the movement might be compromised.
Repeated installation of watch hands may result in loose hands. Therefore please be careful with each installation, and reduce the need for re-installation.
Hands come in two versions: 2 hands version (minute and hour hands), and 3 hands version (second, minute, and hour hands). An extra set of hands is provided to you in case you need replacement.
2a. Installing hour hand
We will install the hour hand onto the dial and movement.
Content:
How to pick up an hour hand
How to install
Adjust the level and direction of the hand
If you need to remove hands, you can refer to:
2b.【Important】Hand height check
After installing hour hand, you can use the hand height checking tool to check its height. The same method can be applied to minute and second hands.
Content:
Identify the movement type on the checking tool
What is considered as too high / not level
2c. Installing minute hand
Before installing, please check:
Hour hand must be close to the dial but leave enough of a gap (you can observe the shadow it makes on the dial) to let it run freely without touching the dial.
Hour hand must be level. Both slanting upward and downward will affect subsequent installation and performance of the watch.
For bottom-load watch, the stem and crown must be aligned to the position of 3 o’clock / 15 minute.
Bottom-load watch series include: Merlot, Mosel, and Navigator series.
The degree of precision of the minute hand installation is one of the most visible quality standards of watch assembly.
This part will teach you how to install the minute hand and its alignment.
Content:
Hour hand and minute hand alignment
Level and separation of minute hand
Hour and Minute Hand Check and Common Issues
When setting time anticlockwise, hour and minute hands should align at 12 o’clock / 60 minute. Avoid re-installing too many times; otherwise hands might be loose.
When hour and minute hands run, they should not come into contact with other parts or hands. They should also be parallel to the dial.
Minute hand height is low enough (you can revisit clip 2b for instruction).
FAQ
Q: Is my hour hand low enough?
A: Clip 2b contains complete instruction for hand height check.
Q: I have installed the hands, but I cannot set time…
A: Your crown might be in winding position. Try pulling it outward to the time setting position and try again.
Q: I want to re-install the minute hand, but don’t want to remove the hour hand. Is there a way to do this?
A: The 1:48 of the video on hand removal contains the instruction of removal of minute hand only.