Clean up your act in the new year with the AIS Collective ChronoPen Watch Cleaning Kit
Jamie WeissEditor’s note: Welcome to Watch Carry Wednesdays, a new segment on Time+Tide that we launched late last year where we highlight some of the best watch-related accessories, everyday carry items and gifts that are out there in the world. There are plenty of strap makers, watch roll sellers and coffee table book publishers out there – Watch Carry Wednesdays will shine a light on the stuff that’s worth your hard-earned coin.
One of the grossest terms in the watch community is ‘wrist cheese’: you know, the grime, dirt and dead skin that accumulates in the nooks and crannies of your watch after heavy use. It’s a yucky concept but a very real one – I’m often shocked at how dirty some people let their watches get before cleaning them. There’s a difference between patina and filth, people.
But I also understand why some collectors might be nervous about cleaning their watches. Even a stiff-bristled toothbrush can leave serious scratches on a timepiece – even steel watches – and it’s especially fraught cleaning precious metal watches. That’s why Swiss firm AIS Collective’s ChronoPen Watch Cleaning Kit is such a godsend: it’s a gentle yet effective product that’ll get your pride and joy looking box-fresh as we head into the new year.
The kit contains a 30ml ‘cleaning pen’ which contains their specifically developed cleaning solution and features an extra fine brush head. It’s a clever design: the pen shape helps you be precise while cleaning, while the dense yet featherweight brush gets into all the hard-to-reach spots of your watch without damaging its case or bracelet. The kit also contains an extra-thick cotton polishing towel.
AIS Collective says the ChronoPen is ideal for stainless steel, gold, platinum, bronze, carbon fibre, ceramic, sapphire crystal, diamonds and rubber, and their cleaning solution does not contain any aggressive chemicals or abrasives. The solution can’t be used on leather, however – instead, AIS Collective also offers a leather cleaning ChronoPen with a unique silicon rubber brush head. Each ChronoPen is good for around 60 uses, which should last you all of 2024 and beyond if you’re judicious.
Having used the ChronoPen myself to clean some seriously persistent gunk off my Tudor, I can honestly say that this is a great product. Yes, hot water and dish soap is enough for fingerprints and light grime, but if your watch is particularly dirty – or if it’s made from precious metals and you really don’t want to risk damaging it – the ChronoPen is an ideal product. Start 2024 off with a clean watch, I say.
The AIS Collective ChronoPen Watch Cleaning Kit and ChronoLeatherPen Watch Cleaning Kit both retail for A$90 and are available from the Time+Tide Shop or our Melbourne Discovery Studio. Find out more at the Time+Tide Shop here.