When I was traveling by air recently, the glass fell off of my watch. Is this very common and why did it happen? Jody Abrams, Devon, England

What is used to make the dials and hands of watches glow in the dark? Andrea Schwartz - Brisbane, Australia

Is it true that nickel can cause allergies? And if so, can wearing a watch and bracelet made of nickel alloys be harmful to one’s health? David Ko, Singapore

What is a watch crystal? Clear up your questions about crystals with this brief primer.

When to wind it? How to set it? Where to take it for repairs? For answers to these and other watch-care questions, read on.

Subdials are busting out all over this year as manufacturers increase their offerings of chronographs and other multifunction watches. What do all those (…)

Thanks to the sports watch boom, water resistance has become so common in watches that we often take it for granted. But a closer look at this popular (…)

Seiko started the trend a few years ago with the splashy and successful introduction of its Kinetic series of watches. Tissot, Omega and Longines have also (…)

Switzerland’s mechanical watch boom has brought a surge in watches bearing a special designation on the dial: chronometer. What are chronometers? How are (…)

Automatic watches are extremely popular. But what are automatics? How do they work? How accurate are they? How often should they be serviced? For answers to (…)

Watch marketers have recently brought out a bevy of lightpowered models meant to save both the environment and trips to the mall for new batteries.

The following article has been prepared for Europa Star by an expert in the field, Jean-Claude Nicolet, master watch-craftsman and professor in La (…)