How Are Different Watches Set?
Most people think that you set a pocket watch the same way you set a wrist watch, by pulling out the winding stem. Well, that is true with many pocket watches, but by no means all of them! In fact, there are four main ways pocket watches can be set, and if you don’t know how your watch is set you can break it by pulling too hard on the stem. • Stem Set — Also called “pendant set”. You already know this one — you pull on the stem and turn it to set the time. If you pull on the stem and it doesn’t move, chances are your watch is not stem set. • Lever Set — Often found in railroad grade watches, but also in other watches, the lever setting mechanism requires you to remove the front crystal and pull out a little lever [usually found near the 2:00 position]. You then turn the stem to move the hands. This was a safety feature to prevent the watch from being accidentally reset when someone pulled on the stem. This is primarily found on American pocket watches. • Pin Set — Also called “nai
