Seikmarin Black

The case starts as a stainless steel diver case, which we strip, refinish and put back together ourselves. The top surfaces are brushed lengthways and the flanks are left polished, so the light breaks along the edge rather than washing across the whole side.

The dial and the hands are aftermarket parts, fitted new. The dial is matte black with applied markers; the hands are polished steel, and their lume is matched to the markers so the two glow at the same strength instead of one drowning the other.

The bezel insert is black ceramic with a lumed pip at twelve. It sits on a unidirectional bezel that we reseat and re-grease, which is what makes the clicks even the whole way round rather than tight in one quarter and loose in another.

Original to the donor: the case body, the caseback, the crown and the bracelet. Replaced by us: the dial, the hands, the crystal, the bezel insert and every gasket. The movement is new rather than the donor's.

Every watch is built to order, so nothing ships off a shelf. Yours goes on the bench after you order and is assembled, cased, regulated and timed before it is packed.

Dispatch is normally ten to fifteen working days from the order. The window shown under the Add to cart button is worked out from today's date and moves on its own.

Your order is handled by Lauremonté in Sweden

Write to support@lauremonte.se before returning anything and we will send you return instructions.

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An automatic watch is driven by a mainspring rather than a battery. A weighted rotor inside the case turns as your wrist moves, winding that spring, and the spring drives the gear train that carries the hands.

Worn regularly, it keeps itself wound. Left off the wrist it winds down and stops; the power reserve listed under Components and materials is how long it runs unworn. To start it again, turn the crown a few times, set the time, and put it on.

It is a mechanical instrument rather than a quartz one, and it is not meant to be judged like one. A few seconds a day either way is normal for a movement of this kind and is not a fault: how much you have worn it, the temperature, and the position it rests in overnight all move the rate.

Every Lauremonté is regulated by hand on the bench and timed before it is packed.

The movement is a mechanical automatic, made in Japan. There is no battery in it and nothing to swap out every few years. A weight inside swings as your wrist moves, and that is what winds the mainspring.

In daily use that means the watch keeps itself running as long as you wear it. Leave it in a drawer and it will stop after roughly two days; put it back on, or turn the crown a few dozen times, and it starts again, though you will have to reset the time. It also will not hold time the way a quartz watch does. Expect it to drift a few seconds a day, a little faster or slower depending on how it has been resting, and to need nudging back into line every couple of weeks. That is how a mechanical watch behaves and it is not a fault.

Keep it away from strong magnets. Laptop lids, speaker cabinets, magnetic phone mounts and bag clasps are the usual culprits; a magnetised watch suddenly runs fast. It is a quick fix, but it is easier not to.

Never operate the crown underwater, and check it is screwed all the way down before the watch gets wet.

Rinse it in fresh water after the sea or a chlorinated pool, then dry it. Salt left in the bracelet and around the bezel is what starts corrosion.